It has been a busy few days since I last wrote to you. We spent 2 days in Grenada enjoying the history and scenery of the islands. The inlands of Grenada are covered in lush rainforest, which is amazing considering that a hurricane devastated the island only 2 years ago. Apparently when the storm hit it took all the roofs off the houses and uprooted trees across the hillsides. The island is dependent on crops of bananas and spices which were totally destroyed, so the islanders faced extreme hardship. Some houses went without power and running water for months - imagine [View Full Entry]

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We have just completed our passage from Nevis to Grenada in just over 45 hours. At the start of the trip I headed up the rigging to check out the view from the crows nest, and take a few photos…. I have also added a shot taken in the evening of a short term visitor to the vessel - a rather tired barn swallow which has migrated all the way south from North America for the winter. [View Full Entry]

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It has been a busy few days on Nevis since we arrived on Sunday evening. The Island was first settled by Indians way back around 100BC, some of whom were thought to be cannibals, or so I have been told! The name comes from a visit by the explorer Christopher Columbus; the day he arrived he must have been suffering slightly from the heat, because despite the sweltering temperatures and humidity (I have spent most of the last 3 days dripping with sweat), he thought the top of the mountain was covered in snow and so named the island ‘Nieve’ after [View Full Entry]

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As I write this to you, we are just completing our first passage aboard Ocean Star, leaving from Tortola and heading to Nevis. It has been a long and quite rough 30 hours of travel with our first taster of life aboard a yacht underway. The crew has been split into 3 teams, called rather unimaginatively 1, 2 and 3, and over the course of the voyage each team has taken it in turns to be on watch. What this means is that you spend three hours on deck either steering the boat, on the bow watching out for passing traffic [View Full Entry]

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Everyone has now arrived on Ocean Star and we set sail from Tortola on Saturday morning to our first anchoring spot at Virgin Gorda. All the students are from around the United States, in fact I am the only person from the UK aboard, so I am introducing them to important English traditions like marmite sandwiches! Before departure we had to stock the boat with food for 15 people for 80 days. Shopping for this type of trip isn’t like going with your mum to the supermarket; everything is ordered from a wholesaler and delivered by truck. You can check [View Full Entry]

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I arrived late last night on my home for the next 80 days of sailing - Ocean Star. It was a bit of a monumental journey via car, then three plane trips, a taxi, a ferry and last of all a small boat to arrive exhausted but happy to be at my final destination: the British Virgin Islands. Boat living is somewhat more confined than living at home; I am in a cabin with one other staff member. The room itself is about 2.5m by 2m, consists of two bunks and a couple of small portholes out onto the deck. Storage [View Full Entry]

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Colorado is made up of large flat plains to the east and the Rocky Mountains to the west. I spent the weekend in the mountains trying to adjust to the altitude. The high altitude makes you feel a bit strange as the air is much thinner than down at sea level where you are at school. The thinner air means that you breathe in less oxygen and need to take things a bit easier than normal - even a short run can make you feel exhausted! I arrived in Colorado with the autumn, the aspen leaves are changing from green to [View Full Entry]

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Hi Class 2, I have a three month trip ahead of me travelling via Colorado to the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. I will be flying into the British Virgin Islands (BVIs) to the Island of Tortola. The plan is to sail from Tortola to Grenada and then work my way back to the BVIs over the course of 80 days - ask Mrs Mott and she will show you the places on the map. I have been busy over the last few days organising myself and packing everything: clothes, diving equipment, waterproofs, wash bag etc. Now the only thing left [View Full Entry]

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