Since our arrival in St Lucia at the end of ARC on 15 December 2012 Johanem has had a good few months in the Caribbean. We sailed south as far as Tobago Cays and back to Rodney Bay over Christmas and New Year with son Richard, daughter Lizzie and Eve, a friend of Lizzie's. A further trip took place over second half of Feb with Nick's sister , Ros and her husband Patrick down to Grenada and back to Rodney Bay. Grenada is a fabulous destination. We had a lovely day tour to a chocolate estate and spice shop. we also saw the old airport, which is no longer used, at Grenville which still had a couple of old burnt out planes on it as a reminder of the US "invasion" .
The start of April saw Nick arrive out with a group of chaps who brought the boat up from St Lucia to Antigua. Some lovely adventures were had ashore in Dominica bird watching together with a tour up Union River and Monserrat where they all went as close as feasible to the old capital city of Plymouth that was wiped out by the volcano! Boo together with Allan and Sue Stewart from Ullenhall and Jan and Stuart Ponder from London joined the boat in Antigua for the sail to the BVI. The weather was very wet for the first couple of days (space blankets and cup a soup employed!) but thereafter it was all set fair.
The most intriguing element is how diverse the islands are despite being relatively close together. Depending on nationality etc. The prime example being between St Kitts and St Barts which is French! One very basic and the latter very high end with cafes , upmarket shops etc.A half acre beachfront site is for sale for 12 m euros whilst this sum would probably buy half of St Kitts. The BVI is fantastic cruising when you arrive with all the islands an easy sail and a few rum punches have been imbibed!! Lots of turtles too!
We have been very fortunate throughout the trip with some lovely motley crew,locations, snorkelling, fishing, swimming and laughter.
The crew to Bermuda are:-
Nick, Boo, Ian Beckman, Crispin Auden, Simon Figgis and Giles de Lothbiniere.
Tomorrow sees the start of ARC Europe from BVI to Portugal via Bermuda and Azores. We leave tomorrow at 12 noon. The forecast is very little wind and what there is is on the nose! Quelle surprise!!!!
We hope this finds you all in good health and enjoying all that life has to offer. JFDI for ever!
Nick and Boo