Author: juronnie

Welcome back Boatbloggers ® 

We wanted to be able to say that we had sailed back across The Atlantic from New York, and via the treacherous North Atlantic route past Newfoundland, Greenland and so on. Now clearly that would be ridiculous in little Domini  so we decided to get a bigger boat.

And here it is.

Yes, we know that a cruise is for retired elderly folk, and that by us being on it the average age would be brought down to 83. Yes, we know that the whole time is spent knitting, playing bowls and talking about what we did in the war. And yes we know that it’s the place to go to meet rich widows and doddering old colonels with three weeks to live.

But we thought we’d give it a go anyway.

And we couldn’t have been more wrong. It is brilliant fun.

It’s not full of old fogeys. Well, there’s a few of course, but it’s mostly people like us (That is – just incase you thought otherwise – young sophisticates). And the ones who are older are all young at heart and out for a party.

We couldn’t keep up.

Of course it’s all very stylish. We had to send back home for suits and dresses, because they wouldn’t let us on with shorts and flip flops.

Champagne anyone?

…or cocktails perhaps?

And if you’re not in the Veuve Clicqot lounge, then it must be time for afternoon tea.

With sandwiches…

And cakes…

And sweets…

But it’s not all eating and drinking.

Actually on second thoughts, it is all eating and drinking. 

But occasionally you do other things. Like the Masquerade Ball for example.

All in all it’s a lot easier when someone else is doing the driving.

Though it can be a bit nippy on deck.

Especially during the Force 11 (Yes, ELEVEN!) that we sailed through. That is called a severe storm. (The scale only goes up to 12 – and that’s a hurricane!)

It doesn’t look so bad from the 8th floor, (for some reason storm photos never look as bad as they are – and it’s not just because sailors are natural exaggerators.) But if little Domini had been out in that we’d have been swamped.

It was a little disconcerting when the Captain came on the tannoy and said, “It may interest you to know that we are at this moment sailing over the final resting place of the Titanic.

“But do not worry, The Queen Mary is unsinkable.”

Hmmmm.

Ju let the captain know that he too was a sailor, and they only had to ask if they needed any help on the bridge. They seemed to manage OK without him, and even in the Force 11, the Queen Mary only rocked a little bit.

It’s all quite exhausting, what with the spa treatments, the massages, the pedicures, the steam room, and watching people working out in the gym.

And the decks are very long if you go for a walk.

…and it takes ages to get to your room.

Quick Quiz.

Do you know what these Henry Moore sculptures are of?

Are they

(A)     Waves

or

(B)     Seagulls

 

Answer below.

Answers to the Henry Moore Quiz.

Ha ha – fooled you. It’s actually neither. They weren’t made by Henry Moore at all, but by the shipyard. They are the spare propellor blades. Though if the propellor falls off, we’ve got no idea how they’re going to stick the new one back on. But unlike being on a little yacht – that’s not our problem!

So in eight days we went from here…

…to here.

Yes – welcome to Southampton!

And Domini isn’t far behind us. She should arrive on Sunday night, ready for offloading sometime on Monday.

And then we can start all over again.

Just time for one arty farty photo. No need to tell you who took this one. It’s called Queen Mary’s Lift.

And now….

THE DIET BEGINS!

Bye for now Boatbloggers ® 

 

Ju & Lyn

Old Cruisers

Welcome back Boatblog ®  fans, though perhaps this edition should be called The Car-blog, because we have temporarily abandoned the good ship Domini and for a short while have become landlubbers again.

In our last episode we left you in Los Galapagos. From there, we headed back to St Maarten, stopping briefly in Quayaquil in Ecuador, only narrowly missing the dreadful earthquake. This photo was taken about 12 hours before it hit.

We rejoined Domini, and after a couple of days of re-provisioning in St Maarten we sailed north to the BVI, and finally to the US Virgins, where we either sat on the beach or went out to the floating bar that you can see in the middle of the picture.

But it wasn’t all just lazing about in the sun. We had to get Domini prepared for our next adventure. We took off the sails, the bimini, the spray hood, all the safety gear on the back rail, even the davits, and lashed the dinghy to the deck.

By the time we’d finished, she looked quite naked.

“But why?” I hear you cry. You’ll need to get to the end to find out.

Because first, we were going on a Road Trip. We’d read about the Lincoln Highway, which was the first road that went right across the States from Times Square in New York to San Francisco. And we decided to drive it.

Not all of it. That’s a long way. Instead we would join it about half way in Chicago, and head East towards The Big Apple.

So we flew to Chicago, where the first thing we did was…

…get on a boat. 

Chicago is justly famous for its architecture, and the best way to see it is along the river.

It says “Trump,'” on the tower up ahead so as we went past, we did. That might be why it’s called The Windy City.

Of course Sweet Home Chicago is most famous for the Blues…

We’re on a mission from God.

You don’t see this outside many gigs.

…but at least there was no chicken wire.

Continuing our Musical Pilgrimage, we spent Sunday in the AIC with George.

For those of you that  didn’t get that brilliantly witty reference, this is the painting that inspired Sondheim’s masterpiece, Sunday in the Park With George, and is on display a the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC).

Once again the Boatblog ®  seeks to inform as well as entertain.

One of the great things about America, is that no matter how badly the diet is going…

…you never feel fat.

Chicago at night is pretty spectacular. 

And pretty scary if you get too close to the window and look down.

We needed some kicks. So we hit the road.

We went from Illinois, through Indiana skirting along the Southern shore of Lake Michegan. This lake is huge. Big enough for waves! 

It was hard to believe that this was lake and not sea.

Quick quiz. Is the water salty, or fresh?

Go to the top of the class if you said fresh. Of course it is – it’s a lake. But even so it’s really weird being able to drink water from what look like the sea.

We stayed off the beaten track as much as possible.

The distances are big in America.

We went through Akron, Ohio…

…to Pensylvania. We stopped at Gettysburg, scene of the largest battle in the American Civil War. This was the Gettysburg Address,

…and a very nice motel it was too.

Gettysburg is also famous for paranormal activity. Ju decided to go Ghostbusting, and spent a night in several haunted houses. This photograph was taken with a flash when he heard something creaking…

Do you see those spots floating about. Is it just dust on the lens?

Or is it……???!!!!

So, from now on, if you have a problem with ghosts , Who you gonna call?

Incidentally, Lyn didn’t go because she said she thought it was all a load of old rubbish.

Or was she just frightened.

On to Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th 1776.

Bet they’re regretting that now. It’s also the home of the Liberty Bell.

We carried on East into Amish country, which is quite delightful.

We stayed overnight with Ben & Emma who are Amish farmers. For those of you who haven’t seen Witness, the Amish still live in the traditional way without cars or electricity, making all their own clothes, and generally living a simple life without any mod cons.

A bit like sailors.

Ben offered to take us out for a spin in his buggy, pulled along by his faithful horse, Misty.

As we were guests, he took us out in the special buggy, usually reserved for Sundays.

Who needs a Porsche?

We found a space in the supermarket car park.

It’s amazing that they can maintain this way of life with all the pressures of the modern world.

This diner was great. 

We half expected the Fonz to turn up.

Our next stop was Atlantic City, a big casino town, which after the simple world of the Amish people seemed a little crazy.

But it was kinda fun. 

Next stop, New York…

..where we met up with Rory and Zoe who are currently living in the Bronx.

We went to see the Yankees play.

L to R:-  Lyn, Rory, Zoe & Greg (Zoe’s brother)

And went on a tour of the vintage clothes stores, called “thrift shops,” to get things for the next stage of the adventure…

(What could that be? – you’ll have to subscribe to the next instalment to find out.)

A postcard from Brooklyn.

…which is where they buried Miles Davis.

I never knew he was a Sir. It’s probably a Sir like Mr Ellington was a Duke, and the Mr Basie was a Count. Actually, Duke Ellington is buried here too, and a load of other famous jazzers.

Anyone know what that tune is? The prize for the first correct answer is a three day course in how to anti foul the bottom of a boat.

Talking of which, while we were messing about on the road, what was happening to Domini down in the USVI? And why had we stripped off all the sails and things?

She too was going on a trip.

But where to?

Don’t miss the next exciting instalment of The Boatblog ®  to find out.

But before we go, there is just time for the Arty Farty competition. This time, all the entries are by Lyn. The first is called Buttons in a Jar.

and the next is called Silver Bark.

…and finally…er….not sure what this is. Let’s call it Green Spotty Thing

And of course, one last sunset – this time courtesy of the US Virgin Islands.

We’re going to miss those.

Bye for now Boatbloggers ® 

Ju & Lyn

Bienvenidos mi amigos,

This island is called Waterfalls of the Sea, and is just one of the many wonders that makes up The Galapagos, 700 Nautical Miles off the coast of Ecuador far out in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, and just south of the Equator.

Yes Boatblog ® fanos, this latest edition comes to you live from The Galapagos.

Now we know what you’re thinking. “Weren’t they in the Caribbean last week? How have they got all that distance, including going through the Panama Canal, in just a couple of weeks?”

Quite simple really. We left Domini in St Maarten, and got a plane. OK – so technically it’s cheating, but what happened is this. Our good friends Stuart & Ann Letton of Time Bandit…

…are sailing round the world. They’d just gone through the Panama Canal and arrived in The Galapagos, and they very kindly invited us over. Well it would be rude not to say no.

So here we are on Santa Cruz…

..exploring the caves caused by the lava flows.

It’s a long way down.

And even further back up.

We met some of the locals. They’re friendly enough, but they’re a bit slow.

Obviously it’s quite hard to get this close to the giant tortoises, so we had to make use of a specially designed ShellCam © 

That’s actually a real tortoise shell, but surprise surprise!

 It’s Stuart inside!

The tortoises live to over 150 years old, (which makes Ju about 26 in tortoise years). That is of course assuming they don’t get run over.

They really are enormous.

The number of animals that are unique to these islands is quite remarkable. These are marine iguanas. As in iguanas that go swimming in the sea.

There are weird looking jumping crabs,

..and sealions everywhere.

We even caught a brief glimpse of that rarest of all creatures.

A David Attenborough.

Next we went snorkelling.

It’s quite impossible to describe the sheer number of fish, and the amazing colours. It’s like swimming in an aquarium.

It’s a bit of a shock when you see your first shark and can’t get the Jaws theme out of your head.

There are Galapagos sharks (of course!), which are close relatives of the tiger shark, white tipped reef sharks, and  hammerheads swimming in vast numbers around the islands, and once you’ve got over the thought that you might be lunch, you appreciate just how incredible these animals are.

It seemed a bit mean, but on the way back we had a go at fishing. Now with this many fish in the water, even Ju should be able to catch something.

It was quite a struggle bringing it in. The fish put up quite a fight, and it took about ten minutes to haul it in. Ju was exhausted by the struggle, and convinced he’d hooked a record breaking tuna. He was quite surprised when it was finally brought on board.

Still, it’s the biggest (only) fish he’s ever caught. And couldn’t be fresher. On the table within five minutes of being pulled onto the boat.

Yum yum.

The snorkelling just gave us a taste for more, so the next day we decided to go diving.

And this time the Superheroes were down with the Hammerheads!

Dum dum dum dum dum dum.

They are the most majestic of animals.

There are giant rays…

…and they come in all shapes and colours.

Some just lurk on the bottom, waiting for the unwary diver.

Look at his eyes. The starfish are pretty.

Apparently you shouldn’t call them starfish, because they’re not really fish. You should call them Sea Stars. (Not a lot of people know that. Here at the Boatblog ® we seek to inform as well as entertain.)

The next day, we set sail (well, technically we put the motor on, but you know what I mean) for the largest of the Galapagos Islands…

…Isabela.

This is the island that is most like how you probably imagine the Galapagos to be. This is the high street of the main town.

…and this is the pub.

You have to step over the locals who spend all day lying around, sleeping off the effects of the night before.

…and it’s not ducks in the village pond.

It’s all totally unspoilt.

..which makes things like shopping much more fun than going down to Tesco’s. 

You go to the farm, point to you what you want, and the farmer cuts it down for you there and then. And who cares if you don’t get points on your loyalty card?

It’s the same with the fishmonger. It comes straight off the boat…

…and the pelicans get the scraps.

We went to a place called The Tuneles. (Not to be confused with The Tuneless, one of Ju’s old bands). It’s Spanish for Tunnels. Really they’re underwater arches, but apparently it got mixed up in the translation.

Again, the amount of wildlife was extraordinary, and you could get right up close. This is the famous Blue Footed Booby lolloping over to see what’s going on.

And there’s not many places in the world you can swim with penguins without a wet suit.

The rays fly round in schools…

…and the turtles are bigger than Ju.

 

And now in a brand new feature for The Boatblog ®, a little game called, “Find the Fauna!”

Round 1…

Can you see it?

And for round 2, have you idea what this?

If you said a pair of sharks, go to the bottom of the class. It is in fact a Manta Ray.

And finally, how many marine iguanas can you see in this photo?

Answers on a postcard please. Anyone with a correct answer gets to take the crew of Domini out for a slap up meal.

And this week’s caption competition.

 

 

Of course it wouldn’t be a Boatblog ® without an Arty Farty Prize, and in this Pacific Edition we have a number of contenders. First up is Stuart’s, “Flippers!”

(Correction – that should of course read “Fins!” Sorry Stuart)

Next we have Lyn’s “Gate!”

And Ju’s entry is “Pelican!”

 

It’s hard to believe we were only there for a week, and quite impossible to describe how incredible this place is. The pictures don’t do it justice. The Galapagos are islands of superlatives. So get out your David Attenborough box set, brush up your Spanish and come and see them for yourselves.

Muchas Gracias Stuart y Ann.

Hasta Luego.

Ju & Lyn

Whoops – almost forgot the obligatory sunset. Our first over The Pacific.

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

We hope you manage to receive this blog. Internet connections aren’t always that great.

This week we were visited by Rory and Zoe,

…and we once again went round all the places we went to with James & Emma, Alice & Ben. In an exciting new development for the Boatblog, Rory has made a video of highlights from the trip.

So without more ado, I hand you over to our guest blogger, Rory.

https://youtu.be/e_wcJOWynpw

 

What’s dad looking at?

It was good to be able to spend some family time together.

And here are a few contenders for this instalments Arty Farty Prize.

 

And here’s a picture of Zoe.

Bye

Rory

Yes Boatblog ® fans, we are no longer double handed.

We have been joined first by James & Emma,

…and a couple of days later by Alice & Ben.

So, with our new crew aboard and raring to go…

…our first stop was Hillsborough, capital city of Carriacou.

Hillsborough High Street – James has this fancy app on his phone which makes his photos look like Cuba in the 50’s.

It was here that we found Deefer Divers, so we took our crew underwater. Alice has been SCUBA diving before, but for the rest of them it was the first time.

 

It’s fair to say, that Emma didn’t enjoy it that much. In fact, that’s probably a bit of an understatement. She hated it. Which I guess shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise given that she doesn’t really like snorkelling. But fair play to her – she gave it a go.

We dove/dived (which is it?) off a little atoll called Sandy Island. The water was unbelievably clear. 

 

But let us introduce you to the new crew.

JAMES was really keen this year to get more involved with the handling of the boat, and to do some of the sailing, and we agreed to capture pictures of him in action. Here is a short selection…

TUNING IN MENTALLY

PREPARING FOR THE NEXT WATCH

CATCHING FLIES

Then there is BEN. Ben loves to swim. And eat. In fact it is believed that he part fish…

… part wolf.

But it’s not all just muscle on board. We also have glamour.

(L to R) EMMA, ALICE & LYN

From Carriacou we headed up to Petit St Vincent in The Grenadines. Nearby is a perfect deserted Robinson Crusoe Island called Morpion, which we re-christened The Heap of Sand.

It looks a bit like the old Apple screensaver. Here is the Captain and Crew,

 … or The Caribiners as we now call ourselves.

Of course we just had to go back to the Tobago Cays to snorkel with the turtles. 

James has another fancy app on his phone which turns his photos into an iPhone screensaver.

The Tobago Cays are not only famous for the turtles, but also the lobster barbecues.

LOBSTER – BEFORE

LOBSTER – AFTER

They couldn’t really be any fresher.

The best way to get around the Cays is by canoe.

Ju always goes in the back so Lyn can’t see if he’s paddling.

Then from Tobago Cays to Mayreau, once again seen through the lens with the 50’s Postcard filter.

The main village is at the top of a steep hill.

A very steep hill.

It was soon time to return to Grenada so that our new crew could get their flights back to the cold and wet. But before they left, Grenada had plenty to offer. There are the famous underwater statues…

Mermaids,

and James.

We swam in the waterfalls…

Ben jumped in, which was pretty brave,

 

…and a shame that the camera missed it.

Fortunately, Ju’s photographer was a bit better.

We ventured deep into the reforest, and discovered some strange and exotic creatures,

,

…painted rocks,

…and a chocolate factory, with the world’s biggest bar of chocolate. 6lbs in fact.

One each then.

Then back to St George’s where we anchored the boat, and James took another 50’s postcard photo of The Carenage.

But now it is time for the usual Arty Farty photograph competition. With so many crew, we have a number of strong contenders. 

BRANCH

INTO THE DEPTHS

TURTLES & STARFISH

PATRIOTIC TREE (Red, yellow & green are Grenada’s national colours, and come independence day, everything gets painted)

TIGHTROPE MAN WITH LOBSTER

WATERFALL

To register your vote please write on the back of a cheque for at least four figures, made payable to the Cayman Island Superyacht account.

Of course it wouldn’t be a true Boatblog ® without a gratuitous sunset…

…and a selfie.

So we say a sad goodbye to our crew for now. But next week we are joined by Rory and Zoe for more adventures on the High Seas.

Yea mon.

 

Ju & Lyn

Hello Boatbloggers ® and welcome this year’s first edition,

When we last wrote, we were stuck in the Virgin Islands waiting for a decent weather window to get to Antigua. Well, the wind never did quite come from where we wanted it to, but we set off anyway, thinking that the rainbow was a good omen.

We decided to break the trip up with a stop at St Maarten. (I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but in case not, it was here that we came FIRST in the Heineken Regatta.)

A lot of other people had the same idea, including Steve Jobs. Well, probably not him personally seeing as how he’s dead, but nevertheless he parked his $100,000,000 superyacht next to ours. I expect he wanted to make a good impression.

The iBoat.

Very nice, though to be honest, we though it just looked like a big iPhone 6. Apparently, to make it work you have to keep switching it on and off.

In case you didn’t know, St Maarten is split down the middle and is half dutch and half French. This time we spent more time on the French side of the island than the Dutch side. The food was better, but there were less tulips.

A VIEW FROM THE ESTAMINET

We couldn’t stay long. We had a flight to catch, so after just a few days we set sail again to Antigua. Once again we were beating all the way. You would think you’d get used to it. But you don’t…

We anchored up in Jolly Harbour, and it was here that we realised our transmission had gone. This meant we couldn’t motor forward, and had to go everywhere in reverse. As Ju thought, it was the drive cone and shifter that were knackered. These are relatively small parts costing a few hundred dollars. Unfortunately, being a boat, the only way to get at them is to take the boat out of the water, at enormous expense.

Once you’ve done that you then have to take the engine out, then the sail drive and finally you can begin work on what is otherwise a relatively simple job. But not one for Ju.

So we got Ivan at Extreme Marine to do it.

 And that is how a $200 lump of metal no bigger than your fist ends up costing two thousand dollars to replace. No wonder Ivan is smiling.

Fellow cruisers – Ivan is brilliant. If you need a repair doing in Jolly Harbour, go and see this man!

While Ivan was busy mending our boat, we flew home for Christmas. We’d rented a cottage down in Devon, and had a week there with all the family.

SANTA’S BEEN!

It was nice going for walks along the English beaches. Now I’m not one to criticise the Old Country, but…

ANTIGUA BEACH

DEVON BEACH

There is a major sea pollution issue in Teignmouth, caused not as you would expect by oil spills and the like, but by something much more insidious…

 

Sadly we had to leave England, and head back to the Caribbean.(Aaaaah.) Unfortunately Domini was still out of the water, so we decided to go to Montserrat while Ivan carried on with the tricky stuff. We had passed it last year and anchored offshore, but had not been able to land because the anchorage was deep and not well protected. This time we decided to go by ferry, and stay at a place called Gingerbread Hill. It was delightful.

ON THE VERANDA OF OUR VILLA AT “GINGERBREAD HILL.”

Montserrat was devastated a few years ago when the volcano erupted. That’s it you can see blowing out smoke behind us.

It’s still active, and they won’t let you get too close.

Though a bit of prosecution is probably the least of your worries if the volcano goes off.

This is all that is left of Plymouth, the capital city. It’s been buried under dust. It’s tragic when you see the photos of how it was before.

And this was one of the island’s famous luxury 5* hotels, The Montserrat Springs.

Ju found this in one of the rooms.

Dear Room Maintenance. There appears to be a volcano in my room.

The swimming pool was no longer so inviting.

And this is all that is left of the George Martin’s legendary Air Studios, Montserrat.

This is where the likes of Sting, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and now Ju have recorded.

Julian Ronnie.LIVE at Air Studios Montserrat.mp3

It might be that Ju is now one of a very few select group of musicians who have recorded at all three Air Studios. He has recorded at Air on Oxford Street, Air Lyndhurst and now this. Not one to brag, but….

It’s a lovely island, with charming and it must be said, resilient people, and we were sorry to leave.

Which we did on a plane as the ferries weren’t running.

A very small plane.

A Smart car of planes.

And so back to Antigua, where Domini was now back in the water.

And so were we…

One way or another.

Ju met with Gavin on Secret Smile, who is a fantastic jazz sax player, and they did a few gigs together.

Gavin used to be a Major in the British Army, so if the audience didn’t clap he could kill ’em. Of course it’s not all glamour.

One day we’ll have roadies.

But now we have to make our way south to Grenada, because James and Emma are coming out to visit us again. 

First stop Guadeloupe.

Which is tres Francais.

We could be in St Tropez.

We couldn’t stay too long, as we needed to move on to avoid a storm, and so here we are, back where our Caribbean adventure began in December 2015 – St Lucia.

And this episode’s arty farty prize is a tie between Ju and Lyn. Bottle Bank and Rainbow.

 

Yea Mon.

Later.

Ju & Lyn

Hello Boatblog® fans, and Happy New Year to you all!

Or should I say, Feliz Ano Novo!

Once a year The Boatblog stats helper monkeys prepare an “annual report” for this blog. We were pretty surprised to see that we had had about 3,700 visits last year, from over 93 countries. Mainly the UK, but followed closely by our fans in the US and Brazil!

We didn’t know we even knew anyone in Brazil.

But thank you and Obrigado for visiting.

Ju & Lyn

Here’s an excerpt:

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Hello again Boatblog® fans,

Welcome back to another exciting edition, this time coming to you live from Nanny Cay in the British Virgin Islands. To be honest, we hadn’t expected to be here for so long, but we have been waiting for a “weather window,” that would allow us to sail over to Antigua where we are catching our flights home for Christmas. Unfortunately, the wind has been pretty strong, and going in exactly the wrong direction, so we have been stranded here, forced against our will to while away long hours in beach bars supping cocktails.

But it hasn’t all been idle time wasting . We attend self improvement classes in yoga…

…and meditation.

But fortunately, still manage to find time to go for lunch with friends.

At  Hog Heaven, with the Captain & Crew of Second Wind (Left to Right, Howard, Hope, Lyn, Ju and Ed). Not only are they justifiably famous for their barbecue ribs, there is a breathtaking view too.

The red arrow is pointing to Domini. And that’s Richard Branson’s place, Necker Island, in the top left corner. (Apparently they are called The Virgin Islands after his record company.)

But our thirst for adventure was growing, so we decided to go SCUBA diving. We dug out our PADI  diving licences, which have barely been used since we qualified…

Who is this boy?

Check out these glasses…

…and booked ourselves onto a dive boat.

At first we didn’t know our air supply from our elbows, but it wasn’t long before it all came flooding back, and soon we were jumping in with complete confidence…

…even if the instructor did look a bit worried.

Next it was Lyn’s turn….

It may look like she’s wearing a Santa hat, but that’s actually the dive flag.

Soon we were pulling ourselves down into the depths.

.

We saw jellyfish…

Stingrays…

Barracuda…

…and lunch.

But most exciting of all…

We saw…

A….

Gigantic…

(Der, dum, der, dum…)

SHARK!!!

Now before you start panicking, this was the most friendly shark you could ever want to meet.

It’s a nurse shark, and apparently they don’t have much in the way of teeth. If ever Spielberg was going to do a movie sequel, he’d have to call it  “GUMS!”

It was quite happy just swimming around us.

A really amazing animal.

The coral is pretty too.

All too soon it was time to return to the surface.

Just have to get past the Giant Tarpon…

…and the killer jellyfish.

But everything was….

…O.K.

This edition’s arty farty prize goes to marine photographer Devin, who came down with us.

Thanks to Kay and Ben at Sunchaser SCUBA who dived down with us, and reminded us how to do it.

That’s all for now Boatblog ® fans. We’ll get back to the exhausting work of waiting for the weather window.

Ju & Lyn

Diver Aces

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