Paradise Beach, Carriacou. Before leaving Grenada we used the Shademan (a rather fabulous local legend) to give us all an island tour. Normally we get hire cars but here it’s a lot more complicated than just booking one, so we had waited until Dai and Sue arrived so we would would all be exploring it for the first time together. Having the Shademan meant it was completely bespoke, so he avoided all the ‘touristy’ places, and instead we visited smaller, more off the beaten track places and we were given an amazing commentary on the flaura and fauna of the island. The ShademanRoad trip! Oldest r ..read more

Mum For insurance purposes due to Hurricane Season we had to be below 10° latitude. Prickly Bay in Grenada was only a 24 hour sail North from that, so we booked it up and made that our home for the 6 month season; May to October. Just after we arrived we had the most incredible privilege to go to witness the giant Leatherback turtles lay their eggs. They return to the same beaches every year, which during nesting season are closed to the public. To visit them you have to book up and pay a fee which obviously helps to maintain the hatching programme. Leatherback turtle laying her eggs Whenever ..read more

Being a couple who despise leaving things to chance (too much military!!) I sat down a couple of weeks before leaving and made a comprehensive shopping list and meal plan. I think it’s fairly normal to have a usual list of ‘go to’ recipes that you are familiar with, that everyone likes and which can be adapted if needs be. Stick to these!! And remove all cardboard and write the contents on the top of tins. So much easier! Franco The first thing I stocked up on was dog food. I bought LOTS. I had pretty much bought all the UK’s stock of dried duck for the boy, like some sort of crappy drug mule ..read more

On 5/08/22 we weighed anchor at 0700 and left for Madeira. We had a brilliant sail down with the WAZ (wind acceleration zone) adding some chop to the waves. We were escorted along the way by dolphins, much to the annoyance of the 2 dolphin explore boats trying to find them. So sorry anybody that was taking photos that day. You will likely have a photo of me with a glass of wine in one hand half hanging off the boat and playing around with Flipper and his mates. We called ahead to Calheta Marina who were expecting us, and for the first time ever they sent over a clear map, details of our berth ..read more

So despite it being last May when we did this trip, I shall pretend I’ve been so horribly busy since then I’ve not had time. Which is a big, fat, hairy lie. I’m just a lazy arse who struggles to use WordPress. Lazy girl sailing..Navionics!Tobago Cays We made the epic 25 mile South trip in good time and as we were entering the Cays I took the wheel whilst Lee prepared the anchor. As always I asked if there was anything exciting about to happen that I should be aware of, and as usual I was told there wasn’t. The screen was zoomed out but everything seemed a bit busy so I zoomed in. And after z ..read more

So The Cub visited with Megan, stayed 2 amazing weeks where his little Tyrannosaurus Rex arms didn’t make it to the bottom of his pockets, bankrupted us and then buggered off home. My beautiful boys. The Cub. AKA Jack. Note the exceptionally short arm. After being financially crippled by the child’s visit, organising Franco and his paperwork for Saint Vincent was a welcome distraction! Appointment booked with the Ministry of Agriculture approved vet, us and Ghostrider left Martinique and headed South. Just 1 of 15 documents we had to email to St Vincent. Noonsite, the cruising guide site we r ..read more

We had been waiting to catch up with our pals from Ghostrider for what seemed like forever, and we eventually got word they would soon be arriving in Martinique. This coincided with our faithful old dinghy finally giving up on us, so we decided to sail down from Antigua to buy a new dinghy and catch up with our partners in crime; Rob and Nerys. Our non-stealable, awesome, fabulously scrappy old dinghy was now barely being kept afloat by masking tape, a bailer, a foot pump, and a prayer. The only problem is nobody wants to buy a shiny new dinghy. It screams “Steal me!” as opposed to our Old Fai ..read more

Barbuda is a ridiculously beautiful little island just North of Antigua. Covering only 62 Square miles, this island paradise was completely destroyed in September 2017 by Hurricane Irma, resulting in the entire population being evacuated to Antigua. There was some doubt as to whether it would ever recover, but very slowly, it is. It’s hard to see Barbuda when you arrive by boat as it is completely flat. Obviously you know it is there because you can see it on the chart plotter and you would have to be a special kind of stupid not to see that, but it’s still a bit of a surprise when suddenly t ..read more

So despite it being last May when we did this trip, I shall pretend I’ve been so horribly busy since then I’ve not had time. Which is a big, fat, hairy lie. I’m just a lazy arse who struggles to use WordPress. Lazy girl sailing..Navionics!Tobago Cays We made the epic 25 mile South trip in good time and as we were entering the Cays I took the wheel whilst Lee prepared the anchor. As always I asked if there was anything exciting about to happen that I should be aware of, and as usual I was told there wasn’t. The screen was zoomed out but everything seemed a bit busy so I zoomed in. And after z ..read more

Stunning Antigua After a great sail of 180 miles we we arrived in Antigua, one of the Leeward Islands (meaning less wind than Martinique!) in the Lesser Antilles. Now with a dog, you can’t just rock up on these islands, check yourself in and go off on your merry way to get smashed on rum punch and lie in the sun getting burned. Long before leaving Martinique, I had been on the Antigua government website to email the Chief Veterinary Officer. This was to ask them to send me a link for their animal importation application. Then another email clarifying that we weren’t flying him in but were o ..read more