http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/daughteroffanji/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from daughteroffanji en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:01:43 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:01:43 +0000 We originally set sail with the aim of first going to St Martin and then the BVIs but after beating up wind for what seemed like a lifetime we decided that it was a better idea to go to the BVIs first and St Martin later. This actually turned out for the best though as it meant that we could meet up with Paulina Alexrsquos mum who had flown down to Virgin Gorda to help sail a rather nice yac http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-393253.html So we decided to head back down south so that we could meet up with the Picton Castle a tall ship that Alex Ed and Scott have all sailed on at some point in the past. As it turns out we arrived a little early as the PC didnrsquot arrive for a following 9 days but it was nice to be back in Bequia again. As wersquod spent two weeks here already we mainly used our time for relaxing enjoying http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Saint-Vincent-and-Grenadines/blog-392125.html Our stay in Iles des Saintes was short but sweet we stayed for only a few days but this was more than enough time to see the area. There are a number of small islands here and we went to the largest Terre drsquoen Haut which is a beautiful little French island with the only small town in the whole of The Saints. Like Martinique the place was very French and had cheap wine good cheese and a http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-388512.html 09.00 Wake up to the sound of Scott frying an egg or to the smell of Ciara making coffee.09.01 Open my eyes to see a very messy cabin and 4 bodies still attempting to sleep amongst the chaos.09.20 Eat breakfast that someone else has made for me usually a full breakfast French toast pancakes or porridge10.00 Shave my legs on deck and bathe in the sea.10.10 Rinse off using the fresh wa http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-382293.html Dominica is on par with Bequia in terms of how much I like the place and how much I enjoyed my time there. The island is gorgeous itrsquos one of the taller islands and therefore holds rain clouds rather well this means that it rains a lot here but also means that there is an abundance of lakes rivers waterfalls rainbows hot sulphur springs and even a boiling lake. Dominica is known for it http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Dominica/blog-382286.html We noticed an immediate change upon arriving in Martinique rather than being like any other Caribbean island wersquove been to so far itrsquos much like arriving in France. The plug sockets are European their currency is the Euro the place is full of boulangeries and everyone speaks French these things may be good or bad depending on your view of France. We made the most of the cheap chee http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Martinique/blog-380866.html St. Vincent. http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-376238.html Bequia was a delight to visit the main strip is laid out along the waterfront so everything is visible and easy to find. The main path along the waterfront leading to all the bars and restaurants is right next to the sea with the tide quite often rising over the path. When we first arrived we had no food or water left and to top it off it was a Sunday and none of the food shops were open so we http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-376231.html Mayreau is a small island that I found to be quite similar to Petit Martinique it is located next to the 5 small islands of the Tobago Cays which are ringed with amazing coral reefs. We spent only a few days around the area far less time than we should have spent as I could have snorkelled round the Cays day after day. We spent our time exploring Mayreau and found that the island was extremely s http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-370438.html On our way to Petit Martinique we anchored just off a small uninhabited island to the north of Grenada. We decided to go ashore and cook a campfire dinner on the beach although Alex stayed on the boat as he was worried about dragging anchor since we werenrsquot in the most sheltered of anchorages. Scott informed us of an excellent technique he had learned for lighting a campfire which involves http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-366723.html The first person we came into contact with after arriving in Grenada was a lovely Gentleman called Jools he rowed up to Bob in a small wooden boat and commented on our courtesy flag which was about 4 times the size that it should be. He makes courtesy flags for a living and after some discussion he agreed to make us a Dominica flag as the company I bought the gigantic flags from gave me a Domi http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Grenada/blog-365132.html Wow What an experience. So I suppose Irsquoll start from the beginning and tell you the whole story. We went through customs and set off from St Georges harbour in Bermuda at about 2.30pm on the 20th December already a day later than planned. It reached just 4pm before Shannon vomited setting in her sea sickness for the next few days. The beginning was incredibly uncomfortable I donrsquot http://www.travelblog.org/Oceans-and-Seas/blog-360402.html This is just a short entry to let you know that we're moving onto the boat today. We're going to sail to St Georges this afternoon then set off to the Caribbean tomorrow It's going to be a busy day of provisioning and getting the finishing touches done. It looks like we will be at sea for Christmas so I will catch you all up on our journey when I get to land. Our first stop will probably be Gren http://www.travelblog.org/Oceans-and-Seas/blog-355295.html Well Irsquove been in Bermuda for over 2 weeks now and have spent the majority of my time working on the boat. When I saw Bob in the boat yard for the first time I was not at all surprised that she looked like a bomb site Alex likes to work in what he calls lsquoorganised messrsquo which is a state of chaos and untidiness to everyone else but him. Wersquove got quite a lot of big jobs d http://www.travelblog.org/Oceans-and-Seas/blog-351810.html I should point out that this is the countdown for my flight to Bermuda not for the Caribbean sail itself. That countdown may be considerably longer as Alex the captain of the ship has just given me a list of things that still need to be done to the yacht before we can set sail. This includes removing the headstay backing plate at the base of the mast refit both the mast and headstay plates o http://www.travelblog.org/Oceans-and-Seas/blog-339044.html