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Our flight lands as scheduled at around 3 pm. We dutifully wait until others have disembarked to make sure we stay socially distanced. Once off the plane we join the “negative test result” queue and are given red wrist bands. Everything gets a little bit scary when an official tells us our PCR tests aren’t […]
Back on board we stow the dinghy, with some stress as the winch comes apart and we can’t repair it. It’s starting to look like our easy remaining sailing days may not be that easy after all… In our last blog, we found ourselves in Dominica. We’d just completed our first border crossing, from Guadeloupe, […]
Back at our pontoon (which has very good security), we encounter a little too much naked Frenchman. The group on the yacht next door has decided that all men should shower fully naked on deck. When you’re moored side by side, rather than on anchor, it’s a little close for comfort! TRIGGER WARNING – Bereavement, […]
There’s a swell, and big waves that we bounce off, meaning a fair soaking to keep us awake. I sit on the cockpit sole, my favourite place when it’s wild. We’re making good time and feeling the end is near when I spot that the backstays are flapping. The forestays must also be, as the […]
Just as I’m standing on the coach roof pulling down the last of the mainsail Colin makes an exclamation. I turn around to see the fishing line wasn’t just stuck on the dinghy, it had a fish on it! A sizeable one that’s still alive! We’re dumbfounded for a minute, then bring it in. We’d […]
We walk up the steep hill to Firefly and arrive in the midst of a glamorous party. A woman bee-lines over to us, arms wide open. Before we can react she hugs and kisses us and says it’s great to see us again. It’s all so sudden we just smile. We wrestle with coming clean […]
Catching a mooring ball and adding an extra rope is a farce. It takes four of us. At least I think I’m taking an active role – I’m sitting on Colin’s bum to stop him going over! The closing advice from our Coastal Skipper practical in 2016 was that we needed to get out and […]
Clifton looks like the Caribbean in people’s dreams. Shallow reefs and sand bars make the water a stunning range of turquoise and blue shades. Palm trees line the beaches. Yachts bob around peacefully, and a kite surfer dots about inside the reef. Immediately after we completed our Day Skipper practical course in the BVIs in […]
We end up abandoning plans to practice tacking and gybing, and have to motor for the full crossing. There isn’t even enough wind to motor-sail. We are practically becalmed, the sea inky and still. In October 2015, immediately after doing our RYA Competent Crew practical in the BVIs, we took our Day Skipper practical. We’d […]
“Cow!” Skipper Mick shouts from the helm. We confusedly jump across to the starboard side and follow his outstretched finger, catching a glimpse of a green scaly head before it disappears below the waves. We look back at Mick. “Well, you can’t shout turtle. They’ll know you’re on to them”. This is the story of […]