Final chapter
Meeting new friends in the BVI’s.
During our last weeks in the BVI we had a wild social time, well the girls did and we were dragged along with them. Waving good bye to Barnie and Family at the airport anchorage we met a USA family on a dolphin Catamaran, they turned out to be travelling with a British ( a little bit welsh too)
Family on Rosy and a Brazilian Family on Calva Marinio. Sienna decided that the little Brazilian boy, Raffell was going to be her boyfriend whether he wanted it or not. We had a lot of fun over the following two weeks, with the BBQ on the beach and various rum punches for the adults. We were sorely tempted to continue with our new found friends and sail on to Venezuela for another season. But, we decided to stop while we were ahead.
Leaving the BVI’s.
We finally arranged for a delivery skipper to sail wind Belle back to France, I am sure you are all thinking what a wimp Jonny is. Actually I didn’t want to do it without a crew I knew and I had promised Sophie I would take her to Disney land, (and the Girls) on our way back.
Our delivery skipper was Damian, a nice Irish guy who also does yacht charters. He has to use walking sticks on land, due to a previous back accident, however once on board he bounded about and we were most impressed, so if you need a skipper look at ().
So finally we left for the ultimate capitalist venture, Disney land, where a million dreams come true and a million dollars are made every day. The funny thing was after 10 minutes the girls wanted to leave. My personal belief is that they found it all to crowded and manufactured after the wonderful experiences of the last year. They just wanted to play in the cupboard in the little house we had rented. In a rather ironic way Sophie and I were rather proud of their reaction, despite spending all the money on what was going to be one of the highlights of our year.
From Disney we went to Itchenor to spend a few weeks waiting for the boat to cross the Atlantic. Fortunately or unfortunately they had very little wind so it took some 5-6 weeks.
Back at Itchenor.
Arriving back at Itchenor was surreal, nothing changed, except that all the kids had grown by a foot or so. I bumped into my brother Jack, and didn’t even recognize him until he said “hello” in a deep gravely voice.
Once back were reunited with our dog Sinbad, he wasn’t that excited to see us, until we started to feed him which just proved to us that he was only loyal to the hand that fed him.
Also at the club we saw the redevelopment which is great, Jean Pudney was totally involved in the renovation.
Sadly Jean and Dad also announced there separation which made our return only more timely. We also saw many friends and enjoyed being back.
Back to the boat.
The boat finally arrived back in Port Carmargue (some 6 weeks after we had left it) I was very glad not to have spent the time crossing. The skipper and crew had had extremely light winds and spent a great deal of time motoring. When we saw the boat it had 20x20 litre diesel tanks strapped to the deck.
It was great to be back on the boat, at the place the whole adventure started. The girls wasted no time in finding their toys, going to the beach and bouncing on the trampoline.
Last sail
It was decided that the best place to sell the boat would be Canet –en –Roussillion which is near Perpignon the boarder of Spain. This is also where Catanas are built. It was about 70 nm from Port Camargue to Canet.
We set of at 6am to a gorgeous sun rise, and light winds, the wind built to about 10 knots, by breakfast, we were going very well and we were all enjoying being back on the water, at about mid day the wind died and we started to motor, when we saw the flick of a tail. Not a whale but a dolphin that made us all drop everything and jump on deck. This was soon followed by more dolphins that played in our bows. We ended up with 50 dolphins swimming with us, playing in our bow waves.
The girls were in heaven and so were Sophie and I, finally we had to head in a different direction, but we all felt that the dolphins had come to say goodbye until next time. The dolphins did a final flip in the air and headed off east while we headed of west.
Canet-en Rousiillon
In Canet we ended up mooring in the development zone, which was basically an empty dock. Near us was an 87 foot Catana, still being built. We met the owner a South African who was off around the world.
Moving.
We had to get our stuff back from France, so we arranged over the internet for a truck on a return run from France to pick up our stuff. When the truck arrived we found out it was a “road train” which is a huge truck and trailer. ( see photo). Our stuff only filled a tiny space. Even though we had 56 boxes of stuff, 3 bicycles an Opi, Canoe.
Final; thoughts
Was it worth it are we going to do it again?
We loved the year. We will go again but when the kids are older and perhaps out of school. We will only do it on a catamaran as we are convinced that this is the only way to do it.
Best bits.
For me the best bit has been spending time with the whole family, the focus away from the office politics and the pure brilliance of the days we have had.
I have also really enjoyed the sailing and the boat is fantastic, doing more than we could imaging. Top speed was 16.4 knots, but Imy has the boat going 14plus knots from Barbuda to St Berths.
We met great friends along the way especially those on Sunsets who made the trip extra special.
The wild life was great and the girls have seen things that I have never seen in 40 plus years, I only hope they remember them.
In the end we have become a closer family and have had a great experience during which we have all grown up (me especially). We had the odd scary moment but no life threatening moments. I always had plan B which was to drive the boat up the nearest beach and jump off with the kids.
Back home.
Now we are back home and our adventures continue….
The girls are going to a new school, I have to find a new job and Sophie has to get used to living on a house.
Wind Belle and the Puds sailed over 6000 nautical miles.
We spent over 300 days at anchor.
Top speed was 16.4 nm per hour
Top days run was 211 nm.
Top spots:
Bequia
Savanah Bay BVI.
Calvi Corsica
Cocoa Beach BARBUDA
Espigette Camargue France
As for this blog, well it might or it might not continue but for now bye bye.
Team Belles
Christmas in the Caribbean
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Photos from BVI by yacht shots: http://www.digiproofs.com/ecom/product_select.pl?select=13986229&p=FtZsPH0
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Northerly swell
While we were in the BVI it is quite easy to get a bit casual with the weather forecasts. However one day we were anchored in Virgin Gorda off Prickly Pear Island when we noticed some quite heavy winds and some big waves out to sea and across the reefs. The wave became so big that they were crashing clean over the bows of any boat trying to leave Virgin Gorda. It was only several days later that we heard this was one of the biggest storms of the year so far, sweeping down from the USA. When the storms come from the USA they bring with them huge swells that get into all the normally quiet anchorages.So we were rather lucky that were were tucked up in Gorda sound.
Following the swells we have 5 days of 35 knot winds. We tied up to a mooring buoy in Sopher hole and just sat it out. However we saw a stream of charter boats braving the elements only to come back into the harbour rather worse for wear.In the harbour all the moorings were full and the harbour was too deep to anchor, but the desperate charterers at the end of a hard days sailing still gave it a try, which resulted in mayhem and dragging. I spent much of my time jumping into the dinghy to assist some poor soul, including one case where the man was on the helm and the wife had locked herself in the cabin. They were so grateful for the help that they bought all the girls presents and me a bottle of very special rum.
Bartrams come to stay. We were so excited to have Lucy, Amber, Tommy and Sebby to stay on board for the week. There was non stop playing, and Amber even admitted she actually quite liked boats as well as ponies. Tommy steered wind belle excellently up wind for 2 hrs in 15 -20 knots.
During the windy week, the BVI regatta was scheduled, and I bumped into Stuart and Emma, with their Swan 70 Stay Clam and crew that included Neil and Lisa Mc Donald.(Lisa and Neil had their new baby with them and it was quite a sight to see Neil changing a nappy and being all googoo over his kid.) Of course he was also the consummate professional sailor and charming but still had time to show interest in the 14s and Itchenor.Any way they invited me sailing and we had great fun, in 30 knots charging along in the big swan. We were the only boat to put our spinny up and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Stay Clam easily won the regatta.
Following the regatta, Emma and Stuart asked the whole Wind Belle crew to spend a day on Stay Calm cruising. Sophie really enjoyed the day off as Hamish and Helen (the crew) looked after us so well, while the girls really enjoyed playing with Amy and Jack who are the Stay Calm kids. I just enjoyed being on a beautiful boat like a Swan for the day. Following this, we spent a couple of really fun days cruising in company with the Stay Clam Gang, including a visit to the legendary Foxys bar in the poring rain.
Barnie and Amanda come to stay.
We had a great week with Barnie, Amanda, Anoushka, and Jack (the green rabbit). The kids played brilliantly together, with Sienna adopting Jack as her own real baby. true Hartley form meant that Jack projectile poohed across the boat. (see last June's blog when Hartley's stayed on the boat). Anoushka had grown up so much that she was really part of the wind Belle girls crew. Anoushka was so impressed with the colour of the sea water that she called it a swimming pool.
Monday, May 5, 2008
March update.
Having celebrated Sophies birthday, now it was time for our friends on Sun Set Sam to return from New Zealand, our girls were delighted and sang the "we've got friends on Sun Sat Sam..." song as we charged down the harbour to see them. It was great to be back amongst our cruising friends and we quickly got back into the old routines.
We set of for Barbuda together and were delighted by what we found at Cocoa beach. Absolutely beautiful beaches and very few other boats. There was one hotel far too smart to have any yachties in it. The parents of friends from Itchenor, the Clatworthies (The Clatworthy parents had been so kind to all us youngsters over the years in the South Of France).
were staying there, so we trooped ashore and were escorted to the Clatters room , by a security guard, where we were allowed a drink out of the eyesight of the hotel management.
We then went around the corner to an 11 mile beach, where the two cats were completely by themselves. Sophie suggested we walk to the end of the beach where there was a hotel, and after cajoling the kids with promises of sweets, Ice cream and drinks we found at the end of the longest walk that the hotel was brand new and would not open for a month. Queue a huge rain storm in which Kevin and I had to walk back along the beach to get the dinghies while the girls and kids sheltered in the hotel lobby with a security guard.
Following day it was really howling and we had to clear out of customs from the local village, called Codrington, and it lived up to its name. To get there we had to carry/drag the dinghies across a sand bar, then we had to motor across a lagoon about 2 miles wide. We all got horribly wet as by now it was blowing 25-30 knots. We arrived at Codrington and realized we had gone back in time. After visits to the the tourist office, customs, police station and immigration (which was in the front room of a house) we felt we had walked around the whole town as each was in a different place.
After this were free to leave, there isn't much else in Codrington. However we were just by the local school when the kids all came out. Our kids and a group of locals began to chat. The locals were intrigued to touch our girls blonde hair and visa versa. They couldn't believe the girls didn't go to school and lived on a boat.
The local girls homework was to write a poem about an animal, the choices of the locals were goats, horses and cats. We decided our girls would do the same homework. These sort of exchanges are just magic and just what we strive to achieve for our girls.
Next we tried to get some lobster, (Barbudas main export). but non were to be had as they were all being flown to Guadeloupe for their restaurants. However the van driver had saved two for his own dinner and on seeing the girls he gave them to us for the kids to try. We offered to pay him, but he would not accept any money. This is the Cara bean we love where the people are unjaded by the tourist and yachty grind. The Lobby were great and we the parents enjoyed every bit of them!
So if you ever have the opportunity to go to Barbuda, do it. It has wonderful beaches nice people and nothing else.
Because we went to Barbuda, we had to miss St Kitts and Nevis, so next stop was St Barts, (not the hospital).
On the way we were sailing along going about 9 knots in 18 knots of wind, when we saw a huge splash about 400 meters in front of the boat on the port bow, I thought it was rocks although a quick glance at the chart said there shouldn't be any there. This was quickly followed by a whale launching itself clean out of the water. The girls shrieked and I headed up to starboard immediately, afraid that we might hit it. Next thing the whale was ten meters from our port side. It was a humpback whale and was about 30 ft long. It swam past us and disappeared off into the distance on some nomadic migration. We were all ecstatic that we had seen another whale even if I secretly was bricking it as it was so close and I thought where you saw one you might see two or a whole herd.
Once we got to St Barts we anchored in the Anchorage, which was a bit like a moving mogul field, with huge waves and an incessant swell. As we were in the anchorage we had to pay a fee, for my most uncomfortable night ever!!
However St barts is french and we did enjoy seeing this mini St Tropez and all the mega yachts& shops. Sienna, insisted in riding her bicycle along the water font. As she has only had 3or 4 chances since she got it for Christmas we agreed however she insisted on riding it in the dinghy too.(see photo.) The others all, scootered or roller bladed down the main promenade. The mums spent their time looking in expensive looking French shop windows while the dads spent their time tutting at the prices and looking for a bar with the 6 nations rugby on.
)
From rolly old Gustave we went to bay Colombier which was magic. they had EU paid for buoys that were free to yachties and a beautiful beach and Bay. We ended up staying for several days.
Then we went on to St Maartin which is half Dutch and half French which just about sums the place up Because it doesn't know what it is..(You would never find a tiny island in anywhere in the world that was half English and half french). We went into the lagoon, through the dutch bridge, but anchored on the other side of the green buoys that showed we were in the french half. This is a great place to visit if you want boat work done, but we personally didn't like being cooped up inside the lagoon, so we made a dash for the French exit.
This sounds simple but involved heart stopping moments as our depth reached zero and the bridge we went through had two feet clearance on each side. Finally we cleared out and headed for the British Virgin Islands to meet our friends Nick and Margo Warner.The trip was 85 nm miles and we made it in about 12 hours in light winds, from dead behind. Our friends on Sun Set Sam left several days after us and ended up doing it in 21 hours.
Once we got to the BVI we found out that the Warners weren't due for a week. I have never been so lackadaisical about time and dates but being one week early kind of shows that we are fully in swing with the cruiser life.
Once in the BVI we had a great time. Especially with the Warners who joined us and Sun Set Sam.They chartered a boat from Horizon and we buddy boated around the BVI. A couple of points of interest were. On our second night we went to White bay, which has a beautiful long sandy beach and the famous Soggy dollar bar. However guess who hadn't checked the weather, the expert local tour guide MR P. This resulted in us staying in White bay with the wind blowing directly into it. The Warners, on a mooring next to the reef were literally rolling from gunwale to gunwale, and when I went to ask if they were all right, they both looked very green.(And margo has done the BT race around the world the wrong way!!). So after an hour or so we decided to move The Warners onto anchor. When the anchor finally bit it left Nick in the middle of the channel markers through the reef. Nick was a bit worried, but we assured him no body would move. So no surprise when a 65 foot Cat wanted to move about ten minutes later. That night Sophie and I were up half the night on this lee shore as the anchor chain was caught around something and was groaning very hard.We seemed to have wrapped ourselves around an underwater rock. Next morning at first light, I dove down on the anchor and found that we had six wraps around an old mooring pin. Luckily it was shallow enough to snorkel and unwrap ourselves. Just as I finished unwrapping the anchor, a 45 ft racing boat, drifted onto the reef. A small amarda of dingies went to help including the boys. One rib, flipped upside down, and there was general chaos. Eventually the boat was dragged off the reef. Too much excitement before my first morning coffee in my books by half.
The other note worthy points were.
1.THE WARNERS DID NOT RAISE THE MAIN SAIL IN A WHOLE WEEK!
2. We caught a fish one night, when I accidentaly left the line in, and the fish was a huge Porgie. Only for Margot to let it fall back into the water on purpose as she was getting the hook out of its mouth.
3. Margot caught a Geko for the girls, which the girls all took turns to hold and squeeze until it was minus a tail and deaded.
4. We had the best BBQ on the beach at Dead Mans Bay (Famous for yoh ho ho and deadmans chest). See photos.
Good Bye Sun Set Sam.
Finally the day came to say good by to our friends on Sun Set Sam. We had cruised with them from the Balearic's in Spain and had some really great times over a 8 month period. We all went over in the dinghy to say our sad farewells, Sophie had her sun glasses on even though it was cloudy, so nobody could see her tears, when all of a sudden she fell in the water as she climbed onto sun set Sam from our dinghy. Good old Soph there wasn't a dry pair of eyes or nickers on the boat as we all wet ourselves laughing. What a way to say good bye with mascara smeared everywhere and dripping wet. (Sun Set Sam went to Panama for a bit of canal boating).
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
CHARGING NORTH IN FEB
Charging North
After putting Wind Belle back in the water, we charged north from Grenada, only stopping briefly to say goodbye to our friends on Tabasco of Sweden.
As you go north in the windward isles you tend to be going northish while the wind tends to come from the north east, which means that you are generally on a close hauled fetch. In addition to the wind you have the waves which can be quite large as they have rolled across the Atlantic until they meet you and the islands. I.e. its not much fun and can be quite to very uncomfortable.
The highlight of our trip north must have been Martinique, which is 20 miles from St Lucia, but is actually still part of France. We stayed in a lovely bay called St Anne, which has a beautiful church and village square as if you were in France. While we were there we saw a lot of people in Costumes, men dressed as women, women dressed as men and the kids dressed in all sorts of colours. It turned out to be Carnival, and it lasted three days, with masses of noise every night and marching bands and dancing in the streets.
The other thing about French Islands is the amount of investment compared to the previous English Islands. So when you go to a supermarket, it really is super and has all the same stuff as France.
After St Anne we went to St Pierre which is also in Martinique, it came to fame as a place where a volcano erupted and killed all the towns people except the prisoner in the darkest deepest dungeon. We didn’t hang around. We also saw a school of over 50 dolphin Yawn yawn. Actually we still get very excited every time we see one.
We stopped briefly in Dominica, but have little to say except that as the guide book said the wind can howl on the leeward side of the Island. We saw 38 knots but luckily as we were sailing in the lee the sea was very smooth and we scooted along with only one reef in.
Then on to Guadeloupe, where we really liked the Saints. This is a picture post card village, and again you get fresh baguettes and croissants.
From Guadeloupe we went to English harbour Antigua, which is where the famous Nelsons dockyard is. It is great fun to walk around as it feels like a very active dockyard, not a museum, and you can just imagine what it was like in Nelsons days.
What a drag!
We anchored in Freeman’s bay right by the beach, where the wind swirls around and around and you tend to meet you neighbour in the middle of the night. We spent the night dragging, the same thing happened the next night and we had anchor watch on. I.e. very little sleep. The wind was forecast to increase to 30 knots so we decided to move into the mangroves for a nice safe anchorage.
Bumper boats in the Mangroves.
We did the text book manoeuvre, and dropped our anchor to fall back towards the mangroves which we would tie a stern rope around. So far so good, until our bow fell off and we dragged onto a charter boat. Then we both got tangled and both locked together started to drag, our anchors wrapped together and mostly around our starboards propeller. We then drifted rather swiftly towards the Sunsail charter base and fleet, Sophie made a diving lunge with a bit of rope and tide up to a moored boat. And the armada ground to a halt. Ironically we were only feet away from our friends on Sun Set Sam who had left their boat safely tucked up in the mangroves while they went back to New Zealand for three weeks. I kept praying we would not hit them and Sophie kept praying that Scottie would beam us up.
After a bit of help from Sunsail base team and the TMC charter boat Captain and crew who turned out to be from Chichester Yacht club, we found out the problem. We had snagged a disused mooring, and all its chains and ropes that had been lying on the bottom unseen since Nelsons days. (IE not buoy or float).Sophie was in tears and I was in quite a state. At this moment a group of rubber neckers turned up in a water taxi. Sophie was about to tell them where to go when she recognized them as Jim and Graine her parents who had turned up as a surprise to celebrate her very important birthday that weekend. Even more tears followed and flowed. This also explains why I had made us sail through the windy and rough weather from Grenada, as I knew Jim and Graine were coming, but couldn’t tell Sophie or slow down the boat, however ill or tired we were all feeling.
We also saw fellow Itchenor members, Nigel and Elizabeth Pattison, we could spot them easily as they swam around the bay in white sun hats. It is a wonder that one of the sunsail boats didn’t try to moor up to them. Elizabeth put on a superb High tea on their boat Chantel for the girls. The girls really enjoyed the Cucumber sandwiches and popcorn dipped in marmite. Sadly Elizabeth and Nigel had sold Chantel that day so it will be our last high tea in the Caribbean.
Birthdays and grockles
For Sophie’s birthday we went to Nonsuch Bay and Harmony Hall for lunch, after a great meal we anchored off Green Island which was great. So good that we stayed for 3 days. It is just like all the holiday brochures except no hotels or people or so we thought. Now I am not a snob, well not a huge one but….As we sat on our deserted beach, with only two other boats at anchor, a rib arrived with 20 people, 20 minutes later a sailing cat turned up with 30 people, then a huge motor cat turned up with 60 people and music blaring. Suffice to say that the once deserted beach now was as packed as bennidorm and there were more tattoos and beer guts than I have ever seen and that was just on the women. However after an hour our friends from package holiday land left and we had the place all to ourselves once again. As we had a full moon we did a beach BBQ, the girls did a good job foraging for wood and sticks and some local fishermen gave us their spare wood.
Atlantic rowers
While we were in English harbour a boat from the Atlantic rowing challenge arrived, with two French men in after 72 days crossing the ocean. We were amazed to see the size of their boat and the exposed position that they had to row in. In addition we couldn’t believe that they had spent quite so long in the boat. See photos. We also saw or a four man or a should say women boat arrive some two days later. The women had to be helped from the boat and were understandably wobbly on their feet. The youngest women was 17 yrs old. It seemed our own crossing in Wind Belle was a walk in the park by comparison. I respect their achievements but think they must be mad.
2 degrees of separation.
While anchored off Pigeon beach in Falmouth, two people swam up to the boat. They said " I know it sounds funny, but I think your brother operated on our daughter two days ago". And so it turned out that ben had done a op for the ST Johns who were subsequently out in Antigua staying at there house across the bay. What a small world.
A head for heights.
While in English harbour we climbed up the hill from the Calabash to Shirley heights. It was quite a climb for the kids and I hated the vertical drop offs on each side. But after about 40 minutes we arrived at the top to see one of the best views in the world, and also a very well deserved rum punch. As it was Thursday the crowds that are normally there on a Sunday were not around so we almost had the place to ourselves.
Old friends.
We were delighted to meet up with our friends the Burnets who were staying in Willoughby bay for two weeks. They provided a welcome refresh on the UK social scene. Amazingly we had met Lucy and Simon at antenatal classes in Clapham when Imy was due. The Burnet boys and the Pudney girls got on like a house on fire and we enjoyed the catching up on all the gossip from home. Lucy very kindly invited us to the house they were staying at , and we took all our laundry, The girls also enjoyed having an unlimited shower, while Sienna, said she liked a house because it had grass.
While in English harbour we also saw Debbie and Ras and also a whole contingent of Itchenor elder folk, who had stopped in Antigua as part of their cruise liner trip.
Finally we caught up with Alistair Ashford and Jackie plus Steve Roose at the horizon base in Antigua. They have a tremendous operation and Antigua has many cruising stops so give them a call if you want a fun but windy week or two.
After putting Wind Belle back in the water, we charged north from Grenada, only stopping briefly to say goodbye to our friends on Tabasco of Sweden.
As you go north in the windward isles you tend to be going northish while the wind tends to come from the north east, which means that you are generally on a close hauled fetch. In addition to the wind you have the waves which can be quite large as they have rolled across the Atlantic until they meet you and the islands. I.e. its not much fun and can be quite to very uncomfortable.
The highlight of our trip north must have been Martinique, which is 20 miles from St Lucia, but is actually still part of France. We stayed in a lovely bay called St Anne, which has a beautiful church and village square as if you were in France. While we were there we saw a lot of people in Costumes, men dressed as women, women dressed as men and the kids dressed in all sorts of colours. It turned out to be Carnival, and it lasted three days, with masses of noise every night and marching bands and dancing in the streets.
The other thing about French Islands is the amount of investment compared to the previous English Islands. So when you go to a supermarket, it really is super and has all the same stuff as France.
After St Anne we went to St Pierre which is also in Martinique, it came to fame as a place where a volcano erupted and killed all the towns people except the prisoner in the darkest deepest dungeon. We didn’t hang around. We also saw a school of over 50 dolphin Yawn yawn. Actually we still get very excited every time we see one.
We stopped briefly in Dominica, but have little to say except that as the guide book said the wind can howl on the leeward side of the Island. We saw 38 knots but luckily as we were sailing in the lee the sea was very smooth and we scooted along with only one reef in.
Then on to Guadeloupe, where we really liked the Saints. This is a picture post card village, and again you get fresh baguettes and croissants.
From Guadeloupe we went to English harbour Antigua, which is where the famous Nelsons dockyard is. It is great fun to walk around as it feels like a very active dockyard, not a museum, and you can just imagine what it was like in Nelsons days.
What a drag!
We anchored in Freeman’s bay right by the beach, where the wind swirls around and around and you tend to meet you neighbour in the middle of the night. We spent the night dragging, the same thing happened the next night and we had anchor watch on. I.e. very little sleep. The wind was forecast to increase to 30 knots so we decided to move into the mangroves for a nice safe anchorage.
Bumper boats in the Mangroves.
We did the text book manoeuvre, and dropped our anchor to fall back towards the mangroves which we would tie a stern rope around. So far so good, until our bow fell off and we dragged onto a charter boat. Then we both got tangled and both locked together started to drag, our anchors wrapped together and mostly around our starboards propeller. We then drifted rather swiftly towards the Sunsail charter base and fleet, Sophie made a diving lunge with a bit of rope and tide up to a moored boat. And the armada ground to a halt. Ironically we were only feet away from our friends on Sun Set Sam who had left their boat safely tucked up in the mangroves while they went back to New Zealand for three weeks. I kept praying we would not hit them and Sophie kept praying that Scottie would beam us up.
After a bit of help from Sunsail base team and the TMC charter boat Captain and crew who turned out to be from Chichester Yacht club, we found out the problem. We had snagged a disused mooring, and all its chains and ropes that had been lying on the bottom unseen since Nelsons days. (IE not buoy or float).Sophie was in tears and I was in quite a state. At this moment a group of rubber neckers turned up in a water taxi. Sophie was about to tell them where to go when she recognized them as Jim and Graine her parents who had turned up as a surprise to celebrate her very important birthday that weekend. Even more tears followed and flowed. This also explains why I had made us sail through the windy and rough weather from Grenada, as I knew Jim and Graine were coming, but couldn’t tell Sophie or slow down the boat, however ill or tired we were all feeling.
We also saw fellow Itchenor members, Nigel and Elizabeth Pattison, we could spot them easily as they swam around the bay in white sun hats. It is a wonder that one of the sunsail boats didn’t try to moor up to them. Elizabeth put on a superb High tea on their boat Chantel for the girls. The girls really enjoyed the Cucumber sandwiches and popcorn dipped in marmite. Sadly Elizabeth and Nigel had sold Chantel that day so it will be our last high tea in the Caribbean.
Birthdays and grockles
For Sophie’s birthday we went to Nonsuch Bay and Harmony Hall for lunch, after a great meal we anchored off Green Island which was great. So good that we stayed for 3 days. It is just like all the holiday brochures except no hotels or people or so we thought. Now I am not a snob, well not a huge one but….As we sat on our deserted beach, with only two other boats at anchor, a rib arrived with 20 people, 20 minutes later a sailing cat turned up with 30 people, then a huge motor cat turned up with 60 people and music blaring. Suffice to say that the once deserted beach now was as packed as bennidorm and there were more tattoos and beer guts than I have ever seen and that was just on the women. However after an hour our friends from package holiday land left and we had the place all to ourselves once again. As we had a full moon we did a beach BBQ, the girls did a good job foraging for wood and sticks and some local fishermen gave us their spare wood.
Atlantic rowers
While we were in English harbour a boat from the Atlantic rowing challenge arrived, with two French men in after 72 days crossing the ocean. We were amazed to see the size of their boat and the exposed position that they had to row in. In addition we couldn’t believe that they had spent quite so long in the boat. See photos. We also saw or a four man or a should say women boat arrive some two days later. The women had to be helped from the boat and were understandably wobbly on their feet. The youngest women was 17 yrs old. It seemed our own crossing in Wind Belle was a walk in the park by comparison. I respect their achievements but think they must be mad.
2 degrees of separation.
While anchored off Pigeon beach in Falmouth, two people swam up to the boat. They said " I know it sounds funny, but I think your brother operated on our daughter two days ago". And so it turned out that ben had done a op for the ST Johns who were subsequently out in Antigua staying at there house across the bay. What a small world.
A head for heights.
While in English harbour we climbed up the hill from the Calabash to Shirley heights. It was quite a climb for the kids and I hated the vertical drop offs on each side. But after about 40 minutes we arrived at the top to see one of the best views in the world, and also a very well deserved rum punch. As it was Thursday the crowds that are normally there on a Sunday were not around so we almost had the place to ourselves.
Old friends.
We were delighted to meet up with our friends the Burnets who were staying in Willoughby bay for two weeks. They provided a welcome refresh on the UK social scene. Amazingly we had met Lucy and Simon at antenatal classes in Clapham when Imy was due. The Burnet boys and the Pudney girls got on like a house on fire and we enjoyed the catching up on all the gossip from home. Lucy very kindly invited us to the house they were staying at , and we took all our laundry, The girls also enjoyed having an unlimited shower, while Sienna, said she liked a house because it had grass.
While in English harbour we also saw Debbie and Ras and also a whole contingent of Itchenor elder folk, who had stopped in Antigua as part of their cruise liner trip.
Finally we caught up with Alistair Ashford and Jackie plus Steve Roose at the horizon base in Antigua. They have a tremendous operation and Antigua has many cruising stops so give them a call if you want a fun but windy week or two.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Chocolate plantation
Beans are dried in the sun
You turn the beans over by shufflingyour feet.
Don't worry ours are clean.
Cocco pod growing on trees. The girls all wanted
us to have trees like this in our garden.
Jan 2008
St Davids Bay, with our luxuary hotel behind
Sandy kay
A local church that was hit by hrricane Ivan.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Post Christmas fun
BBQ by Shark Attack
BBQ under an old sail
Sienna raising the Grenada flag
Fresh coconut juice in the market
Spice market
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