Duncans Ahoy

Crossing back across the Atlantic sailors largely have two choices; go direct from the Caribbean to the Azores or go via Bermuda and skip around the western edge of the Azores High to get a better wind angle for the Azores. By choosing to head to Bermuda additional miles are added to the crossing but rather than facing an upwind slog all the way to the Azores with retching children (and adults!) it seems sensible to head the 850 miles to Bermuda. In addition Bermuda is not a place that one might usually travel to. It sits 500 miles from the coast of America and is a beautifully sculpted and manicured island with pastel coloured buildings and white sand beaches encircled with vicious reefs. It is not a centre for yachting but is a transit point ... read more

So this had two names after it the normal island title and frankly could have been equally BOAT WORK or TRANS-ATLANTIC PROVISONING. Both Gill and I were not really looking forward to this part of our trip, but as with all things, it was absolutely essential. St Maarten has two halves – one Dutch and one French, which obviously creates two very different styles of island. After a strong wind forecast and a rolly few nights in St Bart’s we decided to go into the Dutch side and the safe anchorage of Simpson Bay Lagoon. This was a wonderful change as the boat didn’t move and we could get a peaceful night’s sleep, or so we thought! We eventually rolled into bed about 11pm and were awoken at midnight with the biggest and loudest music we ... read more

St Kitts The approach to St Kitts is through the appropriately named Narrows, which leaves Nevis to south and to port and St Kitts to north with a number of rocks awash. With a poled-out genoa and the main secured with the preventer we were not at our most agile. It was halfway through dropping the pole north of Booby Island that Lisa noticed the depth rapidly lessening. A few curt orders to Richard on the other end of the spinnaker pole had it quickly deposited on the deck and us testing the strength of the preventer by sailing the main on the wrong side and chancing a jibe. Luckily the depth started to read what it ought to have and we breathed a sigh of relief and made our way through the Narrows ... read more

Les Saintes Leaving Dominica we enjoyed a fabulous sail, in close company with Open Blue, to Les Saintes. The winds were light and we ploughed along cutting through the narrow Passe Des Dames and into the collection of low-lying islands belonging to Guadeloupe, and again part of the Departments Outre Mer (or overseas territories). France maintains these islands with the same level of oversight as it does with say, the Haut Savoie. We looked to stop in Anse du Bourg but it became apparent that our indecision on where to go was our downfall, as coming in fast on the left flank were a band of sweating Frenchmen at the maximum speed a Sun Fast 36 can muster under engine, they therefore snaffled the last mooring buoy. This was actually to our benefit as we turned ... read more

Martinique We sailed the 20-mile journey to meet up with Caroline and Paul on Juno. It was a tight fetch across from St Lucia and we aimed to for the large, secure bay of St Anne. The contrast from the other Caribbean islands was quite extraordinary; from the dinghy pontoons, the shops that actually had something in them, to the lit, paved streets – it was clear that we were in a department of France, albeit one that was filled with sunshine, the holidaying French and sat square in the Caribbean. We had made plans to have a few days with the Junos prior to them disappearing to Antigua to fly home for work. Juno is a stunning Oyster 575 and Paul ensures that she is immaculately maintained. Their life involves 3 weeks a ... read more