May til June

I start with a short note as to Customs and Immigration in the BVIs. This year at Gun Creek we paid $1 for the photocopied sheet and $5 to check out. There was no mention of an annual tonnage fee at all!

25^th April 14 hours to sailed back to St Martin, mixed motor sailing and sailing as we wanted to be anchored for our evening meal. As much as we like St Martin the only pull for this trip was the dinghy chaps which are STILL not here, To fill in time waiting we had a really pleasant sail up to Tintamarre for lunch, we chilled here for the weekend then sailed back to Marigot to check out for Deshaies. This was an overnight sail with lots of fishing pots to stay clear of . We battled against headwinds and a chop of waves until reaching deepwater at 8 O'clock. Then with fair winds most of the way (45 degrees apparent) and smooth seas, towards the end a broad reach and then flat calm on arrival in Deshaies. Ate ashore and met some of the crew from 'Murder In Paradise'!

7^th May moved to Pidgeon Island Guadeloupe, wind 20 knots and big seas, anchored in a rolly bay.

8^th May Fast sail to St Ruperts' Bay Dominica, just 10 hours, No charge for a buoy and no BBQ as the season has finished here.

9^th May Set a course for St Pierre, Martinique, very little wind until three in the afternoon when the wind puffed up to 20 knots so the average speed went up to 8.2 for 20 minutes and maxed out at 8.8!

We stayed here a couple of days to stock up on Wine and cheese and other french delights. We also found a new restaurant which had both excellent food , good wifi and a charming host.

The Anchorage St Pierre, Martinique.

Local Fishermen.

Me doing a Monty Python impression in the restaurant.

An Eel which Malcolm saw while snorkelling.

11^th sailed to St Lucia and anchored in Rodney Bay. At the far end of the Martinique we saw a school of Dolphins and some turtles. Enough that there were spectator boats out viewing.

Amazingly Deirdre and her son Giles were visiting Dereck and Bridget so we joined them for beers at the Yacht Club and did some liming.

18^th Sailed to Bequia and anchored at Tony Gibbons Beach ate ashore again.

20^th May Sailed to Carriacou, Tyrell Bay hoping to catch our friends on S/Y 'Blue' but didn't see them.

22^nd May Sailed for Grenada and anchored in Whispher Cove. This was a brilliant sail! With two reefs and the Yankee we averaged 7.18 knots! That's 35 miles in just under 5 hours!

26^th May As we were leaving for Trinidad S/Y Quicksilver came in and waved a fish at us, did we want to come for dinner? Duh no we were just setting off! pooh it would have been nice to catch up.

Since the sailing season has effectively finished we have been at Crews Inn preparing for the haul out. I made the mistake of using Teak brightener without gloves and many of my joints have become inflamed, I'm just hoping that it will rectify itself before we get home. In the meanwhile using hands and feet are very painful so as usual I;m not much help when it is most needed.
Today we arrived at Power Boats and were hauled out. and I did the docking for the boat lift! I only got shouted at once and even if I say so myself I did a pretty excellent job!

Well that will be all until we get back to the UK, where we will try our best to catch up with as many of you as possible.  Since we do not let the cottage for holiday makers anymore we can LIVE in it until mid October, so if you are passing , or would like to have a break and visit us please do!