Someone has asked Rowan to get me to write down our future plans. We will be here for at least a week, getting sails repaired and sorted, and another brand new main halyard fitted. We think we will do a test run of the sails and main halyard, going to the island of Barbuda (part of Antigua) and back, just so we don’t have to faff with customs getting in and out of border control, if we still have problems and need to return to Antigua. Next stop is Anguilla where we have not been before. From there the plan is a straight sail down to Los Roques, some Venezuelan islands that are safe to go to. From there to Bonaire, one of the Dutch islands that has great diving and snorkelling, for a few weeks and then onto Colombia. Where we will leave the boat and return to the UK beginning of June.
We decided to do a flat walk, so after breakfast we walked all the way to Nelson’s dockyard, and then caught a little boat taxi to Galleon beach. We spent a very lazy day on the beach catching up with kids and the newspapers. Phoebe was at a Ukrainian war protest at Trafalgar square, she is also organising a fund raising event, of sample sales at the Albright Club where she works from these days. She has about 10 stall holders signed up, I hope she does well. Her Hungarian boyfriend Daniel, is obviously very concerned about the war on Hungary’s border, and the two of them are thinking about going to volunteer at the border. Just heard my sister in Oxford has signed up to take some Ukrainian refugees. Just hoping like mad that Putin implodes, having totally underestimated the enormous world wide support for Ukraine, and the bravery of their leader – what a hero the comedian is turning out to be.
Tarpin fish getting scraps from the fishermen cleaning their fish, they are safe as they are not good eating fish!
The Sail Loft (1797), long boats would come up the channel and have their sails repaired which would be hoisted onto beams supported by the big round columns
Our very cautious taxi boat over to the beach
We taxied all the way back to PolePole and had just settled into a post Sunday dinner slump when we had a lady walk by and invite us to a party at the end of the pontoon. We had met her checking into the country, she is a boat engineer and spends her time in engine rooms on big gin palaces. She was very lively, and had us intrigued, as she checked in with a much older man who she has been doing a sailing qualification with. They came up the islands the same time as us and hit big winds which has really put her off sailing, it seems it was a pretty old monohull and definitely not comfy! We went and joined the party, all crew members, so we were the oldest by far! The crew from a very fancy Gunboat Catamaran, brought an enormous big fancy dress container out, which caused a good laugh. She was actually born in Mafeking, South Africa and grew up in Botswana for a lot of her childhood. She even briefly went to boarding school in the same town as me, but she is a lot younger. We are definitely getting old, one stiff rum was enough to send us skedaddling back to our bed! We heard the party going on into the early hours of the morning!
Pontoon fancy dress party
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