Old Friends Come To Stay

Welcome back Boatbloggers ®

Of course, when we say “Old Friends Come To Stay,” we don’t mean old as in, ‘of pensionable age.’  We simply mean that we have known them for a long time.

Yes, Nicho & Shelagh visited us in Nevis and St Kitts, for a week of fantastic sailing.

Unfortunately, it was really windy.

…which those landlubbers among you might think is what you would want to go sailing. And of course it’s true up to a point.  But sometimes it gets too windy and it’s better to stay at anchor and talk about sailing.

So, we went to a restaurant instead…

And then we went to a restaurant.

…and then we went to..er…a….

.

But after that we went to the famous Nevis Botanical Gardens…

..which is mainly famous for it’s…er..restaurant.

 

It’s always nice when old friends can get together, and have long and deep meaningful conversations…

…with people who are somewhere else.

(Are there any photos of you actually not in a restaurant? – Ed)

We saw pineapples growing.

And monkeys.

But sad to say, didn’t actually do a lot of sailing.

For this edition, of the Boatblog ® we have decided to introduce a new competition, called “Showers of the Caribbean.” The first contender is….

Surf Dude Shower

Next up is….Canoe Shower

Then for those who don’t mind sharing…His & Hers…

…and finally…Flower Power Shower

To cast your vote, simply call 0898 898989, and have your credit card ready.

To continue the Bathroom Theme, some of the signs outside the restrooms (that’s toilet to our English readers. Not quite sure why they are called restrooms. Do people go in there to have a rest?) are quite unusual. This was obviously quite an upmarket sort of a place.

And this one for some reason seems to be able to detect things that shouldn’t need detecting.

This next message kind of sums up life in the Caribbean, though it does give a hint of urgency that doesn’t really exist.

And in another brand new feature, introduced especially for this edition we would like to present

 The Poor Seamanship Award 2016

And this years unrivalled winner is…

(Pause for fanfare)

Nicho,

…with his splendid entry called “iPhone Beermat.”

Yes dear readers, that really is an iPhone 6 being used to protect the cockpit table from a cup of tea. Many of you might think this would actually count as poor landsmanship, but on a boat it is truly spectacular.

Congratulations Nicho!

We have a number of contenders for the arty farty prize. Lyn’s first entry is called simply “Floor.”

That is actually a floor made from coral that they used in one of the (many – we know) restaurants that we went to.

Next up we have, “Kite,” seen at Nevis’ annual Kite Flying Competition.

But the overall winner is Lyn’s “Mailboxes.”

All too soon, Nicho and Shelagh had to wend there way back to The Old Country, while we went North to St Maarten. It was quite a nerve racking trip. Our engine wouldn’t start, so we knew that when we got there we would have to go through the swing bridge under sail to get it into a marina where it could be repaired. Tricky stuff, even for master mariners.

When we got there, Lyn had a fiddle with some of the wires that led to the engine. And lo and behold it just started. Panic over. We’ve no real idea why, but Lyn now reckons she’s a master mechanic.

Fortunately, once we’d moored up, we met Jef from Marine Solutions here in Simpson Baii – and he really IS a master mechanic.

His last job was in Portsmouth working with the America’s Cup team. Ju told him that next time he is over, he should mention that he has been working in Domini to Ben Ainslie. It might help.

Next we are going to be sailing to Santa Cruz in The Galapagos Islands. That’s thousands of miles away from here. To find out how we manage it, make sure you order your next instalment of…

THE BOATBLOG.COM

Vaarwel for now.

Ju & Lyn

St Maarten (Dutch side)

PS

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