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!