Christmas in Bequia

Well, the plan has changed (again!) and we've decided to stay in Bequia for Christmas. I knew that Ron had fallen in love with the place and it came as no surprise to him when he realised I was smitten too!

We had two wonderful sails from St Lucia, one of 48 miles to Wallilabou Bay on St Vincent - 15-20 kts on the beam, Zahara was skipping along at 5 to 7 knots and we saw a pod of dolphins, albeit at a distance. The other sail was a shorter hop from Wallilabou (where they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean) to Bequia, almost a carbon copy of the first.

Lots of boats have converged on Bequia for Christmas from range of nationalities (Scandinavians aplenty, Canadians, Americans, French, Dutch, Germans and of course British boats) including some ARC boats and the atmosphere is relaxed, laid back but cosmopolitan!

We've had a busy few days for one reason or another. The day before last we had some fun and games anchoring the boat having decided to move to the northern side of the bay and ended up returning to where we started......I have to say that anchoring 6 times in four hours is hard work! Anyway, we are happily settled in the anchorage off Princess Margaret beach and looking forward to a traditional Christmas dinner on Christmas Day.

Bequia - here we come!

Here we are, in Marigot Bay where we spent our first few days together in April. Ron is very at home having spent several months here. He's delighted and relieved to be out of Rodney Bay with all the maintenance sucessfully completed on Zahara. After 5000 miles since she was last tended to, we are glad there was nothing seriously wrong. We had a wonderful shake down sail yesterday (Tuesday 14th), Zahara certainly seemed to relish having her bottom wet after 10 days in the yard. On arrival in Marigot, she was complimented on her good looks and I have to say she does look quite splendid, picture will appear in due course.

We leave for Bequia at dawn tomorrow with fried egg and bacon butties for breakfast as we pass the Pitons (http://fashiontribes.typepad.com/main/images/st_lucia_pitons_and_caribbean_sea_4.jpg). We expect to be in Bequia for a couple of nights before heading to Tobago Cays (http://www.ibiscruiseline.com/images/tobago_cays_a%C3%A9rienne.jpg)and the Union Island for Christmas.

Return to paradise

Well, I've finally arrived back in St Lucia, although the journey was not without its hiccups (note to self: start packing the day before....) which meant I missed the train to Gatwick as well as forgetting to pack my floppy sun hat and one of Ron's Christmas presents! The flight left on time and arrived 10 minutes early - it was absolutely delightful to get glimpses of places I'd already visited as the plane made its approach to Hewanorra airport. Ron met me and Curtis the taxi driver drove us back to Rodney Bay. I'd been expecting to be living on Zahara in the boatyard for the next few days while Ron finished off the painting (and other tasks that I'll get him to explain in due course.........) but was pleasantly surprised when we were dropped off at the hotel across the road from the Marina. Ron had decided that we needed to be away from the boat - in actual fact, Ron has worked so hard the last couple of weeks that he deserves some luxury for a few days!!

After freshening up, we headed into the Marina for a lime daiquiri and got chatting to a couple of lads off Steinlager II (go Google it!) and a then had a lovely meal at Bosun's. We stopped to listen to one of the steel bands that had set up - there's a real party atmosphere in the marina now with more and more ARC boats arriving every day. It's great for me to be able to experience something of what it was like for Ron when he arrived a year ago.

Ron went to the boatyard first thing this morning to finish off the painting (a grey stripe along the waterline) and after a great breakfast, headed off the hardware store for the last bits and pieces for the boat. Ron will return to the boat this afternoon to put on the second coat and tomorrow (Sunday) he will have the day off and we shall do nothing except perhaps lie by the pool and swim and drink cold Piton!

With any luck, Zahara will go back in the water on Monday and we'll have one final night in Rodney Bay before heading off to Marigot Bay for a couple of nights. Then it's off to The Grenadines and Christmas in................???

Snowy Hamble

While Ron toils in 28 degree heat and tops up his suntan, I've been struggling with the cold. Life looked much better, however, when I finally located my fleecy hat with ear flaps. In Hamble, we'd seen little more than a dusting of snow until last night - it started snowing properly around 9pm and when I woke this morning there was a covering at least 6 inches deep. Ruth's cat, Mr Boots, was distinctly unimpressed but did eventually venture out (more than once!). I wrapped up warm at lunchtime and headed out to the river to take some photos.

I thought it was about time the skipper made an appearance!

For the record,this blog has replaced the original http://blog.mailasail.com/zahara. If anyone is interested, this is still active and shows the track from the UK and across the 'Pond' almost exactly a year ago. The advantage of that one was that it could be updated by satellite and had a GPS based automatic positioning sysetm. Very useful in mid-Atlantic but, very expensive and not really needed now we will be languishing in the Caribbean for a while. The great advantage with this one, is that Dee will make most of the entries, leaving me to spend my valuable time on more important matters, like making sure the fridge is stocked with beer, erecting the hammock etc....

At the moment I am still in Marigot Bay, St Lucia and trying to complete necessary work before Dee arrives on Dec 10th. Apart from a fuel line problem yesterday all is well but I won't be totally happy until she comes out of the water in Rodney Bay on the 3rd for Antifouling etc (That's Zahara, not Dee!) She goes back in on the morning of the 10th, Dee arrives the same afternoon then, after a few day's in St lucia, it's south to the Grenadines for Christmas...... well, someone has to do it!

Dee in training......

Ron suggested a while ago that Dee might consider doing the Yachtmaster theory course over the winter to give her a better insight into what this sailing malarkey was all about. As a result, Dee booked a course and armed with a Portland plotter and a pair of dividers, is off to Hamble School of Yachting tomorrow (20th Nov) for the first day of six. The course runs over three consecutive weekends with three exams (eeeek!). Updates to follow!

Return to St Lucia - Take Two - Update

Well, Ron did actually make it onto the plane this time and is winging his way to sunny St Lucia. We have it on good authority from 3 separate people that the boat is still floating, thank goodness, but it remains to be seen what Ron will find when he removes the washboards later today...the worst case scenario being infestations of cockroaches/rats/millipedes not to mention the engine ankle deep (or whatever the technical name is for engine ankles) in water.

Meanwhile, Dee has resumed the countdown........26 days till she gets on the plane herself!

Return to St Lucia - Take Two

We'll be heading off to Gatwick in a short while for a re-run of 2 weeks ago. Hopefully, Ron will actually arrive in St Lucia this time as he has quite a bit to do on Zahara before Dee arrives on 10th December. To add to the fun, it looks like a tropical disturbance could steam through the Windward Islands on Tuesday or Wednesday; thankfully it doesn't look like conditions are favourable for it to develop into a tropical storm (or worse)....!

Bonfires, fireworks and curry

We headed to London on Saturday to see Dee's sisters and their families. This was a trip Dee had been expecting to do on her own as Ron should have been back in St Lucia, so being able to go together was a bonus!

We stayed with Ab, Sean and their two boys on Saturday. Ron did some male bonding with Sean as they built and ignited a very good bonfire to get rid of a serious amount of garden debris. Sean was in charge of fireworks, Ron saw to the mulled wine (went down a treat) and Dee ensured that the bonfire didn't go out (great fanning technique with a piece of cardboard). All this was followed by a very good takeaway curry.

On Sunday we headed across London to visit Tam, Rick and their 3 children. After a wonderful church service with 4 baptisms, we enjoyed a lovely lunch and some sumptuous puddings including a cheesecake baked by Rick.

Hurricane update - part 2

Ron's flight was finally cancelled late Monday morning and he made his way home by train. It was scheduled to stop at Swanwick but in an effort to make up the lost time caused by leaving Gatwick 5 minutes late, the driver announced while at the station before, that the train wasn't going to stop at Swanwick! It goes without saying that Ron is taking great pleasure in writing a very "nice" snotogram to Southern rail. The train he was on terminated at Southampton Central and then immediately set off again back towards Swanwick.......only 45 minutes later than scheduled!!

The news from St Lucia isn't good. There are reports of 14 fatalities, mud slides, roads and bridges washed away.......it appears that Soufriere in the west is cut off, getting into the capital, Castries, is not easy and communications from the south where the airport is to the north where the tourist resorts are are pretty much non existant.

Thankfully, Zahara has escaped unscathed thanks to the staff at the marina putting their hurricane plan into effect as well as the preparations Ron made before flying back to the UK.

Ron now intends to return to St Lucia on 14th November, always assuming the airport has fully reopened.......!

Hurricane update

Ron is still at Gatwick - his flight has been delayed till 1300 tomorrow (1st Nov) so he's enjoying the delights of the Hilton hotel at Virgin Atlantic's expense (I gather the pear and apricot crumble was delicious but he balked at paying £4.95 for a Peroni!).

What's not clear is whether Ron will be able to get to Marigot Bay from the airport once he arrives. We've heard that the heavy rainfall has caused landslides with roads and bridges washed away. Fingers crossed that Curtis the taxi driver makes it to the airport to collect Ron!

Hurricanes hardly ever happen.....

.......except when Ron wants to go back to Zahara in St Lucia!

The island has been ravaged by hurricane Tomas overnight. The southern end was particularly badly affected and that's where Hewanorra airport is (was?!) located. We got a text message from Virgin Atlantic at 0645 this morning to say the flight had been delayed by 4 hours and we're still at the B&B and we suspect the flight will be cancelled - BA have already cancelled their flight to St L.

We think that Zahara is OK as she is being well looked after by the marina staff in Marigot Bay which is a well known "hurricane hole". Although Tomas was only a Category 1 hurricane (out of 5), it still gave mean wind speeds of 70kts in the eye wall which went over St Vincent, just to the south of St Lucia. Nevertheless, winds of 40-45 kts were widespread with gusts in excess of 60kts and caused considerable damage to power lines, trees, etc. In addition, several inches of rain have fallen and we've seen reports of bridges and roads washed away. Ron will be contacting his taxi driver later this morning to get a full update on the situation! We're just hoping that Virgin make a decision to cancel the flight sooner rather than later as we just want to go home and Ron doesn't want to get back to an island that's in a mess, and it's unlikely he'd be able to get back to Marigot Bay from the airport due to fallen trees, flooding......... :-(

Still, if two meteorologists can't be philosophical about weather related trauma, who can?!

For those interested in these things, here's a link to the NOAA hurricane site:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

If you click on "tropical weather discussion" you can access a satellite imagery animation.

Updates will follow.......

A terrific time in Topsham

Ron travelled to Topsham on Thursday evening and Dee followed on Friday. We were staying with Ron's friend Chris (that makes 10 beds since Ron arrived in the UK....) in nearby Ebford and on Saturday morning we made our way into Topsham for a famous Route 2 breakfast. Ron reckoned this was the BEST breakfast anywhere and Dee had to agree. A long, leisurely walk around Topsham went someway to walking off the calories but we did have to visit the cheese shop before returning to Chris' house.....oh, and stop off at Dart's Farm for tea (and cake).....well, it was 4pm by this time!

Dinner was at the famous Denley's and 10 of us sat down to eat one of the best curries ever: Ron and Dee, Chris and Marg, Ian and Gilly, Peter and Maureen and Ray and Ali, the latter two not Topsham residents but friends that Ron had made during the trip to Las Palmas for the start of the ARC last November (not to mention the partying in St Lucia once they all arrived!).

Chris had arranged for Ian, Gilly, Peter and Maureen to join us for lunch on Sunday so the morning was taken up with veg prep as well as a lovely walk. Chris and Marg put on a fabulous roast pork lunch with all the trimmings followed by not one, not two but three desserts brought by the guests. Ron and Dee headed off into Topsham after lunch so Ron could show Dee just how lovely the river looks when it's sunny and after a quick visit to another of Ron's friends called Lori, we headed off back to Hamble.

Sorry there aren't any pictures.........it always helps to pack the camera!

Topsham

We're off to Topsham this weekend......details and maybe some photos to follow!

Solent Sailing

Ron's friends Ian and Lyn invited us to go sailing with them on their yacht E'le May in mid September. The pressure was on to come up with some decent weather and to our considerable relief, the weather gods played along. We sailed from Hornet sailing club in Gosport on Saturday morning and had a wonderful trip up the Solent to Newtown Creek on the Isle of Wight where we dropped anchor and had lunch. After lunch, we headed off across the Solent to the Beaulieu river entrance and then up river to Buckler's Hard where we moored up for the night.

On Sunday morning we set off back down the Solent with a very brisk wind on the starboard quarter and enjoyed another wonderful sail back to Gosport. Anyone who sails in the Solent regularly will understand how great it was not to have to sail the whole time against the wind!!

Yet more Grand Tour

We headed off to Lincolnshire (via Tim's Mum's house for tea and cake) where we had a picnic date with John and Sylvia, friends of Ron at Tolethorpe Hall followed by outdoor Shakespeare, a lovely production of Much Ado About Nothing. Thankfully it stayed dry (almost) but I was very glad of Ron's coat across my knees! We stayed the night at The Willoughby Arms in Little Bytham and the following morning set off to explore Stamford (some great retail therapy for both of us) before heading off to John and Sylvia's house near Ely.

Their house is lovely, the garden is even lovelier full of fruit trees (including a fig tree that produces the most delectable fruit) and a considerable number of tomato plants not to mention the chickens (who seem to enjoy the fig skins as much as we enjoyed the fig insides!). We had a rather damp afternoon in Cambridge, were delighted to find Serrano ham in the market (perfect with ripe figs!) and then spent a while at the Fitzwilliam museum. The highlight of our stay with John and Sylvia was a day out at Newmarket races which included travelling there in a gold Rolls Royce and picnicing in the car park before the racing got underway. We didn't quite lose our shirts on the horses, in fact Ron enjoyed himself so much he's determined to go again before he goes back to St Lucia.

Our final weekend away was based in Guildford where we had dinner with my friend Claire and her husband Doug. Sunday was Cricket Day, a train journey to London and a day out at Lord's. Sadly, we were there the day after The News of the World's revelations about match fixing so the atmosphere was rather subdued and the test match was all over in an hour and a half. We didn't even get to see the prize giving as it was held behind closed doors. On the plus side, lunch was fabulous: some of Sylvia's wonderful figs with Serrano ham from the lovely Spanish chap in Cambridge market all washed down with a bottle of Crabbies (thanks, Kate, for introducing us to it!).

We returned to Hamble on Bank Holiday Monday and Dee has been busy getting up to speed at work. Ron has spent the week in Topsham seeing old friends and sorting "stuff" (I believe curry and golf has also featured....!).

The Grand Tour - Part 2

The last 3 weeks have gone by so quickly and we've crammed a fair bit in too. We left the B&B near Romsey on 4th August to drive to Manchester to stay with Ron's son Peter and his wife Jenny. En route we stopped off to see my friend Charlotte and her husband Henry near Warwick where we had time to admire Henry's coy carp collection, not to mention a very impressive raised pond. Sadly, I had contracted a nasty head cold and was seriously under the weather for a week.

We had a great time with Peter and Jenny (Ron's son and daughter-in-law) in Manchester, some great food (including the obligatory curry), loads of bowling and golf on the Wii (me beating Peter at bowling was only forgiven because I beat Ron at golf) and some real bowling (we'll draw a veil over my performance.......).

Next stop was my friend Lizabeth and her husband Paul who live in a fab house near Lamplugh in the Lake District. We did a couple of longish walks, one over Rannerdale Knots (great cake in the cafe in Buttermere afterwards) and the other close to Loweswater. The only really wet day we spent in Keswick picking up a number of bargains and discovering the joys of Booth's the supermarket. We took Lizabeth and Paul out to lunch at Armathwaite and had a wonderful four course lunch in a gorgeous setting overlooking Bassenthwaite water, ending the day with a leisurely walk round the northern shore of Ennerdale water and a drink outside the Shepherd Arms.

We're currently in Baildon, near Bradford staying with Ron's daughter Kate and her fiance Tim. Kate took some time off work and we've had some wonderful days out including walks at Malham tarn and cove, a trip on the Keighley Worth Valley railway (my first time on a steam train) and an afternoon at Salt's mill where we spent a small fortune on some great books (not to mention the cake......). On Saturday evening, Peter and Jenny drove over from Manchester and we all went out for curry (I decided that this one tied with the Manchester curry) followed by some ten pin bowling (much improved performance from me). Tim and Kate are keen walkers and Sunday was spent on a 6 mile walk from Ilkley over the moor in lovely sunshine via a pub and then home for a roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings. The weather forecast for Monday was awful so we decided to have a quiet day in and Ron played chef making a delicious chilli con carne for dinner.

The Grand Tour is underway

Ron arrived from St Lucia yesterday. I had been at Gatwick since the day before (in a hotel!) as Ron's flight was due to land at 5.30am. I woke at 4am which was a bit annoying as the alarm wasn't due to go off till 5am. I was at the arrivals hall by 5.45am and it only took half an hour for Ron to appear through the automatic doors, his flight having landed 15 minutes late. After a welcome cup of coffee (Ron) and peppermint tea (me), we headed off up the M23, M25 and M3 stopping at Fleet services for the most wonderful cooked breakfast (not only had Ron been up for over 24 hours but due to a catering c**k up on the plane, he only got fed dinner and nothing for breakfast). Having not seen each other for 112 days and making do with Skype and MSN meant we talked 19 to the dozen and thoroughly enjoyed bouncing ideas off each other as to why the weather was doing what it was doing (well, we are both meteorologists). After a detour to collect my walking boots from home (I have a long tradition of forgetting at least one important item when I go away on holiday), we made our way to the B&B near Romsey. It turned out to be perfect, our own suite separate from the house so we had plenty of room to relax, talk and watch TV (I wonder how long before the novelty of TV will wear off for Ron....). Sue, the owner, served us a three course dinner in the suite and it was touch and go whether Ron would a) stay awake long enough to finish it and b) not go pop from the volume of food. It wasn't too long before we retired for the night and I'm glad to report that Ron was asleep in minutes (he was concerned that having slept for a year on the bunk on Zahara, a real bed might be too alien a concept). Ron even managed to sleep through till 7am, a good deal later than he usually manages in St Lucia. Breakfast this morning was another wonderful cooked affair and Ron thoroughly enjoyed his first duck egg, so much in fact that he reckons he may never eat chicken eggs ever again. After breakfast we attempted to read the Sunday Times but very soon got distracted by looking at the meteorology of the tropical Atlantic. We are rather concerned by the potential for hurricane development later in the week but there's not a lot we can do from here and will have to trust that the marina will look after Zahara as promised. We're both really enjoying learning more about tropical meteorology especially as we'll be sailing there for the next couple of years!

Once we'd got the Met sorted, we decided a long walk to the pub was in order (well, 2 breakfasts and a 3 course dinner needed walking off) so armed with a map we headed off up the footpath. It turned out that neither of us were appropriately dressed for the vegetation we encountered and could have done without being attacked by brambles and nettles. However, all was forgiven when we reached The Hatchet Inn in Sherfield English where Ron had his first pint of English beer (Summer Lightning) in over a year. The walk back by road was much less dangerous from a vegetation point of view but the lack of footpath meant we were in danger from the Sunday afternoon traffic.

If you're wondering about the significance of the photo at the top, it's of the sunset over Marigot Bay on 4th July 2010, the anniversary of our first meeting..... all together now, awwwwwwwwwwww!

This blog picks up where Ron's blog left off and will describe the continuing adventures of Ron, Dee and Zahara. It won't get going properly until Dee returns to the Caribbean in December but you never know, if she gets bored, there might be some entries before then!