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.......!