Zahara, in Bequia... 25th February 2011 (pay day, yippee!)

OK, got there in the end and I managed not to throw all my things out of my cot. Trouble is, if you do on a boat, it's hard to get them back again!

I thought it was about time I made an entry. I've got rather lazy since Dee took over the blog (or did I delegate the job... hmmm?). I realised that I'm actually quite good at delegation. We now have a system of working together on board which was developed when Dee was here for her 6 week trip recently. We had a lot to learn; Dee, a lot about the boat and what living on board is like (especially with me!) and how to keep cool at 4 in the morning on New Year's Day when you find that you are no longer attached to the seabed! I had to learn what it's like to have someone else taking part in the running of the boat and, of course, the sailing and socialising as well. It all went amazingly well and I quickly realised that there was a very easy way of consolidating our new found teamwork and turning it into a recipe for future tranquility...... It may have been born out of the laid back Caribbean way of life or, perhaps it was just my laziness or, maybe even the realisation that Dee is actually better at most things than I am! Whatever the reason, it was simply a case of teaching Dee how to do it, letting her get rapidly better at it, then delegating the task...... By the end of the trip I had a navigator, purser, bosun and a very good mate! My role had reduced largely to the odd bout of looking knowingly at the sea and sky and pretending to understand what a Frigate bird in flight at dusk has to tell us about the weather tomorrow. Oh, yes, and of course the obligatory shouting at French charter catamarans! There was one area where, perhaps I was slightly more 'on the ball' and that was keeping the fridge stocked with beer. She has promised me she will try harder next time!

Anyway, folks as I sit here at anchor in this delightful part of the world, I can't help thinking that life is pretty bloody good. I just can't wait for Dee to reappear than we can move onto the next chapter in our adventure.......

We apologise for the...

....lack of posts recently.

Ron is doing battle with his laptop in an effort to email me some photos so I can provide an update. Those who know Ron well will know that he doesn't suffer technology gladly, especially when it won't co-operate. He is determined to finish the job even if it does result in him occasionally turning the air blue and having to resist the temptation to donate said laptop to the turtles living in Admiralty Bay...

Watch this space, folks!

We ended this phase of our adventure with a fabulous lobster dinner at L'Auberge. There was live music provided by Stan and Cora, a keyboard player and saxophonist respectively accompanied by a great guitarist and the evening turned into a bit of a party.

We've met some wonderful people during our 6 weeks and I can't wait to go back in April....I expect Ron will know most of the Bequians by then!

My journey back to the UK was uneventful (a good thing) and included a flight from Bequia to St Lucia on an 8 seater Islander aircraft....it was lovely to see some of the islands from the air.

84 days and counting till I fly back......!

Return to Bequia

We ended up staying in Saline Bay on Mayreau until Saturday 15th due to the strong winds but we had a lovely relaxing time while we where there and met a lovely German couple off a boat even smaller than Zahara called Fira. We both thought Max and Gouda were very, very brave to sail across the Atlantic in a boat with no guard rails and practically no freeboard (the distance from the waterline to the deck)!

The beach is wonderful, especially when it isn't covered in passengers off the cruise ships that stop in once a week. There was a very amusing incident when the inflatable swimming platform that they'd towed in from the ship, broke, taking its payload of overweight Americans out to sea to their dismay and consternation but to everyone else's amusement.

We had an exhilarating sail back to Bequia, close hauled in a force 5 to 6 wind and a very confused sea. It felt like coming home and we picked up a mooring close to L'Auberge, Ron's favourite restaurant and I am very much looking forward to sampling their renowned lobster tonight.

We were delighted to see Eric from Pouletou again and even more delighted to discover he's met a lovely Argentinian lady called Jimena from Buenos Aires. We hope to see them again in Bequia at Easter.

Sadly, I have to return to the UK on Friday (not looking forward to having to wear clothes....) and Ron will be staying in Bequia until I return in mid April, though he'll have the odd trip with guests between now and then.

Ron will be updating the blog in my absence and if life gets interesting in the UK (please, no more snow!), I'll update as well so keep watching!

We'd love to know how the blog is being received so please feel free to comment.

The Grenadines tour continues

We left Bequia on 27th December having had a fabulous Christmas Day which ended with a lovely meal at the Gingerbread Hotel. The sail to Saltwhistle Bay in Mayreau was amazing, force 4 to 5 winds on the beam and glorious sunshine......until we came to anchor and then the heavens opened. The bay is not huge and was pretty crowded but we managed to squeeze Zahara in and stayed for a couple of nights. The beach is stunning, I'm not sure the photos do it justice. We played beach boules on the "Atlantic" side and Ron won the first series 10-8.....!

It's just a short hop to Tobago Cays and we anchored in turquoise waters very close to a cordoned off area where the turtles collect to feed......and we got to swim with them!

On New Year's Eve we headed off to Union Island and anchored in Chatham Bay, another gorgoeous beach with just a few local beach bars although there is now a development at the southern end of the beach where we had a drink and dip in the seawater pool. We spent the evening on the beach at Tony Bollhead's bar and bbq and enjoyed some local food with a Frenchman called Eric and a group of 6 from Guernsey. The weather turned nasty overnight with squally showers and we ended up reanchoring at 4.30 in the morning. New Year's Day was spent recovering from the excitement. We decided to stay an extra day as the weather had quietened down so we went snorkelling for a while once Ron had sorted a problem with the water pump fan belt then had a slow walk on the beach, visiting a couple of the beach bars along the way.......

On 3rd January we set sail for Clifton, also on Union Island, checking out the anchorage near Frigate Island on the way. We picked up a mooring as we were going to be there for a few days and spent some leisurely days exploring Clifton and nearby Ashton, reprovisioning the boat and discovering a lovely little restaurant that made wonderful pizzas. On the last day we climbed Fort Hill.......sadly it was a spur of the moment decision and we didn't have the camera so no pictures of the view, I'm afraid!

We headed off to Frigate Island for one night then onto Saline Bay in Mayreau and we'll be here a few days probably as it looks like the winds will get pretty strong for a few days. We intend to visit Canuouan and Mustique on our way back to Bequia but who knows...........?!

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.