We reluctantly departed St Barth on 24th April heading to Sint Maarten where our replacement VHF radio awaited us. Sint Maarten is the southern Dutch part of the island, the northern part being French. There is an enormous lagoon occupying the south western part of the island, accessed by lifting road bridges. Entry from Simpson …
We spent a full three weeks in dusty and frequently rainy Jolly Harbour Boatyard. It was ten days before our new fuel injector pump arrived from America and in the interim we took the opportunity to have Ivan and Jayden of Nautical Marine Services do the engine 2000 hour service. This was complex and comprehensive …
On departing Iles des Saintes we had another very ‘exhilarating’ sail north to the mainland with the forecast 22 knots of wind rapidly increasing to 43 knots in the squalls – that’s a severe gale! Thankfully it was only for a few hours and, as we made our way up the western side of Guadeloupe, …
Having had a wonderful stay in Marie Galant we were keen to explore some of the other islands south of Guadeloupe. We initially headed up to the south of the mainland and spent a few days at the marina just south of Pointe à Pitre. This is an excellent spot that is the finish line …
Instead of resting our aching muscles, we spent the day after the Boiling Lake walk at Carnival. Carnival is a big event in the Caribbean with parties all week culminating in two days of madness on Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras. The Monday event starts at 4am with J’ouvert or daybreak. Revellers in fancy dress …
At the end of January we made the long passage north from Bequia, bypassing Saint Vincent to arrive at Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia just before sunset. We arrived expecting the new chart plotter we had ordered from America to have also arrived. That was not to be, so we spent over a week in the …
After the first snows in October the weather turned bright and sunny again. We had to buy boot crampons but we were still able to do lots of wonderful walks in the mountains. We were joined, in early November, by Iain who was one of Jonathan’s colleagues in Antartica back in 1999. Ian was …
The last ten days of August have been less settled and less warm so we’ve been slightly more restricted in our trips. Before, we were heading high into the mountains seeking cooler air, but now we are in search of sunshine. As soon as we saw a forecast for two consecutive days of good weather …
Whilst Jonathan remained in Ste Foy looking after my garden, I returned to London to spend time with my mum and catch up with friends. Anita travelled from Australia to continue her 60th birthday celebrations and a big group of old friends joined her. Gill, Anita, Helen, Helen, Sally, Tom and myself all met more …
Le Vaudioux to La Cure: 37km and 846m climb Today we departed our hotel at the crack of dawn, hoping that the legs along the busy N5 would be quiet on a Sunday morning. Indeed the road was less busy than yesterday but we faced a steady climb of 900m over 35km trying to hug …