After a great flight,one of us upgraded (me!) and lots of attention from the cabin crew and our pilot Gordon ,we had the usual scrum at Antigua to collect our bags and get through customs. We then got to Caribbean Star desk only to be told that our e tickets weren't valid and the flight to Tortola was full! We got the next flight 5 hours later and eventually got to Tortola at 10.30pm and the bars were closed.

The next morning we walked main street and were in hysterics laughing at all the Christmas decorations. Snow,trees, and santas everywhere you looked and piped Caribbean carols. We have now settled into a routine while we wait for the boat. Just as well as it is good practice for us to go down several gears as it is so slow and laid back. The hotel is comfortable and amenable as we had only booked a room for two nights and now the boat doesn't arrive until Friday. We were in a penthouse suite last night but for the next three nights there is only a small room with no window, could be a converted broom cupboard!But we are relaxed and going with the flow apart from Jeffs argument with o2 or is it carphone warehouse!

We finally loaded Wine Down on 10th November. It was a dark, wet windy night in Southampton waters. We sailed up and down watching two other boats being loaded to give us some idea of what to expect. They were a very professional lot and quickly had her in strops ready to hoist. It was only then that I realised that we stayed on for most of this procedure. I was shaking like a leaf as I don't like heights and even the pilot ladder seemed too risky. Fortunately the stevedore let me off half way up the ships side and Jeff stayed on to do the heroic stuff. It was pouring with rain and quite disconcerting seeing your pride and joy suspended 40ft in the air above the deck. She was gently lowered and then securely strapped into place whilst they welded her cradle to the deck.

This was another big moment of the journey, boat gone, next it will be the car then the house. We returned to Chippenham to get on with the rest of the plans. The next time we see Wine Down will be in Tortola around about 1st December.

The car went on the Sunday and the packers arrived on Monday. It all went smoothly and the place looked in good shape to hand over to the buyers. We are sending more stuff into storage than we had anticipated and have already been told that it won't fit into a 20ft container- we will have to sort that one out next year when we call to move it to St Lucia. We exchanged contracts on the house so all is set for completion on 1st December. We were hoping to have it all tied up before we left but the best laid plans of mice and men etc..

On 17th November we had an early Christmas dinner in The Bell House Hotel to say goodbye to close friends and family. It was great to see everyone around the table and it just seemed like yesterday that we had all been together. The meal was great and it all looked very festive. The wine was flowing freely, which was just as well with everyone doing their best to reduce the European wine mountain. Boz had made a special CD with all the old favourites. At the end of the meal we were all settling down for tales of the past and daring-do when John and Fi stood up and took control. They spoke well for many minutes about their upbringing, education and most of all the great times they had had as kids. Public thank you's like that are rare and we were very moved by it all. What great kids we have! There wasn't a dry eye in the house. The singing and banter went on until 0430, the last to leave being Jeff, Gordo, Spiv and John Beck. Most people were staying the night so bed was just a few steps away. The next morning we had a full complement of people at the breakfast table, all arriving at the appointed time of 0955 ( breakfast finishes at 1000) . Nothing like a post mortem of the night before over a full fried English breakfast. Everyone was gone by midday and Jeff and I were left alone to do the last bits and pieces . We moved out of The Bell on Monday morning and set of for my Mums to do the last minute jobs there . Then another night with friends,Sally and Gordon and now we are in The Gatwick Hilton ready for the flight tomorrow.

By sheer coincidence Gordon is the Captain on our Virgin flight to Antigua, so we know we are in the best of hands and it seems quite fitting that it should be a close friend to see us out of the country.

Once home we discussed the implications of such a move and even asked ourselves about the madness in leaving a lovely house in a quiet village, selling cars, retiring early,abandoning youngsters whilst we followed a dream. We had answers for all these questions and rang back to St Lucia to say we would like to put in an offer for the piece of land that we had fallen in love with. We also started to think about the house we would want to build. We had been recommended a young architect called Malcolm,a local guy with great ideas. We cant believe how he transformed my dreadfully childish sketches into right enough drawings.
We gathered all the necessary documents to apply for an alien land holders license. This took ages as they wanted fingerprints and police reports of good character,neither of which is available in UK. The RAF came up trumps with fingerprints and CRB checks sufficed for the references. Banks and income was also scrutinized.
Time went by and we were keen for progress reports but nothing was forthcoming. Eventually we were told that our parcel of land was now tied up in some legal wrangling and we would have to return to choose another piece. We were so disappointed. We went back in June and started to look around again. We nearly signed up for a piece that would have been very expensive to build on and then we got excited about a small piece that had excellent views but the price quoted was in US dollars and not EC. With no time left we were almost abandoning the idea when our builder to be - Mr Brown - called to say that he had been in a bar the night before and had heard about a plot that might be OK. We dashed across to see it. It was not perfect, in quite a busy area but did have a mango tree or two and also stunning views of Marigot Bay. We spoke to the bar owner JJ , who was the contact for the owner and he said he would negotiate on our behalf. We left the Island once again excited that the plan was back on track. Well, once home we waited and waited, sent lots of e-mails and eventually got the news that the sellers wanted 27EC a square foot. JJ thought this was far too much as he had sold the land to them earlier in the year for11EC. Eventually the owner came back and said they had changed their minds and it wasn't for sale anyway. So back to square one, but this time much further on with things at this end. House on market,resignation handed in and boat booked onto a ship to be delivered to the Caribbean in November.
We e-mailed friends in St Lucia to tell them of our plight and had decided that we would just carry on with our plan,minus the bit about buying land. One of the replies urged us to look at other plots and sent maps and topography to help us visualize it. So, in September we went back out again having confirmed with the seller of our chosen bit of land that it was for sale at the price of 12 EC dollars a square foot. It all looked very positive. We went over for the 3 days again, hired a car and made for Marigot. The plot was our first call and it certainly had potential.The next day we met the agent , agreed on the deal and arranged to see him the next morning to sign agreements ,hand over deposits and meet our lawyer. A celebration lunch had also been organized so this was to be a great day.
We arrived at Jonothan's office bright and early , only to be told that the sellers had changed their minds. We were devastated,all that money and time to visit yet again and all the excitement evaporated instantly. We met up with our lawyer, Peter, for the planned breakfast. He was just as surprised as us. He said he knew the owner who now turned out to be the daughter rather than the father( he had given her the land a few months earlier) apparently her husband felt the land was worth more and wasn't sure that they should sell. We were so deflated that we cancelled lunch and made our way into Castries to make the appointments with the bank to open our account and also to organize a P.O. Box which all now seemed a bit redundant .
We had a quiet lunch by ourselves and thought hard about the next move. Maybe Marigot wasnt the place for us?
We had a swim, an afternoon nap and then went for a walk. Half way down the hill we got a phone call to say if we paid 15EC dollars a sq ft the land was ours. Well a 25% hike is a lot but we were keen and there had been other plots that we had looked at that had been dearer. So we accepted and then went and had a meal in the bay. Not quite as excited , as we had been let down so many times we weren't convinced that this would happen. Well here we are a few months down the line,retired, house almost sold,completion should take place in 10 days time. The land licence is with the cabinet for final approval and all flights are booked. The youngsters will join us for Cristmas and my Mum is already booked to come out in February. The plan for the moment is to meet our boat in Tortola and sail down to St Lucia. We shall then live on the boat whilst the house is being built and nip off every now and then for a sailing break. Still sounds like a great plan. We are very excited but we do have our nervous moments, but hey, if it all turns to worms we sell up and come back. Nothing to loose and everything to gain. The next post will be from warmer climes....fingers crossed!

Last February we spent a month sailing around the Grenadines. We were celebrating our silver wedding anniversary. When we returned to St Lucia we met up with some people that we had partied with before we set off. They were eager to hear about our time sailing around the islands and before too long we were saying that we had fallen in love with place and would definitely be back to sail later in the year, when someone said why don't you just move here. At the time it seemed laughable but over night the idea started to grow and niggle away and by the morning we were both thinking that it was worth looking into. We soon found ourselves trekking through undergrowth looking at plots of land that were for sale. We had 6 hours before our flight back to UK and in that time we saw a view to die for, hugged a mango tree and imagined a lifestyle that would be perfect and decided it could be done but we would at least go home and think about it rationally for 48 hrs.
It is fair to say that we rushed head long into the whole thing, dizzy with excitement and full of ideas and plans.