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Monday 3rd August 2009

At long last and after a great deal of preparation, blood, sweat, tears planning and preparation we left the shores of beautiful Providenciales and began our circumnavigation of the globe !!!!!We travelled south down the islands overnight a few squally winds but very pleasant sailing.

And reached Great Inagua Island which unfortunately it hasn't quite recovered from last years hurricane, still lots of work to be done here. However we will stay a few days to see the flamingo colony and enjoy the sun !!!!!!!

As for you jealousy is not a pleasant emotion.  Aint life great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!                                             

Friday 7th August

Fantastic day yesterday with the flamingos what a sight !!!!!!!!!!

Setting out today for Dominican Republic it will take around three days to reach.

Beautiful weather and good sailing.

Hopefully well get an internet connection there.

So we can find out what's been written about us !!!!!!

Monday 10th August

 Slow progress due to wind on nose of ship we are 40 miles off Dominican Republic Luperon ........Communication still a problem.

Tuesday11th August

Arrived in the Dominican Republic ...A safe long haul 5 days and 4 nights shattered now !!!

Promised ourselves some chill time like the natives for at least a week.

Tuesday 18th August

Remaining here in Luperton (Dominican Republic), to wait out storm Ana (no longer a problem) and hurricane Bill and make some repairs and to make sure no new storms are on their way. There is good protection here if needed.

Life is really hard here.....................

Jumping the falls, eating, drinking and listening to jam sessions.

Lovely people here so laid back.

E Mail a doddle here......Buy your dinner and you can have .....................

E mail.....Music........Snooker.......and swimming pool with shower

Deep Joy  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Thursday 17th September 2009

 

Communications are more difficult as we cross the Dominican Republic,

 also 6 weeks out and despite all our preparations with banks etc, 

 Eileen’s debit card has been stopped and credit card has been threatened

with the same. Both have now been sorted out after numerous international

phone calls

We are in Samana and have to use an internet cafe to email and the mobile

 is intermittent.

 We have just discovered we cannot enter Puerta Rica without a visa,

Unlike air or road, because we are a private yacht.

So, when we leave here tomorrow, weather permitting,

 we will cross south of Puerta Rica to Tortolla in the Virgin Islands

 which will take us a week to ten days.

People and scenery here are beautiful, Deb is speaking more Spanish

every day. We will update the pictures as soon as we can get internet

access on the laptop.

Monday 21st September 2009      

We left on Friday and we got a day out and had a few problems

engine wise so we came back, just to be on the safe side.

Deb thought she knew what it was and of course she was right,

 but it is O.K now and we hope to go again on Thursday.

Wish us luck and happy sailing!

Deb sailed her back for 20 odd hours and into harbour,

how about that for girl power!

Guess we can teach the men a thing or two. !!!!!

Wednesday  30th September 2009

Well we do see life...................

We started taking in water off the coast of Puerta Rica

and the pumps were unable to cope with it so we called out the coastguard.

It was only after we did that we discovered that it was the water tank which had burst

The coastguard took us into Puerta Rica but were convinced that we were drug smugglers !!!!

We didn't have visas and were kept up all night being questioned.

They ripped  the boat apart looking for drugs had sniffer dogs on board it looked like a scene from

Miami Vice  sadly the officers weren't as handsome or dressed as smartly .

The boat looks a real mess things strewn everywhere we feel like we’ve been violated.

To add insult to injury we’ve been given 2 days to leave as we don't have visa’s.TOO RIGHT..........

were leaving tomorrow headed for Tortolla in the Virgin Islands cant come too soon.

However...to be fair the people on the harbour have been great and cant do too much for us.

 

Saturday 3rd October 2009

Having arrived safely in Tortola on the 2nd Oct,

And after  reviewing / editing our last entry (following a period of reflection)

We would like to publicly thank and recommend

 The guys at Palmas del Mar yacht works and Marina who were absolutely fantastic.

 Yani, Dale, Fernando and Daphne were the most amazing people.

Considering we were dumped at their yard with no warning

they treated us with respect and dignity, ensuring that

everything that needed to be done on the boat was sorted in 1/2 a day.

Fernando was brilliant with us and involved us with all he looked at.

 Yani made us feel like we were concierge clients

ensuring that we were able to work done quickly and efficiently,

getting to customs, and generally making us feel welcome.

Dale and Yani also made sure we knew where we could get provisions etc

and organised their staff to get us on our way as soon as possible.

 Daphne was a gem ferrying us to and from Fajado to deal with customs,

which was a 40 min journey each way.

 Although they are based in the 'Hollywood' area of Puerto Rico,

we would ask that not put you off using their services.

 Their rates are very reasonable, and their level of service exceptional.

If you find yourselves needing boat help in Puerto Rico

you cannot go wrong using these guys.

Friday 16th October 2009

Arrived in Tortolla on 2 October where it took us 45 minutes

to clear customs, what a relief!

Quite a busy harbour and lots of facilities but of course

with that a rise in prices, have to do the cooking again.

 Deb was able to go diving and we enjoyed the peace

after a hard sail, into the wind again.

This area has very little open this time of year

as it is out of season which starts November 1st.

 We went to Beef Island, and Cooper Island

where the snorkelling was lovely, nearly as good as the Turks.

On to Virgin Gorda (The fat virgin) what a terrible name

for such a beautiful place.

We stayed at the yacht club and they were very helpful with

all our little minor problems and repairs, not to mention provisions,

showers and laundry, which you probably don't think about in the

 normal course of events.

We then came to Anguilla, the first of the Leeward Islands.

Again not in season, but able to get back on email and small cafes

with lovely sea food and music at night

The people here are very helpful and friendly, someone found us a

taxi driver who took us to the local town to get provisions,

showing us the best places and waited for Eileen to buy shoes as hers died!

There was a lady in Roys Bayside Grill who helped us get money on our phone

at night when ours ran out phoning home too long.

 Off to St Martin tomorrow, should be our first sail for a while

 where we have not battled with head on winds, famous last words.

 

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