Going North!

We left La Paz and have been working our way north up the Sea of Cortez. There are many little islands and bays to stop at and most trips are only 3 - 4 hours so it's easy sailing and even though winds are usually light, we don't mind spending a few hours at a very leisurely pace.

Once away from La Paz there are few towns and most of those are small fishing villages. The mountains and hills of the desert mainland often come right down to the sea. As the offshore islands are similar, we often find ourselves sailing between hills! The desert landscape has very little green but the rocks are many colours although reds and browns predominate. There are always cacti and very occasionally there will be a flowering bush but as it rains so little there are no big splashes of colour. The sunsets do make up for this as they sometimes cover the whole west horizon in pinks, oranges and reds. Quite spectacular!!

Our destinations are always pretty and as it's so hot here, we are grateful to get in the water for a swim or snorkel (except for the jelly fish!). The one disappointing thing about Baja is how relatively few fish there are and how few species. Even when we dive we don't see that much. Maybe we got spoilt in the Caribbean but it just doesn't seem to have the variety. As most books seem to agree that the Sea is a great place to see fish, etc. we can only conclude that there has been some serious over fishing to reduce both numbers and species. That said, fishing here has been good with Tuna and Dorado not too difficult to catch but then, these are migratory species that come here to spawn and feed.

We have seen a few whales and lots of dolphins on our travels and had some distant views of 3 or 4 sperm whales. It's pretty difficult to count them as they are never all on the surface at the same time. Still, after three years we can finally say “ thar' she blows”!!

Of the boats we meet, most are American with a few Canadians plus one or two Brits and Europeans. It's not the worldwide fleet that we have been used to from Panama onward but at least we all speak the same language or something close to it!! We guess most boats do go straight across the Pacific although we have met one British boat heading from here to the Galapagos.

Our progress now is constrained by the need to reach San Felipe by the 12^th September so that we can leave the boat in a marina whilst we visit the USA again. Our journey to get there will be a little hurried as it's a few hundred miles and we are trying to avoid overnighting. This means most stops will be short ones and that we will have little time to look around. We hope to use this as a means of picking some 'must visit' spots for our return trip. We aim to be back in La Paz around Christmas so we will have three months for travelling South. This should give us time to stop and see most spots on the way back.

As it's the hurricane season here at the moment, there are few boats and many stops we have had to ourselves. It's always especially idyllic to have your very own desert island if only for a few days. The prettiest spot so far has been the aptly named Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante where we anchored on bright blue water in an almost completely enclosed spot in the south of the cove. Just wonderful!

In Mexico

We left the Galapagos with tearful farewells on parting with friends Chris and Dave and started our trip to Mexico. The first week the wind was behind us and we could sail a direct route using the spinnaker but it was slow progress as the winds were light. After the first few nights we settled into a routine and got more used to the sleep deprivation. The seas were calm so it was good for reading lots of books! As we made our way north the winds became more north westerly which meant we had to tack.. There were 2 days of good wind when we crossed the gulf of Tehuantepec (this is an area known for strong winds) but other than that progress was slow and it took us 21 days in all to reach Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. The only excitement we had en route was a flock of Boobies (like gannets) who used our boat as a meeting place and one night a dozen decided to roost on our pushpit. This seemed fun until we had to clear up all their mess the following morning! The trip was 1860 miles direct line but we had to sail 2300 to get there!

We were very relieved to arrive with nothing more than a broken block for which we fortunately had a spare. However, Cabo San Lucas was a big disappointment. It is incredibly built up and touristy. We had gone there as it was supposed to be an easy place to clear in but the office that was supposed to have been created to do this did not exist. The port captain advised us to clear in at La Paz, which is where we were heading, as it was Friday and it would have taken 2 days to clear in at Cabo and they don't work on a weekend!

So we left the next morning and sailed (motored) to a bay called Bahia Los Frailles. This was a lovely bay so we stayed a day and recovered a little from our long trip. Then we moved to Ensenada De Los Muertos and Puerto Ballandra before arriving in La Paz on 25th May. On the way in we radioed our friends Wendy and Bobby who now live there. We had met them in St Martin and saw them a number of times in the Caribbean before we said good-bye in Cartagena so we hadn't seen them since January 2010. It was lovely to see them again and they now also have a delightful dog called Peanut which they found.

We still had to clear into Mexico so our first stop was the immigration office. After queuing we were told we had to fill a form in on line, print it out and then go back. We went to Wendy and Bobby's house to do this which was good because the form was in Spanish. All 4 of us struggled with it and could not fill it in so Bobby asked his neighbour for help. We still failed so headed back to immigration to be told they had directed us to the wrong form. So we had to go away and complete the correct form. After 2 more visits to the office and the officials finally realising we were on a boat not in a car we were cleared in. Fortunately the visit to the port captain was very quick and painless!

We have been in La Paz nearly 4 weeks and are not sure where the time has gone. We had a few boat issues to sort out, the generator had to be repaired again, and we have had a cover made for our dinghy to protect it from the sun a little. Wendy and Bobby have shown us around a lot and we have been sampling the local cuisine. La Paz is a big town and thing are quite spread out so their local knowledge, and their car, have been very useful. We think La Paz should become the 53rd state of the US as there are so many Americans here!

Last week we took Wendy, Bobby and Peanut out sailing (their boat is not in the water at the moment). It was the first time on a boat for Peanut but she took to it very well. We are hopefully going out with them again next week before we leave La Paz. We then need to head up the Sea further to avoid the hurricanes and also to get some swimming in. It is very hot during the day and we need to be able to cool off!

Galapagos Bound and After

We left the Las Brisas anchorage in Panama on a bright and sunny day. Whilst the water was flat calm, this also meant we had no wind and, as this continued all day, we ended up motoring the whole way to the Las Perlas Islands. These are between 30 and 60 miles from Panama City and are Panamanian. It was fairly late when we arrived so we were pleased to drop anchor in the daylight and turn in after relaxing through the end of the day.

The initial anchorage was a bit rolly so we moved to another of the islands – Espiritu Santo. This was a beautiful spot and we decided to stay a few days. We'd had a sail for half the journey there but again, no wind for the second half so we motored again. Just before arrival, we caught a reasonably big fish or at least it looked big. When filleted we got only 4 meals from it so there wasn't a lot of meat on it. We had a great time exploring and visiting with friends Chris and Dave. There were some evenings with incredible phosphorescence and any movement of the water caused a flare of bright white light. You could flick an oar full of water and see the brightness fly through the air before exploding on impact with the surface. Extremely impressive!!

We then moved to an anchorage at the bottom of the island chain for a couple of days to wait for some wind to begin our sail to the Galapagos. Good wind did not to be around so we decided we had to leave anyway. Once underway, we experienced a variety of conditions - thunderstorms, steady winds, light winds but most often no wind. This was most unpleasant as there was usually a big swell and without wind, the boat rolls and everything loose bangs and chafes. After a while, we always had to put the engine on just for some peace and quiet!! On passage we had the company of dolphins and distant whales, lots of logs and trees and lots of seabirds. There was some amazing phosphorescence on some nights and the whole of the boat looked like it was sailing on light!! Our fishing only once yielded a small tuna although we did hook a big bill fish (probably a Marlin) which simply surged up out of the water and shook its head violently to get rid of the lure. Although disappointing to lose it, it would have been a slow process to catch it and difficult and dangerous to bring it aboard. So, we weren't too upset!

After 10 days, we arrived at San Cristobal the easternmost of the Galapagos Islands. Predictably, there was no wind and we motored our way in. We were met by our agent (mandatory here) and the usual officials almost before we dropped anchor. The formalities were concluded efficiently and quickly and 30 minutes later they were gone and we could begin to contemplate an early supper and bed!

We noticed there were lots of Sealions and had been warned they got onto boats so we put 2 fenders on the sugar scoop. This however did not stop them and the following morning there was a big Sealion asleep who left us rather a big smelly present! We scrubbed the boat but it still smells! We increased the number of fenders and this did seem to deter them for a while. Then they figured out how to move them or get over the top of them and the last few days we have found one asleep each time we have returned to the boat. We shoo them away and they reluctantly move after complaining bitterly to us! At least they haven't made it into the cockpit which is where CD found one asleep on their cushions!

The Sealions are everywhere, they line the jetty where we go ashore, sleep on the benches and any other comfortable spot they can find. They are very noisy and often wake us swimming under the boat or barking from other boats. We walk straight past them and they never even lift their heads!

We are only allowed to anchor in the one harbour so to see the other Islands, we went on a 4 day tour on a catamaran called Valkirie. It was a little run down and we had a lot less space than we are used to but the crew were friendly and the food was very good. The first night we sailed to Floreana and then had a tour of the island during the day. This was our first visit to see giant Tortoises and Iguanas. We snorkelled in the afternoon and the turtles were so un-afraid of humans that they didn't swim away and we got very close to them.

After that we visited Santa Cruz the most commercial and built up of the Islands. In the morning we went to the Darwin centre to see where they breed the Tortoises and saw 'Lonesome George', the last Tortoise of his species. We also met up with friends Don and Kay from 'Karinya' who had chosen to anchor at Santa Cruz.

Isablella is the largest of the islands and probably the prettiest as it is little developed. Here we had a visit to the volcanoes Bocca Chico and Sierra Negro. After a short bus ride we transferred to horses for the next 6m. It was very funny as the horses were all competing with each other and every time they were in danger of being over taken would break into a trot. They were tactically weaving to stop other horses passing and we often ended up with our legs squashed against bushes or another horse as they competed for position. The saddles were not very comfortable so we were glad to get off them. We walked another 2m across Volcano Chico and then back. It was then back on the horses for the trip back which was more painful on the muscles than the trip up. Still it was fun and better than walking.

At Isabella we also snorkelled to see black and white tip sharks and saw lots of Penguins and Blue footed Boobies. On the way back to Santa Cruz the boat took us close to a small uninhabited island with lots of Frigates displaying their mating red necks and there were also lots of masked Boobies.

Chris and Dave from CD joined us for the tour and the 4 of us had some lovely evenings on board watching sunsets and drinking rum! On Monday we had a day in Santa Cruz before getting the ferry back to San Cristobel and our boat.

Once back on the boat we had to do a few chores such as re-fuelling. Not a quick job as we first had to get permission from the Port Captain (the local price is $1 but cruisers have to pay $5 per gallon), then it was a taxi to the garage with all the jerry cans. Then we had to carry them all down the dock to the water taxi, load and unload them and finally decant them into the tank. All of this including returning the jerry cans took us half a day!

There is an interpretation centre on the island with walks around the point which we visited Friday. Then on Saturday the 4 of us went diving. Off the coast there is a rock called Kicker Rock which is a sheer face rising up out of the sea and which has a split through the middle. The first dive was through the split and the second was around the edge. There was a lot of current and wave surge but we saw Hammerhead sharks plus Galapagos, white tip and black tip sharks as well as lots of turtles and fish.

Monday we shared a taxi with CD and visited a few sites on the island. There is a volcanic lake which is the islands fresh water supply and another Tortoise reserve. The driver took us to a lovely restaurant where the owner gave us a tour of his farm. We also both brought a stalk of banana for $3.50. We now have about 50 bananas hanging from the back of the boat waiting to ripen. Once they do we will have to start creating recipes to use them all!!!

It was Mike's birthday in the middle of our time here so we had a meal out with CD. It was a nice restaurant but we all had dodgy tummys afterwards! Still we all had a good time and he enjoyed his day helped along with a home made carrot cake.

We are now getting ready to leave the Galapagos tomorrow. This will be very sad as we will be saying good-bye to Chris and Dave. They are now heading to French Polynesia and New Zealand while we go north to Mexico. In fact all the other boats we have met are now heading west. We had a farewell meal with them yesterday and had our last game of Mexican train dominoes.

We have had a lovely time here and have really enjoyed ourselves. The boat maintenance has been a bit neglected but we can catch up on that in Mexico.

The passage to the Sea of Cortez is over 2000 miles and will take us about 3 weeks depending on wind.

Crossing To The Other Side!

We are not sure how it happened but we got lifted out of the water at the marina as planned, our antifoul paint arrived as did our dinghy and the surveyor turned up even though a few hours late. It was 5 days of hard work getting up at 6am to start early and finishing at dark. The weather was kind to us as it was cloudy keeping the heat down a bit. We re-launched Tuesday which was exciting backing out of the lift with 20 knots of wind blowing and not a lot of space, still we made it to a slip in one piece and the boat looked lovely - all newly polished and painted.

We had a few days to clean the boat and then Friday 4 March (Karen's birthday) we transited the Panama Canal. We had 5 line handlers on board, one more than required as one of the boats line handling for us had a guest on board. We had met up with 2 Australian boats and one Kiwi in the San Blas and they wanted experience of line handling before transiting with their own boats. A boat called Sunshine that we knew from last year also agreed to line handle for us which meant ourselves and CD could go through the canal together.

We motored across Colon harbour to the anchorage and waited for our advisor. At 4.30pm Robin arrived and we set off for the canal. There are 3 locks up and 3 down. Near the lock entrance we and CD rafted together (tied up alongside each other) to enter the lock. There was a ship and a cruiser in front of us and just as we were about to go in the lock they decided there wasn't enough room for us too. A quick turn around and we headed to the lock next door but again the ship in front was too big as they won't put you in a lock with a ship bigger than 600 feet. We motored around for over an hour before going into the lock which meant it was dark. We have now experienced almost every type of transit and time except that as a single boat! We finally got through the canal and gave Robin his evening meal as we left the lock. We moored in Gatun lake at 8.30pm and the canal pilot boat came to pick Robin up. We had a meal and a few drinks and I got everyone to sing happy birthday to me! It was certainly a different way to spend my birthday and one I won't forget.

The advisor was due to arrive at 6.30am so we all headed to bed. We were woken by a knock on the hull and were worried we had over slept. It was Dave off CD who had been told by his advisor to be ready for 6am so he thought we ought to be up at 5.30am!!!! So we were all ready nice and early for when the advisor arrived at 6.30! Dave has still not lived this down.

We were lucky as Robin was our advisor this time too. On the way across the lake we had a cooked breakfast of sausage and scrambled egg. The sausages looked good but when I went on deck to check if breakfast was OK I was told the sausages were covered in plastic!! So to eat them, we had to sit and pick the plastic off and Robin made the best job as I guess that as a local, he was practised. After a 4 hour motor across the lake we arrived at the down locks. Again we rafted to CD and we got through the locks without any problems. We left the gates of the final lock to the sound of 'We are the Champions' by Queen!!

We celebrated our entry into the Pacific with a bottle of bubbly and a few beers. 3 of the boats headed back to Shelter bay and Wayne and Debbie from Sunshine stayed on the boat with us an extra night. It was such a relief to have arrived safely without any problems and to be able to relax after all the work of having so many people on the boat and the stress of going through the canal.

The following day, Dave and I had to return to Colon to line handle for Don and Kay who had helped us. Chris and Mike stayed to mind the boats. Again we had a smooth transit and the first part was very easy as we were the middle of 3 boats which meant we didn't have to do anything. But by the time we got back to Panama City we were exhausted and needed a few days to recover.

We are now preparing for our trip to the Galapagos and up to Mexico which means trading charts and doing lots of shopping. This has been interrupted today by the threatened Tsunami from the Japanese earthquake. We have left the anchorage and anchored in deep water well away from other boats. As I write it has passed and was nothing more that a choppy sea, luckily.

Return To The Heat!

We left George Town, Bahamas on 2 January after a quiet New year. We celebrated on the boat with a nice bottle of wine and bangers (proper Irish ones!) and mash!. We sailed to Cat Island, which is one of the outer Islands in the Bahamas, and cleared out the following day for our longest sail yet direct to the San Blas, about 970 miles. As you might expect, the two days at Cat Island were the warmest, sunniest and calmest of our whole time in the Bahamas!! We made this decision to make a long sail to get ahead of a series of 3 northers (strong cold winds from the Arctic) rather than trying to find somewhere to hide from them.

The first few days we had a great sail making really good time. Then the northers took our wind due to the pressure differential and we spent 2 days between Cuba and Haiti pretty much becalmed and doing about 50 miles per day. We had a couple of visits from dolphins, one for more than an hour. That one was especially good as there were young ones with the pod including a baby about 2 feet long.

Once we picked up the trade winds again we started to fly. We were making 180 miles per day which is extremely good. The sea was rough but as the waves were following us it wasn't too uncomfortable. We made it to the West Hollandaise in the San Blas at 9pm on 10 January having travelled 926 miles. Although we had both survived the trip well, once land was in sight we both felt extremely tired as if someone had taken all our energy and we were very grateful to drop the anchor and to have a good nights sleep.

We spent the next few days recovering from the trip and trying to re-acclimatise to the heat. Getting into the water was so refreshing and our first swim since Mexico! We found the heat a struggle to start with and Mike is still traumatised by cutting 3 inches off my hair to make it cooler! Unfortunately our dinghy which had been deteriorating completely gave way with seams coming unglued so we could not get off the boat other than by swimming ashore. Still we were happy just relaxing in the warmth. The snorkeling was not as good as last year and the reef had quite a few Lion fish (escaped from peoples aquariums in hurricanes) which is not good as they are a Pacific species and have no predators in the Atlantic. They are slowly destroying much of the fish life in all the reefs in the Caribbean as they have a voracious appetite and big mouths

After a week our friends Chris and Dave on CD arrived from Providencia. We had a lovely reunion as we hadn't seen them since April last year. After a few days the four of us had a belated Christmas dinner with roast lamb and mint sauce followed by cherry crumble and birds custard. Needless to say a lot of wine and port was also consumed! We took the opportunity to first re-christen the boat as we were never sure that the name change by the previous owners had been made official with the required champagne and libations to the sea gods!!

The four of us have been travelling around the San Blas visiting different islands. Thanks to CD and lifts their dinghy, we have been able to get ashore to shop and snorkel. We also met up with Barbara and Michael on Astarte who we both met in Providencia last year. The 6 of us had a reunion BBQ which was fun except we all got eaten alive by sandflies and were on antihistamines for the next few days!

The San Blas is still as beautiful but we were disappointed by how commercial and busy it had become. Tourism is really taking over which the Kuna chiefs are not happy about. The beach at the West Hollandaise was covered with sunbeds and sunshades by a cruise ship and the Kuna chief wanted us to pay to go ashore there because the cruise ships pay! Still, there is a vegetable boat which goes around all the popular anchorages delivering fruit and veg which is very useful and other boats which deliver eggs and wine!

It has been like being on holiday and so relaxing after the States. We have had no Internet or phone connection and have spent our days relaxing, swimming and socialising. We have done some work on the boat as always but it has not been constant and we have had lots of time to enjoy ourselves.

We left the San Blas and headed to Portobello which is a small town trying to expand and become a cruiser stop off point. We had our first trip to a supermarket in months and in the evening had a wonderful pizza!

Astarte and CD travelled from the San Blas to Portobello with us and Michael on Astatre decided we should have a fishing competition. The only fish we had caught in the San Blas was a 7lb grouper (which was lovely) so we were not hopeful! We had our line in first and caught 2 small cero mackerel. A few hours later we landed a 5lb Little Tunny so we were in the lead as Astarte caught 2 small mackerel and CD only caught seaweed! As we were rounding the point to head to Portobello our line screamed out. Mike was convinced it was a big fish. As it got nearer the boat after a 30 minute fight he discovered we had caught a shark! It really fought hard but we got it to the side of the boat. Then the problem was how to get it on board without killing it. Our net wouldn't even hold his tail as he was about 5ft long. So we got a rope around his tail and lifted his head with the rod and his tail with the rope. Once on deck we both stepped well back as he thrashed around and fortunately the hook broke and he threw himself off the boat. This was very fortunate as we hadn't got a clue how we were going to get the hook out of his mouth. That was the end of our fishing as were both too exhausted to do anything more.

Ourselves and CD ate the Tunny and we made a large fish dip with the mackerel. This we shared with Astarte and CD for our last evening together. Astarte are now heading north while we and CD head through the canal. Barbara from Astarte wrote us the following ode:

Ode To Our British Friends
Though just a couple of yanks
we want to give you our thanks
for having known you
CD: Chapter Two
sating farewell brings us great angst

On the island of Providencia we all met
Then on to Roatan for happy hour; internet
you then went on your own ways
in the river: US stays
but Kuna Yala reunited this motley set

In harbours, towns or empty isles
we join up after many sea miles
adventures to share
great stories to air
each told in our own unique styles.

We've snorkeled to see fish
we've shared meals so delish!
Tossed back a few brews
or some wine if you choose
plus some chocolate cake as a final dish.

The beach barbies were NOT mild
with exploding rocks it got wild
the company always great fun
awed by the setting sun
if only the bugs didn't get us so riled!

Chrissy & Dave and Karen & Mike
You're a cast of brits we quite like
as you head into the Pacific
know we think you're terrific
and you'll always have yank friends Barbara and Mike


After saying farewell to Astarte we left Portobello and headed to Colon. After being measured to go through the canal we were lifted at the marina to renew the antifoul and to have the boat surveyed for the insurance. It was a week of hard work scrubbing and cleaning the boat. We are hoping to transit the canal in about a week (actually on 4th March) and head into the Pacific. We are also having a new dinghy delivered so that we should be mobile again!

Good-bye USA, Hello Bahamas!

We arrived in Savanah river at 4am with thick fog. This made going into the channel to Thunderbolt very interesting as we couldn't see the channel markers until we were nearly on top of them! Once it was light, it was a lovely peaceful motor to the dock past beautiful riverside homes and wide marshes. Hinckleys (the boatyard people) got to work on the boat straight away. They cleaned the water coolers on the engine and we also had a new alternator fitted so that we could have the old one cleaned for use as a spare. This was supposed to be a quick and easy job as we had been told the alternator was the same as the old one. Wrong! It took the electrician about 6 hours and needed 2 new parts which had to be ordered. Still, it was all finished in time for their thanksgiving shut down.

We decided to stay longer and have the generator checked out again as it was failing to start the air conditioning which was desperately needed for heat as temperatures were very low. Tony and Gill, friends we had met on the way north, invited us to their house for thanksgiving. We had a lovely evening with them and their friends. Gill and Tony gave us a lovely present of English goodies including McVities chocolate digestives and english Heinz beans. They have been keeping us going with little treats throughout the Christmas season.

We moved to an anchorage for the weekend so that we were closer to the shops but missed the electricity on the dock as the weather was particularly cold. Monday we were back at Hinckleys to have the generator looked at. Unfortunately as they were fixing it they broke a part and had to replace it. This involved having to get a part shipped in from another used generator otherwise it would have been 6 weeks to get a new one.

As soon as the work was finished we left to head for St Mary's river. The temperatures in Savannah were below freezing with ice on the dock and we were desperate for warmth. The wind was supposed to be a nice north easterly but was in fact a 20 knot south easterly which meant we were bashing into it. At about 11pm the genoa started fluttering and soon we realised the halyard had detached, as we watched it descend into the sea. By the time we could get to it, the whole sail was underneath the bow of the boat. It took us over an hour to get it back on board while the bow of the boat was digging into the swell and we were both exhausted and wet! With the sail now occupying the whole saloon and dripping water everywhere, we continued on our way under motor bashing into heavy seas. About an hour later a bolt on the davits gave way which meant the dinghy was flailing around and we were in danger of breaking the whole structure. At this point we had no option but to turn around and go back to Savannah. We arrived back on the dock having sailed 110 miles over about 20 hours!

Fortunately our new genoa did not suffer any major damage other than it now has a nice blue tinge from the antifouling. The davits were fixed in an hour with a quick weld and we were ready to be on our way again. The upside of going back to Savannah was that we had been invited to a party at friends of Tony and Gill called Sylvia and Alan. They are both caterers so the food was lovely and we got to meet some very nice people.

This time we left and went direct to Lake Worth. It was the coldest sail we have ever done. We were wearing as many layers of cloths as we could get on and sitting under a blanket and still we were freezing. When we were off watch we slept in our clothes as it was too cold to get undressed! But, this time we had good winds the whole way and a really good sail. We also had a pod of Dolphins with us for well over an hour. They were jumping in the air and doing back flops as well as swimming at the bow. Moments like this make all the bad bits worthwhile.

Lake Worth was the first time we had seen blue water for months and we even ventured to get our shorts out. Tony and Gill had talked about their UK friends Francis and William, on a boat called Alexia, but we had never met them until Lake Worth. They came into the anchorage and we spent a lovely evening with them. Drank far too much and suffered for it the next day (Karen)!

After clearing out we finally left the US on 11 December and headed for the Bahamas. The sail across the gulf stream was one of the best sails we have had while in the US but boy did we pay for the fun later!

We knew their was a norther on its way but thought we would be safe in the Berry's. This is a chain of Islands west and slightly north of Nassau. We anchored for an over night stop on the basis we would move further south in the morning before the norther arrived. Unfortunately, the wind arrived early. By midnight it was so rough we could not sleep in our cabin and then we heard the anchor drag. Given we had a reef not far behind us this was not a nice sound. The anchor seemed to re-set and continued to hold us the remainder of the night. However it got so rough that the bow was probably going up and down about 10 ft and waves were coming straight over the sprayhood. The pressure on the anchor was so great it broke our 5/8in snubbing line which holds the pressure off the anchor chain. At this point we had to motor into the wind to hold the boat and that is how we spent the remainder of the night. We replaced the line with another one which also broke in 2 places. At this time the wind was blowing about 35-40 knots and the seas were very steep so going to the front of the boat needed full oilies as you were completely submerged as the bow went down. It was an incredibly long night but as soon as it was light we had to get the anchor up and get out of the bay. In 40 knots of wind this was no mean feat and the anchor windlass did a great job despite a few squeals as the chain was ripped out when the boat was hit by a gust.

Getting out of the bay was hair raising and then we sailed to the south west corner of the Islands thinking we would get shelter there. Unfortunately not, the seas were just as bad so we had no option but to continue to Nassau. The entrance to the harbour faces NW which is where the wind was from so we were worried about getting in. The sail there was fast as the boat was doing 8 knots with only a small jib and we surfed into the harbour and safety.

Once we were safely anchored we went to bed. Half an hour later the anchor dragged and that was the end of that nights sleep! Our time in Nassau was spent recovering and clearing in with customs. We also finally heard from our friends on CD after 4 weeks. We were supposed to meet them in Cuba but after being stuck in an outer atoll in Belize they had escaped south and were back in Honduras. We were relieved as it was becoming impossible for us to get to Cuba in time for Christmas and it also gave us time to see the Bahamas.

Once the weather improved we sailed to Allen Cay in the Exumas. A lovely spot in nice weather but less good in a norther. After a few nice days the next norther arrived. The anchorage was crowded and the holding not very good. The anchorages are also shallow with strong currents which means the boat goes in all directions and oversails her anchor leading to a grinding sound on the bottom of the hull! So having lost a few more nights sleep we sailed to Cambridge Cay where we met up with friends.

We had a few evenings socialising and had a pot luck dinner on the beach for Christmas day. We were the potato boat while others provided turkey, vegetables, etc. This was probably our best day weather wise and was warm enough to sit on the beach in just a sweater until late into the evening. After that we were all confined to our boats by another norther!

Once the weather improved again we sailed to George Town which is at the southern tip of the Exumas. We did catch a 7lb Mahi Mahi on the way, our first fish since July! Also, it is a lot warmer here with good anchorage and lots of protection. That said, it's still too cold to get in the water although we do see some hardy Americans swimming!

After new year we are hoping to sail to some of the outer Islands such as The Acklins and Great Inagua where we will clear out of the Bahamas. The weather is currently forecast to be good for the next 7 days. Our plan is then to do the long sail direct to the San Blas where we will meet CD.

This will probably be our last post for a few months as there is no internet in the San Blas or outer islands. So Happy New Year to all our readers.

Heading South

After our rush south, we arrived in Deltaville with plenty of time to get our flights home. Amazingly, at the marina we found a couple, Elaine and Harry, who we had previously met in Panama which was quite a surprise. They too were staying in Deltaville whilst working on their boat.

Plans for the new canvas work were talked through with the suppliers and the outboard was delivered to the repair shop. Then we put the boat to bed and set off for Washington Airport. It was a 3 hour drive to the airport and at times it was quite worrying as we were relying totally on a GPS and there were very few signs confirming it was taking us in the right direction. It was and we arrived in plenty of time for our flight. We were hoping for lots of shopping and a meal but facilities at the airport are poor compared to Gatwick or Heathrow. The flight was dreadful, awful food and disappointing films such as Beetlejuice and Mary Poppins!

We landed and collected a hire car then set off for Croydon where we spent a few days catching up with friends and having a lovely time. On our way north we called into to see some sailing friends, CD and then arrived at Alice and Mike's for our first Sunday roast in a year. Wonderful!! The 3 weeks passed in a whirlwind. We managed to see everyone and also do the boring stuff such as dentists etc. Mum and Dad had their 50th anniversary celebration in the middle which went well and we all enjoyed.

The time at home went too quickly and before we knew it we were back in Deltaville on the boat. The canvas work was finished a few days later, the outboard returned, working, and the new sails delivered. So we left on the Saturday morning to head to Norfolk. That night we anchored part way and then arrived in Norfolk Sunday. The harbour in Norfolk is full of US warships and aircraft carriers, there were dozens of them. We moored in the Elizabeth river very close to the start of the ICW (Inter Coastal waterway)on a dock organised by the Norfolk OCC port officers, Greta and Gary, who were very kind. We stayed a few days as our new main sail had to be adjusted but left as soon as possible as we have been eager to move south and get out of the cold weather.

On a miserable rainy and cold morning we set off down the ICW to Beaufort. This route avoids going outside around Cape Hateras which can be treacherous at this time of year. As we set off down the ICW we realised we were part of a huge migration south. At each bridge and lock there was a traffic jam of 18 boats and the river between bridges was just a constant procession with the motor boats overtaking and causing loads of wash. We hated it, we had to concentrate the whole time to avoid running aground and to avoid the other boats. We reached an anchorage just as it was getting dark which was early as it was raining so heavily.

The following day we set off again but cut off away from the ICW. We sailed over to the outer banks and around Roanoke. There was one other boat going this route with us. There was a narrow well marked channel which we managed to sail through and it was also a lovely sunny day. We reached Pamlico Sound at the end of the Roanoke channel at dusk. Unfortunately, the wind died so we motored across the sound overnight. It was a quiet night as there were no other boats and very dark as there was no moon. This made it very eerie especially as hundreds of gulls accompanied us. They were attracted by the lights and would swoop down in front of the boat with red eyes on one side and green on the other! It was like a scene out of Hitchcock's 'The Birds'!

We anchored in South River near Oriental. We arrived at 3am and went into the channel using our torch. Fortunately there were very few boats so we anchored easily and went to sleep. We had a day recovering and the following lunch time we left for Beaufort. This was down the ICW again but it was much quieter. The channel was quite complicated but we made good time and went through Beaufort and out of the inlet at 4pm.

After leaving Beaufort we had a great sail around Cape Fear. Our new genoa is performing well and we managed 9.1 boat knots which is fast for this boat. The following day the wind went around more to the west so we had to motor sail into Charleston. Even so we arrived in Charleston at 4am having made the trip in 36 hours.

Our first day in Charleston we were invited to lunch together with Emmett and Mecca on a Discovery 55 owned by an Australian couple David and Heather. This was a much better way to spend the afternoon than wiping all the salt off the boat! Also it was a lovely sunny day and probably the first time we had been warm since getting back to the US. The following evening we all met in the yacht club and some other cruisers also joined us. This led to an invite to a thanksgiving dinner at the club the following night. So we had our first ever thanksgiving dinner cooked by the ladies Auxilliary at the yacht club. It was lovely with turkey, stuffing, sweet potato and followed by pumpkin pie.

Our time in Charleston has been very busy buying boat supplies and socialising. We have been in the yacht club enough times for the members to recognise us! We have also made use of their dock to install our new anchor chain, all thanks to Emmett. Emmett and Mecca have been wonderful hosts yet again, cooking us wonderful meals, inviting us to meals with their friends and driving us to chandlers and grocery stores etc.

We left for Savannah on the 21st as we really must move south and get to the Bahamas! We were very sad to leave Emmett and Mecca, they are both so lovely and its sad to think we may never see them again. This is one of the problems with sailing as we are – you meet wonderful people who quickly become friends and then, you must leave them behind.

Away at Last

We left Maine with both relief and dismay. We had not done the sailing we so wanted to and Maine is such a wonderful place that we were upset that we may never have the opportunity again. We also were become very attached to the people we had met and it felt almost like leaving home. Everyone had been so friendly and the guys at Lyman Morse especially so.

We had a really great journey down to the Cape Cod canal (other than the fact we were freezing at night and sat with 6 layers of clothing and under a blanket!) arriving there so early that we took advantage of the fair tide to travel on to Block Island. After a good nights sleep, we headed on down Long Island Sound. Unfortunately, the wind turned against us and after a day of banging into waves and making only slow headway we decided to find an anchorage for the night and continue in the morning. The following day still hadn't a good wind but it had lessened and the waves weren't so bad. We continued on down the Sound and were looking at our entry into the East River when we realised that we couldn't make any sense of the instructions in the pilot book. It was badly written on that particular point so we couldn't work out the necessary time for our decent down the river which we needed to do with the tide. After phoning a few friends, one was able to give us good advice (Thanks, Bill) and we went down the river perfectly. It was really interesting going down past big houses before passing the airport and moving into industrial areas before getting to Manhattan. At that point, we were just 2 more tourists pointing out the more notable sights like the Empire State and Chrysler Building. At the mouth of the river, we were presented with a great view of the Statue of Liberty before turning up the Hudson toward the anchorage. About an hour later we were secure and able to relax and plan out what we were going to do.

As we were pretty tired, we had the next day off so just stayed on the boat and relaxed. The following morning, we dropped the dingy and fixed the engine only to find the Chapter Two jinx had struck again! Our fuel was full of water and this stopped the engine as we headed to the landing place. Given the 2 -3 knots of current, we had to row to direct our dingy into the landing with just one chance to get it right. Once there, efforts to sort out the motor failed and as we had to wait for a turn in the tide, we decided to head on into New York. We strolled across Central Park and eventually to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We had a nice time there before heading off to meet some friends, Mark and Liesbet, met in the Caribbean who also happened to be in New York. We had a lovely time catching up with them but had to call a halt too early as we had to catch the tide to get back to the boat. As it was, we left it almost too late and by the time we had rowed the mile or so back, the current had started to turn so we were very glad to make it onto the boat.

We then had to decide what to do. New York wasn't the easiest place to try to get the motor fixed but without it, getting to and from shore was a big effort with a risk that we might not get to the place we wanted too. Having listened to the weather forecast, it was clear that southerly winds from Hurricane Igor would make sailing south impossible for a week. So, we decided to leave next day and hurry down to the Delaware.

We caught a fair tide down the Hudson and had a wonderful passage past the lady with the torch. Once past the Narrows, we had a bit of negative tide as far as Sandy Hook but having turned south, we seemed to have a favourable current which stayed with us all the way to the Delaware. As seems to be common, there was little wind and we motored through the night arriving at the Delaware in the early morning as the sun rose. It was a calm day so we opted for the inside passage round Cape May that cut some miles off our trip. We had a long hot trip up the Delaware and arrived at our overnight anchorage just as the sun set. As the entry was narrow, about 20 feet, and the current strong, it was a challenging end to the trip. Still, we snuggled the boat down and went to sleep ourselves.

The morning was grey and the wind blowing hard. This gave us some nasty wind against tide waves and again, the exit was as challenging as the previous day's entry. Once out we headed for the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, about 3 miles away. Once inside that, it was a calm and easy trip to the Chesapeake. We anchored in the Sassafras River in what is one of the most peaceful and beautiful spots we have reached in the voyage so far. A very relaxing evening with a modest amount of alcohol sent us to bed very happy!!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay another day as we would have liked as the wind was forecast to change to a bad direction for our trip so we reluctantly set sail again. We headed to Annapolis, and picked up a mooring buoy in the harbour. We stayed there a few days and sorted out some sail repair issues and tried to get the outboard motor fixed. We also had a pleasant wander around the town although we did not visit the naval college. After getting the motor back - working but still not quite right - we headed down South river to stay with OCC port officer Westbook Murphy at whose dock we currently are. Thanks to his help we have had a couple of interesting and tiring days in Washington.

The first day we visited the Air and Space museum where we saw everything from space shuttles to Lindbergs 'Spirit of St Louis'. Then we walked around the major monuments, Linclon, Washington, Jefferson and Roosevelt, and the 2nd WW memorial. The second day we spent the morning at the Arlington cemetery, had a lovely lunch in the national gallery and then walked around the gallery until our legs gave way.

When we got back to the boat we had a lovely meal of fresh shrimp with Westbrook and his wife Cindy and fellow OCC members Wolfgang and Gemma. Tonight Westbrook is cooking crab for us which Mike is really looking forward to and then tomorrow we continue our trip to Deltaville where we are leaving the boat for our trip home.

Stuck in Maine

We finished the planned repairs in 2 weeks. This included having 2 of the sails repaired, getting the generator working and having the rigging checked. We also replaced the house battery bank. Just before we planned to leave the black water holding tank was pumped out which was the first time it has been pumped. A few days later we noticed a leak in the bottom of the bilge and had to wait for it to be checked.

It was the Rockland boat show over the weekend so we went and had a look around the lovely wooden boats. They were mostly motor boats but there were a few nice sailing boats.

When the holding tank was checked it was found to have a leak in the bottom and a lot of corrosion. The only way to get to the tank was to cut the floor open and remove it. So we moved off the boat into one of the yard cottages and emptied our cabin. The boat was lifted, the wooden floor was cut up and then the grp. The tank had to be cut out as it was partly under the bed. It had 4 different holes in it and was also corroded around one of the hoses connections. It has been replaced with a much smaller plastic tank to avoid having to cut our bed and to keep costs down. Unfortunately, changing the tank has also meant having to replace all the hoses and the connectors.

While the work was being done we hired a car to see Maine from the land as we will not get to see much of it by sea now. Our first day out to Portsmouth the rain was torrential all day. When we got back the dinghy had filled with water and the weight had bent the pushpit and the davits. We have had to remove the davits and have them straightened and strengthened and the pushit has been cut and replaced. More cost and time!

The GRP part of the floor was replaced Friday and will hopefully be completed next week. We should also have the davits put back Tuesday before Bill who is doing the work leaves to go sailing for 6 months!

Everyone at the yard has been very friendly. Drew the manager and owners son took us sailing last weekend on his boat which was lovely as Maine has been having a heat wave. Temperatures have been in the 90's all week and we have actually taken the blankets off the bed!

We have been watching hurricane Earl all week which has been threatening the east coast. We removed everything off the boat, sails, spray hood, bimini, etc and have been tied down with boulders with a lorry parked at the side of us for protection. Fortunately the storm has gone off shore and we have had nothing more than heavy rain over night.

We are hoping to leave Thomaston in the next week and will be heading directly to NY and then the Cheseapeake. We are running out of time as we have to be in Deltaville by 1 October to sort out a few projects before we fly home from Washington on 6 October.

PS Still here as the work has taken longer than expected and it looks like we will not leave until 12th September

It's Cold Up North!

We left Charleston and our new friends there as planned and had a 6 day trip to Maine. The weather was not in our favour and when we had wind it was usually from the wrong direction. So we ended up sailing about half the journey and motoring the rest. One of our best sails was around the infamous Cape Hatteras (renowned for very bad weather and extremely rough seas) where, with the Gulf stream, we were doing 10 knots over the ground!

The US navy seemed to have decided to carry out live firing exercises all along our route from there which gave us a bit of excitement!

Typical exchange - “Warship 96 commencing live firing at xx position keep 30,000 yards away” our response “we are at zz position on a course of xxx degrees. Are we OK to continue (the last a bit desperately!)”.

They were very polite and nicely said OK each time but we had to keep repeating the experience as they would keep moving around so that just as we were out of range, we were back in it. A warship of course moves a lot faster than a small yacht!!

We caught a 16lb mackerel which is the biggest of those fish yet plus another 9lb fish which we could not identify! It was OK to eat but not worth the effort of filleting so if we catch more they will be going back!

We had a bad forecast promising 35 knot wind so rather than continue into Buzzards Bay as we originally planned, we shortened our trip and headed for Block Island. It has a very protected anchorage with a very narrow entry into a large lagoon type harbour. On arrival, it was very full but we picked a good spot and dropped the anchor and then – RELAX!!

Our initial thought the next morning was how cold it was!! Having sailed about 400 miles north made a big difference to the temperature and we were almost shocked to see people swimming! The island was pretty but very touristy. Most of our time there was spent recovering from the journey but we did have a walk into town and buy a few food items.

We then decided to go on to Buzzards Bay but it was a very foggy morning so we delayed for a bit to see if it would lift. Eventually we decided to go in the fog but it was hard work as we had to depend on the radar and this doesn't always show the small boats. One did pass close to us and it's amazing how suddenly they just seem to appear. It then rained for a while and although this was unpleasant, it did clear the fog away and we had good visibility for the rest of the trip. We went to a lovely little bay called Hadley Harbour. It was really secluded with a narrow entry but extremely quiet and peaceful and we are looking forward to going back there for a sightly longer stop on our way south.

After that it was a short hop to Bassett Island before we headed through the Cape Cod Canal. Its a very wide canal and with the tide we transited it at around 8 knots. It has a couple of bridges across it and these did look a bit low despite the charts saying that they were 135 feet high! We sailed across Cape Cod bay to Provincetown which is the last town on the end of Cape Cod. The whole harbour was full of mooring buoys and very busy. We walked around town, which is the gay capital of the area, but it was so busy that we soon retreated to the boat.

We left the following day and headed for Boston. In true Chapter Two style there was no wind the first part of the journey and then it was on the nose and blowing hard as we went into Boston harbour. The harbour is very big and we anchored in one of the outer bays before heading into the city the following morning.

Our mooring was right outside the aquarium and it was really easy to go ashore and walk into town. We spent a few days looking around Boston and walking the freedom trail (this celebrates the start of the American War of Independence) . We also went on the oldest still afloat naval vessel, the USS Constitution, which is slightly younger than the Victory but is still in the water.. The last evening we met up with Helen and Andy, my (Karen's) boss from National Grid. We had a lovely evening catching up and headed off for a leisurely breakfast the following morning as they headed into work!

From Boston we sailed directly to Mount Desert Island in Maine which was our most easterly and northerly destination in Maine. We left Boston at 5am and motored out of the harbour with a wonderful sunrise and in the usual US style we motored most of the way to Maine!

When we reached Maine we could not believe the number of lobster pots! How does a single lobster survive? There are so many it is very difficult to motor between them without them going under the boat with the risk that the lines tangle round the propeller. We headed up the 'fjord' (the only one in the 48 lower states) to Somes harbour which is in the middle of the Island. It was a lovely picturesque setting and we had a pleasant walk into the oldest town on the Island.

The scenery in Maine is lovely. The sailing is between lots of islands which are covered in trees. There are also lots of big houses too! The down side is the temperature, we are freezing. Suddenly the water is 18C and the air temperatures at night are down to 10C. We are sailing in boots, jumpers, coats etc and sleeping under multiple blankets! The whole boat is much colder and getting out of bed in the mornings is not nice! We are also getting leaking taps etc where seals are retracting in the cold. The upside is the battery drain from the fridge/freezer is non existent!

After Mount Desert island we have been heading west and have visited Eggemoggin Reach, Seal Bay in Penobscot Sound (we did see some seals on the morning we left there) and Rockland. In Rockland we visited the Wyeth art gallery which is well worth a visit. There have been three generations of Wyeth artists and they are all extremely good although our favourite was Andrew Wyeth who died in 2009. Just south of Rockland we had our first lobster. We anchored in a bay with a good restaurant and had a lovely relaxed lunch of lobster (with wine too) followed by traditional blueberry pie.

We are currently in a boat yard in Thomaston having the generator repaired again and a few other things. Then we will head south back to the warm after a few more stops in Maine.

South'n Hospitality!

Regretfully, we left Coconut Grove Wednesday as anticipated and headed to St Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied town in the US. We left with a forecast for a south wind but once again it was north to start with. This made the sea very lumpy as it was blowing against the direction of the gulf stream and created very short steep waves. Then it died completely and we had to motor the rest of the way. We negotiated the complex entry to the inlet and anchored in a small creek called Salt Run which was very picturesque and peaceful.

It was a reasonable walk into town so we did it early in the morning before it got too hot. The town itself is pretty but everything is the oldest this and that but none of it is that old! We did have a tour around Flaglar college which used to be a hotel for the super rich in the 19th century but is now a school. It had some amazing architecture and artwork and lots of original Tiffany lights and windows.

Our next stop was Savannah in Georgia. The entrance to the river was across shallows and the buoys were so far apart that we managed to miss one out! Fortunately we didn't run aground. We then had a 12 mile trip up the river past some lovely houses and countryside to a place called Thunderbolt. We had arranged to stay at a service yard as we needed the generator and engine throttle looked at. Both were fixed very quickly and then we spent 2 days sightseeing. Savannah is a lovely city built around lots of squares. The streets are tree lined which cools things down a bit and the water front has all been re-developed. We toured around a few houses but were disappointed against the standard of properties we see in the UK. We understand now why the Americans love coming to see our stately homes.

We did visit the art gallery which was interesting and we had lunch at an iconic southern restaurant called Mrs Wilkes. We had to queue for an hour to get in which shows how popular it is. The food was lovely traditional southern fare and you sit at large tables with a mixture of people. Real family dinning, southern style!!

While in the yard we met a couple called Jill and Tony who keep their boat there. They are British but have lived in the US for years. Both worked on boats for years and Tony used to skipper superyachts over 100ft long. We went to their house for a meal and Jill took us shopping and let us use her washing machine to do our washing (so grateful!) We saw them a few times and said good bye Sunday evening ready to leave Monday morning.

In the morning we left the dock in reverse against a 3 knot current and headed into the centre of the river where we turned to face the current. At this point we lost all power and were going backwards very quickly towards a number of expensive boats moored at the yard and a very big concrete road bridge. We managed to get power back just in time and got back to the dock without hitting anything. The problem turned out to be a fishing net or rope around the prop. Unfortunately, it had damaged the blades on the prop so we had to get the boat lifted to get it fixed. We still had the old fixed prop on the boat as a spare so this was put on and we were re-launched. The damaged prop has been sent back to the manufacturers to see if it can be repaired. While we were out of the water Jill and Tony very kindly let us stay at their house. Mike discovered they have a love of malt whiskey so was in good company! They also like nice wine so we were both in our element!

We reluctantly left Savannah (again!) on Thursday morning. The staff at the yard and all the people we met were so lovely that we were sad to leave and will have to go back on our way south to see them again.

We actually got to sail to Charleston, our first proper sail in the US. We motored down the Savannah river doing 8 knots with the current. At the entrance there were lots of fishing boats being followed by hundreds of birds and lots of dolphins. We then had 15 knots of wind from the south which is the first time the forecast has been correct! We intended to make our way slowly to Charleston arriving in the morning but with the wind and current we arrived at 2am and so anchored at the entrance to the harbour. After a sleep, we motored up to the town and were met by Emmett. Emmett is an old friend of Tony and Jill and they contacted him for us to say we would be arriving. He has very kindly let us use his mooring ball. He has also taken us shopping and we have been to his house where we met his wife Mecca and used their washing machine (again, so grateful!!). They are both very helpful and are ensuring we enjoy our time in Charleston. Especially nice has been visits to the yacht club which Emmett introduced us too and all the lovely people there.

We have had a day sightseeing around old Charleston which is pretty and very 'old American' plus had a lovely lunch – one of the best meals out that we have had in a long time. We also went on a tour around the Yorktown, a WWII aircraft carrier. Amazing to see how things were done then although by modern standards she is small! Emmett took us out to watch the yacht club races which gave us an opportunity to see the town from the water and yesterday Mecca cooked us a southern speciality of shrimp and scallops. Yum!!

Our plan now is to leave tomorrow, 4th July, and head directly to Cape Cod, which will be a six day sail and our longest yet.

Arriving In the US!

We left Isla Mujeres on the Sunday morning and set sail for Clearwater on the west coast of Florida. We had arranged to go there and see Penny, a friend of mine I used to work with 20 years ago. The first days sail was brilliant, lots of wind and 2 knots of current helping us along. Then as usual, the wind died and the next 3 days were spent motoring. The sea was incredibly flat and glassy, this at least made motoring easy with a good speed from low engine revs.

As we are heading north the days are getting longer and we now have a twilight. The sunrise was amazing with a complete reflection in the flat sea. One night there was an amazing thunder storm which we were completely surrounded by. It was so bright it completely ruined our night vision. On the quieter nights we watched the phosphorescence and there were also big flashes of light like someone turning on a light bulb which we think were caused by either jelly fish or squid. During the day we saw a turtle, a shark and a pod of huge dolphins. They swam in the bow wave for quite a while and the water was so still that we got some great pictures of them through the water.

We finally arrived in Clearwater on Thursday morning and made our way into the estuary. We headed to Penny's house where Ian, her husband, was waving to show us where to moor and a very welcome sight. She had arranged with her neighbor Chad for us to leave the boat on his mooring which was very kind of him and meant we could walk along the sea wall to Penny and Ian's house.

The first job was to clear into the country. After being passed to 4 different people on the phone I finally spoke to the correct officer who told us off for leaving the boat. I had to explain that we had to leave the boat to use a phone. She then insisted we had to get to Tampa airport that day before 6pm even though we should have had 24 hours. Ian very kindly ran us to the airport (not sure how the US officials think people are supposed to get to an airport an hours drive away when they have just landed in the country on a boat!). The staff at Tampa were very helpful and kind but they could not do all our documentation. The grumpy lady on the phone should not have sent us there. So they did the immigration part for us and sent us to another place in Tampa the next day. We had caught a 7lb King Mackerel and 2 smaller mackerel on the way the first of which Penny cooked half of for us for dinner once Mike had filleted it
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Penny drove us back to Tampa the next day where another nice officer gave us our cruising permit and didn't charge us a dime. It seems the grumpy lady could have done us a favour as all the other staff were very apologetic and did everything they could do to help us.

Penny and Ian have a lovely house overlooking the water. It has a really good swimming pool which Francesca, their daughter, lives in and it is a short walk away from the beach. We were both very tired after the sail but having not seen Penny for so long we had a lot of catching up to do. So we spent evenings on the patio next to the water eating lovely food and drinking lots of wine!

Penny took us on a shopping trip the next day and we brought new clothes and stocked the boat up at Costco. Saturday evening we all went to a bar at the marina and then down to the beach to watch sunset. This was at a hotel which Penny told us did a lovely champagne brunch so that decided what we were doing Sunday!! After a gentle morning walk along the beach we spent the rest of the day eating lovely food from a buffet and drinking champagne. It's a hard life!! Francesca was very patient with 4 inebriated adults!

Tuesday we set off for Orlando and Disney. The first day was spent in Epcot. We arrived at 8.30am and didn't leave until 5.30pm and we were absolutely shattered. We went on most of the rides, the most scary was 'Mission Space!'. This is a simulator ride where you are in a space ship and go to Mars but it also simulates the G forces. It was quite scary and I (KB) was jelly when we got out! The next day we went to MGM which is now called Disney Hollywood. This had a great Toy Story 3D shooting gallery ride and a very scary roller coaster and the Tower of Terror. I (KB) didn't do the last one so Mike had to go alone but got chatting to a welsh lady who was taking her 5 year old daughter on it!!!

Island Packets are made in Largo Florida so while we were in the area we went for a tour around the factory and stocked up on spare parts. The evening before we left Clearwater we had another lovely meal and had drinks, which Chad and his wife Hilda and their family came to as well. Chad is a skilled fisherman so was giving Mike tips on how to fillet fish and very kindly gave us some lures and a brilliant filleting knife. His daughter Mariel had made us some cookies which went down very well on our next sail.. Earlier in the evening Francesca and I gave a Clarinet concert. She had some duets which we played. Having not played my clarinet for years with anyone else I really enjoyed it.

We reluctantly left Clearwater on Saturday morning 10 days after we arrived. Penny and Ian were so hospitable and we had such a lovely time with them that we could have quite easily stayed longer. We parted hoping it wouldn't be another 20 years before we saw them again.

The sail from Clearwater through the Keys to Miami was another 3 day sail or should I say motor. Again, there was very little wind so although we managed to sail for a few hours occasionally, we mainly motored. Mike kept catching fish but they were either so small (but with big, big mouths) that we threw them back or so big that he hadn't go enough line to get them in as when he braked the reel they just pulled free. He was really annoyed about that!!! We did manage to catch 2 King Mackerel and with our new knife from Chad they were caught, filleted and in the freezer in about 20 minutes.

We cruised slowly so that we could arrive at the Moser channel and go under 7 mile bridge in daylight. It was quite a change once we passed into the Atlantic as we had just the right amount of wind and had a great sail to Coconut Grove. With help from the current we arrived at 3am so anchored overnight.

The following morning we moored at Coconut Grove Sailing Club on their visitors buoy. This was recommended to us by Nell and Phil on a boat called Moondancer. We met them last year in Trinidad and Grenada.. Nell had very kindly offered us the use of her apartment which overlooks the sailing club so once again we have abandoned the boat and are staying ashore. This is really nice because Nell is also here. She had to come back home and has left Phil with the boat in Curacao. She has been very kind driving us around to buy boat things but unlike her, we don't have inexhaustible energy so are a bit shattered with all the things we are doing . We have also been doing a lot of socialising again. Yesterday she had friends Cathy and Marc over for lunch which, with visits to the sailing club bar and a lovely boat,. lasted the rest of the day. So it was midnight when we finally got to bed!

We plan to be in Coconut Grove until Wednesday as we are having the injectors on the engine cleaned. Then we will head to St Augustine which is still in Florida before continuing on to S. Carolina

Belize to Mexico

We left Roatan with a good breeze and warm sunshine and had a full day of good sailing to Glover Reef. This is one of only 4 atolls in the western hemisphere, the other 3 are also in Belize and Mexico. We had some difficulty picking out the channel through the reef but made it safely through to drop anchor in a really beautiful spot with just a few other boats. We wanted to snorkel but the wind was blowing and the sea was too choppy so we left the next day and headed to Tobacco Range which is inside the main Belize reef. This was just a short sail and we entered through the main reef with calm seas so finding the passage through was easy. It was a shock to suddenly find that we were sailing in only 10 – 15 feet of water after so long in places with thousands of feet depth. The island itself was covered in mangroves but we did dinghy through the middle of it and went to the reef to snorkel but unfortunately there was nothing to see. The following day we headed to Colson Cay where we snorkeled a small reef which had an amazing variety of fish for such a small reef and more French Angel fish than we have ever seen. Then we snorkeled a few small blue holes which were amazing to see, the sea bed had literally collapsed and caved in to create these deep holes. There we saw a moray eel and many enormous star fish. Then it was into the marina in Belize city where we cleared in. Within 30 minutes the boat had 4 officials sitting in the cockpit with lots of papers to complete which they then demanded copies of and charged us $150 for the privilege! We had gone into the marina so that we could go sightseeing inland so after much organising, we left the boat and set off.

Our first stop was a bird reserve called Crooked Tree Lodge which we got to by the local bus. There was one bus a day which left at 11am and most of the people on it knew each other. Then we stopped at a nursery school and picked up all the children. We then proceeded to stop along the road dropping the children off. The conductor knew exactly which child got of where and made sure they were ready to be delivered to their parents. At one stop the mother was not there so the little girl was clinging to the conductors leg and refusing to walk to her house. We sat and waited for the mother to arrive after being hailed by the bus horn. It was all so lovely to see and it was very difficult to imagine anything like that happening in the UK. The lodge itself was a bit disappointing, the lake was very low so there were not many birds to see and the lodge was very expensive for what it was. We did however see Jabiru storks which have the largest wing span of any western bird.

The following day was a visit to the Lamani Mayan ruins. To get there we had a 20 mile boat trip in a speed boat. The fuel supply was a barrel with the hose stuck in a hole in the top so definitely no smoking! The driver pointed out lots of wildlife on the way including a snake which was almost invisible to us but which he had spotted despite going along at 20 knots. It was fun but a little scary as the river was so shallow in some places we couldn't slow down. Once we arrived at the ruins we had lunch followed by a guided tour. The ruins themselves were really interesting and in the main quite unrestored. We were allowed to climb up the Mayan temple which was very steep and high but with a great view from the top. Getting down was scarier than going up! The boat trip back was even faster than the one there!!

The trip arrived back so late we missed our bus back to Belize City and had to wait an hour for the next one. It was a slow bus and very busy but the buses are incredibly cheap. It cost B$1.50 for a ride which took over 1 ½ hours. Part way into the city the bus broke down so we all transferred to another one which got us there in the dark. It is not wise to walk around Belize city in the dark but fortunately a nice lady took us to our next burs and we got back to the boat safely but very very tired.

The following morning we left the boat again and got what was supposed to be a luxury air conditioned bus with reclining seats and video's, to Tikal in Guatemala. It actually turned out to be a mini bus which we shared with 2 S African guys living in America. They were good fun and very interesting to talk to as they had been to Tikal before. The trip took about 5 hours and we arrived in Tikal mid afternoon. We had booked a hotel right next to the ruins which was basic but OK and very good given the price. We headed into the park to watch sunset from the grand plaza in the ruins but unfortunately it started to rain and thunder so no sunset. We arranged a guide for the next morning to watch sunrise from the tallest temple but again no sunrise, just mist and gray. Our guide was really good and took us to lots of places we wouldn't have found by ourselves as the ruins are so extensive. We climbed lots of the temples but this time there were steps up the sides as you couldn't climb on the actual ruins themselves. Even so they were very steep and scary but great views from the top. The ruins are really amazing and it's strange to think that when the Mayans were living there, there was no jungle just lots of farmland. Even though many of the buildings are exposed and restored, there are still many mounds, hills and trenches that have not been excavated and probably will never be as there are so many ruins in Guatemala that the archaeologists are moving to other sites now. The ruins are in the jungle so there are lots of animals and ants. There were big groups of Coatimundi and very colourful turkeys. The first night we had a cricket in our room but it was too high to reach so we left it. Unfortunately in the night it decided to land on me (KB) which was quite a shock, I woke up with a fright (and a shriek!! MB) and then we had to throw it out. The following night we slept with a mosquito net over the bed so we were safe! We had a long bus ride back to Belize City and then a local bus back to the marina.

When we left the marina we headed north of Belize City where the water was pretty shallow averaging 7-9ft. At Caye Calker, which is a big holiday destination we did a couple of dives. They were outside the reef and there was quite a swell which made it difficult to get on and off the boat. The first dive was disappointing but the second was great. We saw a turtle, nurse shark, porcupine fish and lots of French Angels. We stayed a few days and then headed north to Ambergris Caye. Again, it was very shallow and we managed to run aground 3 times trying to get there! We checked out and then headed slightly south to anchor in sheltered waters behind another island so we had a good nights sleep and were close to the exit through the reef.

Our next destination was Isla Mujeres in Mexico. The first day we had a great sail with a good wind and lots of current assist. Just off Cinchurro bank, which is the last of the atolls and in Mexico, we caught a 20lb tuna, our biggest yet and very very tasty. The second day there was no wind and we had to motor. However, just after rounding Cozumel the wind increased to 25 knots on the nose so we had to motor into it and finally arrived in Isla Mujeres at 11pm. It was well lit but hard to make the channels out due to the amount of light from the land which obscured the navigation lights. After checking in the next day, we headed to a marina in Cancun ready to pick up Mum and Dad from the airport. Unfortunately the marina was designed for super yachts so getting on and off was difficult and it was also stressful ensuring the boat didn't get damaged. We collected Mum and Dad from the airport along with our Christmas cake and lots of goodies we had ordered!! After a quiet night we left to go back to Isla Mujeres which was a bit wet as the wind was blowing and the sea was fairly rough.

After a few days in the anchorage we went to Isla Contoy a bird sanctuary north of Cancun. We anchored at the north of the island only to be told to move by the park warden and pick up a buoy. He was very nice about it and didn't make us move far as it was getting dark. While doing this we managed to loose the boat hook! Being very disgruntled by this I decided to retrieve it the next morning and managed to free dive and get it at my first attempt!! It was a lovely spot and we saw thousands of birds and dozens of turtles. Then we headed south to where the research station is and where we were supposed to go. To do this we had to cross a big sand bar which supposedly had a deeper channel in it. After running aground a few times we decided not to find the channel but to go round the outside. After the stress of running aground the trip was amazing with lots of turtles and a big manta ray. At the observatory, we went ashore and saw nesting frigates and lots of birds. Unfortunately we were not allowed to swim or snorkel and could only stay one night so back to Isla Mujeres the next day.

Mum and Dad had a relaxing time sunbathing on the boat and doing a bit of swimming. We also hired a golf buggy for the day and did a trip around the island. They both got really good at getting in and out of the dinghy. They also enjoyed all the fish dinners we had from the tuna we had caught. They stayed 2 weeks and left on 14 May so the next day we cleared out and prepared to sail to the US!

Panama to The Bay Islands

We left Shelter bay marina as planned and sailed the short distance to the Rio Chagres. This is a lovely river surrounded by rain forest. The noise of the birds and monkeys was amazing. Each afternoon we rowed up the side of the river looking at the monkeys and birds. We also saw a crocodile. We stayed there 3 days with Chris and Dave from CD.

The Sunday morning we all left for Providencia, a 260 mile trip north. When we got to the entrance the sea was pretty rough and CD decided to turn around and stay in the river waiting for better weather. We decided the boat was OK so would carry on.

To start with the weather was good but later the winds increased to 25 knots and we were bashing into waves that were coming over the bimini and into the cockpit. We also could not make our course as the wind was too northerly and we had a west pushing adverse current to make things worse. The wind decreased on the second day and we spent all day sailing east back to our rhumb line (the course we wanted to make) and only made about 15 miles towards our goal. The third day also had a bad wind direction so the following morning we decided we were going to motor as neither of us wanted another night at sea.

We were both feeling under the weather and were not coping with the sail as well as we might. After starting the engine the wind started to increase and within a few hours we were bashing into 30 knots of wind with rough seas. The engine was working hard just to make any way and it took us the whole day to get the length of the Providencia Island which is only about 8 miles. Against our better judgement we decided to continue into the harbour even though it was now dark and the entrance is surrounded by reefs. Once we turned into the channel, which was buoyed and lit, the wind was behind us and from struggling to make headway we were suddenly being pushed too fast and so went through part of the channel with the engine in reverse! We anchored at about 8.30pm with our nerves in shreds and grateful that both us and the boat were in one piece. We had travelled 410 miles over 3 ½ days when we thought it would take us about 2 ½ days!

The following day was my birthday (Karen) but neither of us felt like celebrating and we were still both feeling unwell so we saved the celebrations for the following day. We had a nice meal and sat and watched the whole series of Cranford. The wind was still strong so we had lots of power from the wind generator to run the PC and the TV. We spent the first week recovering and working on the boat. We managed to paint all the toe rail which was looking very worn. We did walk around the small off lying island called Catalina and had a beach BBQ with some kiwis from a boat we met so it wasn't all work

Providencia is a lovely small island and very laid back. The people were very friendly and it was very safe. It's the sort of place you could just stay for weeks and do nothing. After a week CD joined us, they had also had a bad trip and had motored most of the way! The 4 of us rented scooters and biked around the Island twice! It was great fun and we stopped and snorkeled on the way too. The snorkeling near the anchorage was also amazing and we saw lots of fish we hadn't seen before and some big barracuda. The weekend before we left the locals put on a show for the cruisers with dancing and music which was a lovely touch.

We were in Providencia 2 ½ weeks before we finally had a good weather window to leave, so we reluctantly set off for the Bay Islands of Honduras. The course was between a lot of reefs so we had to stay on track. As the weather wouldn't allow us to do this we ended up motoring a lot. This was also fuelled by our bad experience getting to Providencia. CD left at the same time but are slightly slower than us and they had completely different weather! They missed all the squalls we had and the wind direction was better so they sailed all the way. The first night was very dark and the sea was uncomfortable. I spent most of my watch being ill and had to wake Mike early to take over. I collapsed into bed and stayed there for the next 8 hours. Mike was exhausted and drenched as we had been through one squall after another. Once we rounded the corner of Honduras the wind dropped and the sea was more pleasant. We put out the fishing lines and finally managed to catch a Mahi-mahi! It is such an incredibly beautiful fish that it seems almost wrong to catch one. However, they are very good eating!!We made such good time and ended up heaving to for 7 hours so that we entered Guanaja in the light. This gave us both a good opportunity to catch up on sleep and enter the anchorage fully refreshed. By this time CD had caught us up so we anchored at the same time.

Guanaja is a small Island and is the furthest east of the 3 bay islands. Most of the residents live on a small settlement which is an atoll off the main island. There are also a number of individual houses on atolls. The anchorage is a few miles in the dinghy from the settlement so we got very wet when there were any waves. A boat delivers supplies for the island once a week and that is when the whole town do their weekly shopping.

The anchorage is lovely with a resident dolphin and a very good bar, the Manatee, where we played darts and pool as well as sinking a few cold beers! We did a bit of snorkeling but the sea is colder and although the coral is pretty there are very few fish. We have also did a couple of dives at a site on the north of the Island. The coral was not that good and we saw practically no fish but it was a taxing dive for us as we had to swim between narrow channels of coral and we also went through a tunnel.

Last Sunday we sailed to Roatan, the biggest of the Bay islands. Its a lot more commercial than Guanaja with lots of fully inclusive dive resorts. It is not really set up for cruisers and there is not much snorkeling. The dive resorts also make it difficult to dive by yourself. Given this we are now leaving for Belize tomorrow. We have a fairly short sail of 90 miles to the first reef where we will stop for a bit and then we are hoping to go to Belize City to organise a trip to Tikal and a few other Mayan ruins.

Posted from Belize. A bit late but update on that trip will follow.

San Blas and Panama

After our last blog update we got ready to leave Cartagena. We had to wait for our clearance papers which finally arrived at 7pm and then got the boat ready before an early night ready to set off bright and early. We had set the alarm for 5.30am but when we put the instruments on ready to go, the chart plotter wouldn't work. No problem, we could cope without it so we spent an hour scrubbing barnacles off the anchor chain as we raised it. Got to the point of lifting the anchor and the windlass died. We were going nowhere, so we re-laid the anchor and set about getting it repaired. It took a week with the help of a very good mechanic on a boat called Sunshine. Still it was only a temporary fix and we had to order a new one to be delivered to Panama.

After spending the week as illegal aliens in Colombia, we set off for the San Blas. 2 days gentle sailing but with a horrible swell. Mike caught a Tuna on one line and the other line had just a head when we reeled it in! Something big had beaten us to it.

We went to a place called the West Hollandaise and were anchored between 2 palm tree lined deserted Islands. It was so quiet and a few times, we had dolphins come into the bay to feed. It's really wonderful to be able just to sit and watch them for an hour. Usually at sea we just get fleeting glimpses for a few minutes. There were also millions of small fry which would jump and land in the dinghy. This was usually when they were chased by fish which leapt about 6ft in the air and landed in the middle of them. The snorkelling was also great and I saw a sting ray.

After a few days rest our toilet decided to block so we spent 2 days in this idyllic location unblocking the heads. Ugh! Also our anchor washdown pump had stopped working in Cartagena and we also spent a day trying to fix that!

Chris and Dave, friends off CD, joined us and the 4 of us had a beach bbq with fish Dave had caught off the back of his boat using the fry as bait. We nearly lost the dinghy as we hadn't tied it on and turned round to see it drifting away! Dave dived in and rescued it.

We moved to Lemon Cays after a week and spent a few days there but the snorkelling wasn't as good. Few fish but good coral. Then we had a great sail to Linton which is half way to Colon .We were surfing down waves doing over 11 knots over the ground. After a days rest we sailed into Colon. On the way we caught a 9 and a 12lb Tuna at the same time! Great but a lot of work to turn into meals including a very messy cockpit to be cleaned! Still, they do taste unbelievably good when they are so fresh.

In Colon we are in the only marina. At first It was very busy with the blue water rally yachts but is quieter now they have all gone through to the Pacific. Our windlass arrived a few days after us. We were worried that we would have to cut the deck to make it fit as it's a bigger windlass but no, in fact we had to re-build it as the inside fittings are completely different. Fortunately the below deck parts fitted with millimetres to spare. We did our first GRP work, very messy but we have a very solid deck! It took us 8 days to fit and during that time we spent a great deal of time crouched in a tiny space that was about 40 degrees. As Mike said it was like a prison punishment! The windlass sounds great but we are yet to test it. It's a much bigger motor so hopefully it should rip our anchor out of the ground easily.

While we were waiting for the windlass to arrive, we did a transit of the Panama canal with an American couple on another Island Packet yacht that we had met in Trinidad. It was great fun. We left in the afternoon and went through the first 3 locks. It's hard work as you really have to hold the boat tight against the force of water entering the locks. Once through we moored on a buoy in Gatun lake for the night. The following morning we left at 6am for the 4 ½ hour trip across the lake. Then we had 3 locks down which were much easier work. The scenery is amazing and the advisers who escort you are so knowledgeable. We enjoyed it so much that we did it again last weekend for other friends on Jackster. This was an all British boat as Jackie is from Kenilworth and Dave from Yorkshire and Chris and Dave from CD were the other 2 line handlers.

We are getting very spoilt being in a marina. There are washing machines, a swimming pool and a bar with happy hour and good burger and chips! But we can't wait to leave.

Our current plan is to head to a river close by for few days to wait for the weather to go to Providencia. We are missing out our planned trip to Costa Rica and Guatemala as we are running out of time due to all the delays we have had. We need to get to Florida in May so time is running out. Providencia, the Bay Islands and Belize are supposed to be great diving so we are looking forward to moving on and leaving the hard work behind.

Our next blog may be a while as we will be out of internet contact for a bit but we will update you all when we can.

Cartagena at Last!

We spent the days before Christmas eagerly awaiting our generator part from the UK. It arrived on 24th December and was fitted boxing day. With a working generator we planned to leave on 27th.

Christmas day we had a lovely time. For breakfast we had hot croissants and coffee with mid morning champagne later. We had dinner with Dutch friends from a boat called Papillon. We spent the whole afternoon and evening eating,drinking and sitting talking. We had a lovely joint of beef which we had been aging in the fridge for 5 weeks and I made my first apple crumble on the boat.

When we came to leave our anchor windlass would not work. This did not stop us, we were determined that we were leaving so we raised the anchor manually leaving us and the deck covered in mud! We knew we could lower the anchor but not raise it which gave us 1 attempt to anchor when we reached Cartagena.

The passage took us 3 days 4 hours which is good going for 455 miles. The first 2 days the wind was either good or a little light. The third day made up for this. The wind increased during the day and we were screaming along achieving our highest speed yet of 9.7 knots. Unfortunately, it continued to increase and by evening was a F8 with gusts up to 39 knots. We rolled up the genoa and reefed down the main but were still doing 8 knots on a tiny scrap. The waves increased and were quite scary to look at, also the noise as they broke near the stern of the boat was amazing. We had water bubbling up our cockpit drain holes and splashing over the sides though our new dodgers served us well. We had little sleep that night so when we arrived at 1pm we went to bed, woke up at 8pm, ate some food and went straight back to sleep until morning. Although our crossing was 'exciting' we fared better than some boats. Some had arrived with ripped sails and one with a broken rudder.

New Year eve was spent with friends walking around the old city which was very busy and all lit up. Then we watched fireworks with Chris, Dave, Wendy and Bobby on the front of the latter's catamaran.

Our time here has been very busy sightseeing and socialising. There are lots of cruisers here and many people we have met before in Curacao so it has been good to catch up with them. The old city is a maze of streets and shops, restaurants and cafes with a few museums thrown in for variety. It's very easy to spend a very enjoyable day wandering through it with long pleasant lunches and some light 'culture'! It's really a lovely place to visit and now Colombia is free from internal strife, we are sure it will become a popular tourist destination. It is also very cosmopolitan and it is a bit odd to be in an anchorage surrounded on many sides by high rise apartments! Very pretty at night but strange after the Caribbean islands.

When we got here our generator broke again but is now fixed and Mike mended the windlass which had a loose wire. Mike has also been to a very nice dentist who repaired a filling and didn't charge him anything!

With everything fixed (for the time being!), we are heading to the San Blas tomorrow. We are both looking forward to a quiet few weeks with lots of snorkeling. We will not have internet again until we reach Colon in Panama in a few weeks.

Picture Update

We have added two new slideshows of pictures taken over recent months. Hope you enjoy them.

Still stuck in Curacao awaiting parts and repairs so not much happening apart from lots of socialising with friends, an occassional dive and cleaning!!!

Happy Christmas to everyone!

Mike and Karen

In Curacao!

Our final week in Bonaire was very hectic. We did our third bike ride to the north of the Island. Very pretty but very hilly and the ride was about 30 miles. We both must be fitter because it didn't hurt as much as the first one! The ride followed the coast and we had a great snorkel and passed a lake with lots of Flamingos. The following day we hired a car with friends Wendy and Bobby. It was a surprise to see them, as they had visited Venezuela and we didn't think they would catch us up but they arrived in Bonaire in time to snorkel with us on Kline Bonaire (small island off the W coast) and then go sight seeing.

We took the car to the national park in the north which was very wild and picturesque. It was dirt track roads so the driving tested Mike's skills. After a picnic and a snorkel we headed south and also stopped at Rincon the other town on the Island.

We had another day's diving and managed to do 3 dives. We saw lots but its very tiring! The US company we wanted to buy the dive gear off (see last blog) would not accept a credit card (no one has told them that the credit card company is responsible for fraud not them!) so we left without ordering anything.

We had a good sail to Curacao a week ago. Unfortunately, we didn't catch any more fish but it was an enjoyable day with a good breeze and we had a visit from the dolphins as we rounded the northern tip of the island. We anchored in Spaanse Water on Saturday, so Sunday we caught a bus into Willemstad to check in. After a long walk we found Immigration who were very friendly and on our 3rd attempt we managed to get in to customs by knocking on their window to get their attention! We also need an anchoring permit (office closed weekends!) so we had to go back into town Monday to get this, but they were closed for a long lunch hour!!! We finally managed to get hold of them Wednesday. They do not make it easy here to comply with their rules but it is probably a taster of what it will be like in the Spanish speaking countries.

Although Willmstad is very pretty, the town is a world heritage site with lots of lovely old buildings, we are missing the lovely clear waters of Bonaire. The water here is very murky and we have not had a swim since arriving here. It is also not as convenient as you have to get a bus to do anything and they run on Caribbean time (i.e. when they feel like it!).

We were hoping to leave for Cartagena this weekend but unfortunately our generator has majorly broken down. For the mechanics amongst you the valve has broken and gone into the piston. We are trying to find someone to mend it but getting parts could be a problem. There will probably be even less chance of getting it fixed once we leave here so we could be here a while!

We are consoling ourselves with wine and cheese and socialising with friends. The supermarkets here do have a big selection of foods, more than we have seen since leaving the UK. So there are worse places to be and its too windy this weekend to go anywhere anyway!

Life in Bonaire

We have now been in Bonaire 3 weeks and are loving it. We have completed our PADI open water course which took 4 days and was very tiring. I (Karen) found it very stressful as one of the things you have to do is take your mask off and put it back on. For some reason breathing through my nose always seems good when I don't have a mask on so I struggled but managed to do it once in the pool by holding my nose! The actual dives are amazing, we have seen so many fish and the coral is so colourful. Both of us are so much more relaxed in the water now. We have had our first day diving by ourselves and dived under the boat. We have so many divers under our boat that we thought it must be worth a look! Even snorkeling we have seen so many fish including Angel fish, Parrot fish, Squid, Tarpon (big) and a Turtle. We may need to get an underwater camera!

Besides diving we have also been exploring the island. We decided to get fit and hired bikes. Our first ride was around the south of the island which according to the local map is about 10 miles. It was very hot and windy with huge salt ponds and mountains but fairly flat. Mike spent ages trying to photograph Ospreys but they flew off every time he got the camera out! We also saw old slave huts used by the workers on the salt ponds. The only break was on the east coast where we had a welcome beer. It turned out to be about 25 miles back to town and we were both exhausted and in pain! Neither of us have been on a bike in the last 6 years so our legs and bottoms were definitely feeling it and drugs were required to sleep!!!! Our second ride was shorter, across to the lagoon on the east coast. Again we saw lots of birds including Flamingos, Osprey, Herons and Storks. It was on dirt tracks and on the way back I managed to acquire 2 punctures so we had to get a lift back to town (neither of us was too upset about this!). We still have one more day cycle hire left and are hoping to head north.

Last weekend we took our dive instructor out for a sail which was a lovely relaxing morning. As usual the fishing line was out and as we pulled it back the line screamed out. We thought we had caught the bottom or a piece of debris but no, it was a huge Wahoo. It put up quite a fight and several times pulled the line back out but eventually it was gaffed and hauled onto the boat. It was 52” long but too heavy for our scales. However having weighed the bits we estimate it was about 30lb and we had 16lb of skinless fillets. We gave some away but still have a freezer full!!! Its our first Wahoo and it tastes lovely.

We have also been socialising with fellow cruisers. Our neighbours, Bonnie and Tom are very keen and expert divers. They keep recommending things to see which unfortunately are too deep for us novice divers to see. We are meeting up with boats who are heading in the same direction as us so we should see them again in the coming months.

Still not sure when we will leave as we are now looking to have dive gear shipped from the States and want to do some more diving! We also have to wait for our dive certificates to be delivered.