Our skipper , Anthony, had planned this amazing trip for about 18 months. His attention to detail was incredible and his daily routine of checking essentials and journaling made everyone feel completely safe. We all learned something about the finer points of sailing and boats in general.
Our crew on this journey had sailing experience ranging from zero to a reasonable amount (us). Level of experience really didn’t matter. We were absolutely blessed with the weather – 28ish degrees every day with water temperature of 27 degrees. No one got seasick and, in fact, most could read regardless of conditions! Everyone was up for adventure. We certainly aimed to pick up a mooring wherever we could although our confidence in anchoring did rise along the way! One member did become a mooring nazi while watching other boats moor!
Everyone on board got on fantastically especially when you consider Anthony and I were the only ones who knew everybody. They had met once before this trip for a briefing session. It was incredible how days passed.
We saw some funny things along the way – mainly by other boats.
Wildlife – turtles, fish, sting rays, pelicans, birds, mozzies, coral, dogs and the occasional cat. Every single morning you could hear roosters somewhere – it’s a mystery! and no it was not necessarily dawn!
Provisioning worked a treat ! After the initial ‘big’ shop in Tortola we topped up along the way – fresh baguettes – mmm mmmm !!! Merci merci
Bedtime was usually pretty early – all this fresh air is really tiring! Very early on someone announced they were going to bed and it was 8.10pm !! Dark of course, no daylight saving in this part of the world so that set the benchmark – “What time is it?” If after 8.10 then you could go to bed ! and of course you woke up really early so we felt justified in early bedtimes. Lots of books read and shared around – I think close to 35 books were read – the winning book by far was The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albon.
Some (most) became a little obsessed by charging devices and where to find wifi ! Thank goodness we had no wifi devices on board!
Some found relaxing took awhile to achieve but all found it sooner or later!
Time didn’t matter – we had no schedule as such but I guess we planned to moor by mid to late afternoon depending on how busy the harbour was going to be. A swim off the boat happened most days and Barb was our snorkelling queen!
Beer, gin and tonic and rose were the most popular drinks! The best rum – cos you have to drink it in the Caribbean- was English Harbour . Although Jenny and I were introduced to a ‘light and hazy’ (not sure if the name was made up by the maker – thanks Nathan) late in the piece – oh my – vodka, bitters, and a local thing called ting (a lemon and grapefruit mix – have to source something comparable when we get home) it was yuummmm
No one will miss a pump toilet!
Everyone will miss the night sky.
Everyone experienced Mother Nature in all her glory – the ocean, wind, rain, rainbows, warmth, sunshine and sunsets
I will miss the nightime breeze through a hatch.
These are only my first thoughts – more input to come from everyone ………..