The Skipper getting a long overdue haircut, ready for a visit from Santa!

Sorry about the delay in completing the first phase of this blog. We had a great final sail to St Lucia and it was fun to meet up with so many old friends on our arrival. We made contact with builders, architects and our land agent very soon after reaching dry land and everything seems to be in order. We managed to get a 2-year-old Toyota Hilux, 4 cab, 4 wheel drive pick up on day one and had it insured and registered by day two. The bank account is up and running and the funds are here and we are ready to start spending on the build! We spent a few days getting ourselves sorted and we visited our plot - boy is it overgrown. It is hard to get through the undergrowth so I have still not clambered to the bottom of the plot. Something we were very pleased with was that our PO Box was full and mail is coming daily, mostly redirected from home but getting here in quite a short time.

We were getting really excited about the kids coming and then we heard about the problems at Heathrow. It wasn’t long before we heard from them saying they didn’t know if they would even get their connection to Paris. In the end they had so much luck. Their flight was the only one to Paris that day but even that was delayed which meant that they missed their connection to Martinique. Once again they were lucky that another Air France flight was leaving 3 hours later so they arrived in Martinique at 8.30pm but of course had missed their flight down to St Lucia. We were aware this would be the case and set sail for Martinique. It was a great sail - 7 hours at an average of 6.4 kts – and we ended up in a nice bay only 20 minutes from the airport. After a few drinks we caught a taxi to the airport and arrived just as they appeared in the arrival hall. We all got in the same taxi and went back to the boat for a night at anchor. When we saw the news the next morning we realised just how lucky we were to get them here for Christmas.

The next day we sailed to St Lucia for a night at Rodney Bay. We needed to shop for their snorkelling equipment and also do some Christmas shopping. In the morning we were aware of a lot of noise outside the boat so we went above to have a look around. The last and smallest of the ARC boats was coming in. They had a huge reception of hooting foghorns and cheering. They moored next to us,3 elderly chaps pleased to be on dry land again. They were sailing a 34 ft Hunter. They were so late as they had held off to support a boat in trouble for 2 days and by the time they got on their way again they had lost the good winds.

We are now moored to the end of the restaurant pontoon. I have just been to the super market to do some last minute shopping before everything shuts for Christmas. The kids are off on a boat trip to go whale watching. Our friend, Shaid, runs the trips for the hotel and offered them the seats free. Yesterday they saw several, so we are keeping our fingers crossed for this afternoon. Tonight it is a traditional Creole Christmas dinner of suckling pig. The smells coming from the kitchen are wonderful.

So, for now, we wish all our friends and family a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and all the best for 2007.

The blog will be updated as our building develops - most likely monthly or as interesting things happen.

Significant Update. The wildlife tally has soared over the last two days! Whilst in Jolly Harbour we came across two mongoose (or is it geese?) searching for food. They were introduced to the island some years back to get rid of the snake population and, having completed that task they set about recolonising the place and have been overwhelmingly successful!!
Even more exciting is that when we set of in the early hours heading for Guadeloupe we had just cleared Antigua when a very frightened pigeon (later identified as a scaly-naped pigeon) flew into the cockpit and in hot pursuit was a Sharp-shinned hawk. The hawk came no closer but Percy hung around for about half an hour until the coast was clear. He became quite relaxed and cocked his head from side to side whilst we talked. He was warned that there should be NO poohing but alas he couldn’t help himself - the skipper reckons he was scared sh*tless! There should be a photo but in all the excitement I must have turned the camera off! We then had our fair share of flying fish but still no dolphins or whales.
We are now at the north end of Guadeloupe and tomorrow we shall sail to the south end for the night. This is a French Island and the influence can be felt everywhere - good bread, wine, euros and of course the language.
It does appear that we are rushing through these islands but because of the delay at the start we are in a mad dash to get to St Lucia before John, Fi and Vic arrive for Christmas. Even at this pace we will only be three days ahead of them and we have some sorting out to do as soon as we arrive, like buy a car so we can pick them up from the airport!
At the beginning of this expedition a lot of places we sailed to had WIFI connections but they seem to have all petered out so goodness knows when we will Skype people again. I think it won’t be until Marigot Bay.
Today has been the first really good sail, on a reach doing 7kts for 46 miles. The sea was just as lumpy but approached from the port quarter so at least we were not crashing into it.
This will hopefully be sent at the other end of Guadeloupe if we can find a café. After that it is Dominica and by all accounts that is the back of beyond!

We are adding to this as we had such a fast sail to the bottom of Guadeloupe we thought we would just carry on to the north end of Dominica and now we are here there is no such thing as an internet café. This means we shall add to our story daily until we are able to upload it to the blog.

It was a mixed day, some great sailing, some lumpy sailing, and some boring motoring. There were lots of squalls around, most of which we managed to avoid but inevitably they got us in the end. They are really quite scary, the clouds get very dark, and the wind howls and changes direction and the rain blatters down and then it all eases off and the sailing gets back to normal.

As we neared Dominica we were welcomed by a school of dolphins that played for a short time only, around the bow of the boat. Then a guy called Albert, a Dominican came in his small power boat to ask us if we wanted any guided tours or any other service. We declined but he said he would catch us later. As we got into the bay it was very difficult to see where anything was, even with a sketch of the town. We dropped anchor where we thought customs might be. Then the heavens opened and the wind got up. Albert appeared back on the scene and said for $20 EC he would take Jeff over to customs and bring him back. Great idea! I was left in charge of the boat. It wasn’t long before another boat boy arrived and I bought some bananas from him. Soon after he had gone I realised that the anchor was dragging. It went from a gentle drag into a ‘oh my God moment’ I was going back at a rate of knots, fast running out of sea room and was now onto plan D or E! As I was closing on an old rust bucket I saw some men, who I think realised I was having difficulties and they said they would be over in a minute..they never came! I was controlling the direction I was travelling in with a bit of reverse then a bit of forward. I couldn’t leave the wheel to get the anchor up, as there were too many obstacles in the way. Eventually I saw my trusty skipper in the distance whizzing towards me - and then pass me as he returned to where the boat should have been. I called him a few pet names! Once he realised where I was he jumped aboard, took the wheel and I got the anchor up very swiftly. Nightmare over we motored to a quiet corner of the bay, set the anchor properly and I had a swim to cool me down followed by our nightly sundowners

Tomorrow we are off to the south end of Dominica but, like today, if all is well we may head over to Martinique. Watch this space!

Well we sailed right passed the end of Dominica and had the best yet sail over to Martinique. Uncle Jeffrey’s note: For the sailors - 22 miles of motor sailing on a flat calm sea along the entire coast of Dominica. When we hit the Dominica/Martinique passage we had 18-22 knots, 45 degrees off the bow in 8-12 foot seas. With a full genoa and half main we were making 6.8 knots with a 7.8 in a gust of 29 knots. Total distance today 55.8 nms in 6hrs 5mins. It’s the first time Wine Down has seen such conditions and she coped wonderfully. The mate performed excellently as well and all this in nothing but shorts and a life jacket - and cold beer and tawny skinned, scantily clad ladies all speaking with Geneva volmet accents to finish off the day! There is a heaven after all. Back to Jan.

On the approach to Martinique we were once again treated to a school of dolphins. They were very playful and stayed around the boat for a long time. It really is a privilege to see them in their natural habitat obviously enjoying the company of humans and their boats.

We are now in St Pierre at the top of Martinique. It is an old city rebuilt after a volcano eruption in 1902. There are still the remains if old walls, even the public loos are built around ruins with sea views.

We have just had a chat to a crew on a brand new boat that was dismasted during this years ARC. They are on their way to St Martin for repairs.

So tomorrow we are off to the bottom of Martinique, as we want to do some provisioning there in a supermarket that we have been to before. It has a very convenient dinghy dock and the trolleys are parked right there as well. Then on Sunday morning it is just the short hop to St Lucia and time to relax for a few days before the young ‘uns arrive on Thursday. Still no internet facilities but we are hopeful about tomorrow.

Its another day and another sail. This time we are at the bottom of Martinique. As we sailed in we counted 5 boats nearing the end of their ARC race in the Martinique passage. Jeff knew just how they were feeling and remembered how long those last 10 miles took.

This is a good place to stop, we were here in February and liked it then. We have done the beer shopping and bought some fishing gear so we are just about ready for the kids arrival. Tomorrow morning it is the passage to St Lucia; we are both getting excited about the prospect of meeting up with old friends and starting our new life. The next shopping will be for machetes to start clearing our plot!

Wine Down at customs dock Antigua.

We left Sint Maarten after a rolly night at anchor on the outside of Simpson Bay Lagoon. We had had a good duty free shop there, bits for the boat to mend stuff, including that dratted windlass that needed a bigger trip box! We bought fun stuff as well including a fishing rod and reel to do some trawling with and a mask that is big enough to cover Jeff’s face so we can snorkel together.
It all went down hill after that. We have had some really rough weather, the wind is always on the nose and the seas are big with swells that lift and crash us to the bottom of the dip sending a shudder through Wine Down and our bones. There doesn’t seem to be any break in this pattern either. Not that we know too much about the weather as both local websites we know are having the weekend off! We had a night on a mooring in St Eustasius (Statia), which is a bit of a one-horse town. They seem to be big on scuba diving but not on visiting yachts, even customs weren’t around and no one seemed to know when they would return, so it was a place we could neither check in to or out of. We then had an uncomfortable motor sail to Nevis. This is a good-looking Island with friendly folk. We went to the Four Seasons resort and used their Internet facilities for $10 for 30 mins. We are now back on the boat bobbing around at anchor and the wind has eventually died down; it was a constant 25kts today, gusting to 35kts and again big seas. Tomorrow we set off for Antigua, which will be an 8-hour sail, as long as the wind doesn’t change again.
The routine on the boat is coming along nicely although we are both aware how tiring it can be in this heat, the smallest of tasks seem to take longer and be harder. We have long periods of inactivity whilst we are sailing on the same heading and then lots of stuff happens as we come into moor and then it’s time to repair and sort out whatever happens to have broken or is misbehaving. Tonight’s problem was the gas alarm sounding for no possible reason but it was deafening, which was not welcome as we were just making final approaches to a mooring buoy.
Wildlife tally- not good I’m afraid. Still no dolphins but we did get some live sprat landing in the dinghy as we motored back from the hotel.
We haven’t had time to fix up the rod yet so we are still on dry rations (apart from the cheese burger that the skipper ate whilst at the hotel) I am still on packets of gruel but can report that I wore a pair of Fi’s shorts today so something must be working.
We are in Antigua! So this is a bit of a postscript.
We got here yesterday at about 4.30pm,everything was shut as it was hero’s day. No customs and immigration and no marina staff, so security said just park where you want and sort it out in the morning. We had cold beers, showers, met some ex RAF people and had a meal. We slept well, no creaking or rocking or rolling, it was great!
The morning dawned and we set about the days tasks. Priority was to clear customs, but they weren’t there at 9am, 10am or 10.30 and the queue was building. Jeff returned at midday, hoorah, they were there, but, having lunch. Mr Angry was much tested as they denied that they weren’t there earlier and anyhow it was lunchtime, come back that 1pm. At 1pm he duly went back only to be told that he needed to sail the boat there so they could look at it. Boy did we pick the jobs worth. The whole thing went on and on but we eventually have cleared in and out thank God and tomorrow should be on our way to Guadaloupe.
Thank you to all those who have registered to add comments it was great to hear from you. Anyone else who wants to do so just click on the lines next to the word comments. You will be asked to register the first time and it is free.
Next edition will be from Guadaloupe or Dominica or failing that from St Lucia in about 5 days time. Time for cold beers and another sunset.

We set off from Tortola to go to Coopers Island as a bit of a shake down sail and leave later that night for Anguilla. When we stopped to anchor for a quick zizz we found that the electric windlass no longer worked and with no obvious reason. So after a short break we hauled the thing up and thought we would just start our passage. As we rounded the headland it was blowing a hooley and the sea state was very lumpy and disorganised. We carried on for a further hour and then decided life jackets were in order but when I went below to get them I was immediately nauseous and on my return threw up big time! So we hummed and hahed a bit longer and decided that the Gods were against us and headed for Virgin Gorda, Spanish Town for a night stop to regroup. This was a nice place to stay, loads of Americans greeting everyone like long lost friends regardless of who you were. Everyone wants to know where home is..on a boat isn’t it?

The next morning we were keen to be off but only once the windlass was fixed. The electricians came and went but didn’t have the bit, so we set of again, this time to the top of Virgin Gourda to have a better angle of attack on Anguilla. We were able to sail for the first time – it was a great feeling and Wine Down seemed to like it as well.

When we did eventually set off the the following afternoon for Anguilla the wind was directly on the nose all the way, the sea state was just as muddled and we had several squalls to contend with. After a long 16-hour night passage we arrived at dawn in beautiful Anguilla. We had a sleep before we did customs and immigration and a well-earned swim in the clear turquoise water. After customs it was time for Jeff to go down memory lane. He had been the last RAF officer to leave Anguilla in 1969, after a 3 month stint where he was required to check the runway before the daily resupply flights from Antigua were allowed to land. These flights were in support of the 60 London bobbies and the 120 army engineers who were on the iland to protect the locals from an impending invasion from St Kitts and St Nevis – something the Anguillans were blissfully unaware of! He had some fantastic stories to tell and could remember the old runway and buildings. We were fortunate to have a taxi driver who new where and what he was talking about. It was inevitable that some of the characters are long since dead. It was great fun and a pleasure for him to see that even though the place has grown it still retains its charm. The best thing was that the boat shop had the bit for the windlass and it now works!

Tomorrow we sail to Simpson Bay on St Maarten, It’s a swept up place that will have facilities for the mundane things in life like laundry; some shreds are on there second turn I think!
Wild Life count: 2 turtles, flying fish, dead sprat in the dinghy and some dogs chasing chickens.

Wine Downs here! We had her off loaded yesterday and she really appreciated the warm Caribbean sea around her skirts! It was a great few days for us, the house sale is completed and the money is winging it's way to the bank as we speak. We have a land licence granted for our new house and the exchange rate is still favourable.

It has been a fun time in Tortola. Every morning we are woken by the cockerals and then as we have breakfast the hens and baby chicks wander between our legs pecking at crumbs. The town itself is busy with lots of local colour. The Christmas parties are in full swing,we even had a street market with Christmas stuff and a demo of the Caribbean two step dance. Today we have rain and wind you will all be glad to hear but it should be gone by tomorrow.

Skype is proving to be a boon out here, it is so clear and best of all free as are the wifi connections. I am actually sitting at the bar doing this as the pool proved to be a bit wet.

We now have a whole day of prepping the boat ready for tomorrow. After we have cleared customs it will be short shake down sail toCoopers Island and then the next night a long passage to Anguilla. I am off to the shops to get the beer in and some fresh food..suns out again ,must dash.