We had a ball in Marigot bay since new year eve. So pleased Jonine and Vic insisted that we joined them! we had a fabulous time.It will be hard to leave the bubble tomorrow and the beautiful pool at the resort. Ian’s friends, Sue and Ian, are with us for a fortnight and it is time to move off.
We will probably stop off at Soufriere on the way down to Bequia which is our first destination.
Birthday boy enjoying the sun in Marigot Bay…. Tough life! Well deserved treat after slumming it across the ocean. Really feel like we have arrived in the Caribbean at last!
Last one in the ARC fleet we reached St Lucia on Saturday 17th December, after nearly a month at sea. We were so excited to have got there and totally overwhelmed by our reception… the whole marina seemed to be clapping, cheering, tooting their fog horn for our arrival. Even friends from the ARC+, turned up much to our surprise. It was very emotional, the rhum punch did help though. We were the last boat in before the prize giving ceremony. Barely time to tie the boat up and we were whisked to the prize giving… got the wooden spoon award! And then party! It was just brilliant to catch up with everyone and share our experiences.
What an adventure….we did not expect to stop in Cape Verde -we had to turn back and put our disruptive crew member ashore. Lesson learned: forget internet crew search and trial sail for all crew from now on! Will tell more when the dust has settled, the story needs to be told! The passage from Cape Verde was fantastic, we had a ball.
Both Richard have now gone and we are home alone. Need time to chill and regroup, where better than St Lucia for Christmas in the sun?
Finally , everyone is here, and we will be starting our crossing of the Atlantic on Sunday. Well nearly, all we need is our forestay back on, Did a bit of rock painting this afternoon for light relief… Mr X is so very handsome! Well done Halahala!
Sunday 6th November
Waving off the fleet of the ARC+
Wish we were going with them, hopefully we will catch up with some of them on the other side of the Atlantic.
True to her word, Karen came and found us in Gran Canaria.
Glad she did, we had such a good time, well I certainly enjoyed it and I think she did too. It was great to catch up, reminisce and gossip.
And much to my surprise she did want to try the sailing thing too.
See how she got on…
After 5 nights and 5 days at sea, we arrived in Las Palmas on the 28th September.
Success, our first long passage (720 miles) only the 2 of us went smoothly, despite some stiff wind and very tall waves.
It was a test both for us and Mr X, think we all passed with flying colours!
Good news, after weeks of looking for her, we finally found her. Gabriella will join us in las Palmas for our trans-Atlantic, she brings some experience of ocean crossings which will be invaluable. Can’t wait to see the synchronised sextant team in action! Ian is really looking forward to this.
That is it, we have had a week in Gibraltar, time to leave tomorrow. We will head for the Canaries and hopefully it will only be a week passage if the wind is kind to us.
We have had a ball in Gibraltar, highlights: going to the top of the Rock and meeting Diana and John after some years. Oh and yes, we did have the oil leaks sorted and we don’t need to have the engine out… Result! Will write more about our stay in Gibraltar, should have more time at sea without the distraction of onshore entertainment….
To find out what we got up to in Gibraltar…Read more
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We had a full week sailing from Cartagena to Gibraltar, so both Richards could get used to the boat before we set off across the Atlantic.
Quite an eventful week…will we make it???
