May 14th, only 10 more days to go

<sup>I'm almost done gathering all the stuff that I need to take with me. Of course there were some last minute things I had to pick up at Vrolijk's, well, that trip ended very differently then expected!

After collecting my stuff at Vrolijk, I decided to walk over to the harbor and sat down at the Pasta Company. It was just the perfect day to sit outside in the sun and have a beer :-)
After a while a guy walks by and sits down at the table next to me, 15 minutes later two girlfriends come to join him. One of them asks if she could take the seat next to me so she too could enjoy the sun. We started chatting and for some reason, I don't know how or why :-), we start talking about sailing.

It turns out that Jantine is very much into sailing too and recently had been sailing up and down the East coast of Australia :-)
Of course I told her about my trip so far and my upcoming plans. She thought it to be really cool to cross the Ocean. Anyway, since I still had an open spot for the leg from the Azores back to Scheveningen, I told her she could join us if she wanted.

I didn't took the exact time but it can't be more then a few minutes before she agreed to come and join us! Wow, I guess this was just one of those special moments, totally out off the blue, but for some reason meant to happen :-) Life is beautiful when you live it!
So together with Monique and Willem Jelle we've got the crew complete for the last part to finish the trip around the Atlantic.
I guess it's time to go for it!

Next update will be from St Martin :-)</sup>

April 26th 2012, less then one month to go :-)

<sup>It's been 3 months now since we came back, leaving the True Companion at Bobby's Mega Yard at St. Maarten. I must admit, it wasn't easy to step back into the old routines :-o

I like my job very much but a trip like this changes the way you look at things. The different lifestyle and attitude towards life in general, especially in the Caribbean in a way opened my eyes.

Over there, people live with what they have and what life brings them and they make the most out of it, which sometimes isn't very much. Over here we're more focused on what we don't have and want to achieve, missing a lot of what we actually do have, which for most people is a lot [more].

On a trip like this you are where you want to be. If you don't like it, you move on. There's no real plan, you just go with the wind. Even with only the wind as variable it's not easy to really plan ahead where you'll be in a few days. At work you're supposed to plan ahead for sometimes up to a year while there are at least 15 variables you can't really influence, let alone control...

Anyway, in just less then a month I have to fly back to St. Maarten to pick up my boat again. It's hard, but bearable :-) Actually, although it'll be quite a different trip, it's really exciting to get in the planning mode again.

The crew for the sail back was one of the very first things set last year. However …. Andy and his family is moving to Thailand, both Marc and Clare switched jobs and can't take the time off.... so, I was back to square one...

Not for long though :-) when you put out the word, you soon get a lot of responds :-)

There are two different kinds of people that respond. Those who would like to join but have to think about it. Most of the time you don't here anything. The others are those who say: hmm, okay,... let me check some things and get back to you. They usually do so the next day and they're in or out.

So when I got in touch with Frits, Dick and Arie, they all called or mailed me back the next day to tell me the very much wanted to join me :-) We met, talked things over and the click was there.

Unfortunately for good reasons Dick later had to decide he couldn't go after all. However, by that time I had met Eline. She also had to check some things and the day after .. she was on too :-)

So the four of us will fly out to St. Maarten by the end of May, planning to leave there the 28th .

In the mean time I also had some of the instruments repaired, got a replacement for the broken AIS, got the nautical almanac 2012 and other stuff like a knotmaster log. I guess we'll have to share the whole load or have to check in extra luggage :-o

Also based on a number of sights we took during the crossing to the Caribbean. Marc and I did our exam and upgraded our RYA qualification to Ocean Yachtmaster. It was a joy doing the exam and go over the whole trip again. That really triggered the planing mode again for me :-)

Anyway, this and not next [as I learned from Clare :-)] Saturday we'll have an all crew meeting and talk about the preparations, route planning, watch system and stuff. So from next week on, I guess I'll have to work real hard to stay focused :-)</sup>

Rijswijk, Jan. 25th. Back home again….

The flight back home was Okay-ish.

Coming home was weird… things have changed..

It felt really strange to sleep in a bed that doesn’t move…:-o

This week I’m still off from work so I can acclimatize, I guess I really need that.

Also a haircut might be a good idea J

Anyway, the updates will stop for now.

May 24^th I’ll fly back to St Maarten to prepare the boat for the sail to first the Azores and later back to Scheveningen or IJmuiden.

Of course I’ll then pick up the blog again to keep you all posted.

Cheers!!

Ron

Jan. 19th St. Maarten, our final destination in the Carribbean :-(

We didn't get to do much at St Kitts. The weather wasn't too good, lots of rain... :-o

Also there were 3 huge cruise ships at least as many tourists as inhabitants, so the train was fully booked and we didn't want to do a tour with a crowd. The train tickets would have been a cause fo second thought though. $ 115 US per ticket is a bit more then I'm used to :-)

So instead we took a taxi to the reggae beach bar at the South of the Island. The drive to there was kind of a tour itself and the driver stopped a few times to let us take pictures at the point where you can see the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic only a mile apart and to explain some things about the Island.

The beach bar was nice but about to close when we got there. If we ordered immediately, we still could eat there... it wasn't even 6 pm :-o The food was good but right after we finished, she brought us the bill and they closed the place. We walked over to the Spice Mill, another restaurant and had a drink there. We should have gone there in the first place... this was a really nice restaurant, but also closed at 10 pm.

Anyway, it wasn't too bad to get back to the boat early because next morning we had to get up at 05:30. The sail to St Maarten is about 50 nm and the bridge to get into the lagoon only opens 3 times a day. We wanted to catch the bridge of 5:30 pm and not miss it :-o

The sail to St. Maarten would be our last one before going home again :-(

It was a shitty sail, more or less like our first from Scheveningen to Harwich: a lot of wind and lots of rain, the whole day! We had to put in the second reef and I had to put on my sailing gear :-(

Anyway, we did make it in time for the bridge and got into the lagoon alright. This is the most sheltered place of the whole Caribbean and a good place to leave the boat until I come back.

However, today I'll have to find out what is happening, I booked a place at Bobby's Marina, but when I send them a mail to confirm my arrival date, they had never heard of me. It turned out that the woman I mailed and did the booking had left and obviously hadn't handed things over....

Anyway, the weather is okay again and the sun is shining :-) The wind has died and it looks like a nice and calm day to clean the boat and get it ready for the stay here.

The berth for the boat turned out okay. Bobby's Mega Yacht had one spot left which obviously was not for mega yachts since I just could get in with a draft of only 6 ft (1.8 meter) !

After securing the boat we took a taxi to Sunset's where we had dinner and a cocktail. This is one of the most amazing restaurants. It's right at the start of the strip of Juliana Airport, when a plane takes off, you could be bast away if you're at the wrong place. Also when a big jet is landing, you can actually see the pilot, that close by it crosses over.

Tomorrow Rutger is flying back and the day after Monique and I will fly back too. It feels a bit strange as if going home doesn't fit in the picture. I guess being on the boat for 4½ months has made it my home also. I'm so used to the motions that it might take a while to get used to a steady and solid place to sleep again …

Also the rhythm of life over here is completely different. The Dutch are considered to be laid back but we still can learn a lot from the people down here and I guess I picked up a few things :-)

Basseterre marina, St. Kits, Jan. 17th

We left Guadeloupe the 13^th and this time we made it on time for the bridge :-) The channel that divides Guadeloupe in half is narrow and just deep enough. It runs though a mangrove forest which makes it a special sail. After the second bridge we anchored, had breakfast and waited until daylight. It was indeed beautiful but had a downside too, mosquito's, a lot.... So we moved on as fast as we could :-o.

We arrived at Antigua early afternoon and anchored at English Harbor, thé historical site of Antigua.

The cruising guide told us that every Sunday there was a party at Shirley's Heights with a live steel band and later a reggae band so we decided to stay until Monday morning.

After dinner we went ashore for a drink and ended up in Mad Mongroose where also a live steel band was playing. They surly know how to party over here :-)

Saturday, that is the afternoon we went for some sightseeing and booked a zip line tour through the rain forest trees for Sunday. That was really great! You slide from one tree to the other crisscrossing a gorge at 100 meters high and then you had to cross over suspension bridges. At the souvenir shop they of course sold T-shits me-Tarzan and me-Jane...

Shirley's Heights was indeed worth while staying a day longer. The place is at the top of the hill, overlooking English Harbor with a spectacular view. They have a barbeque and live bands that play without a break! The party ended at around 10 pm so we had a nightcap at Mad Mongroose where we met again with the Israeli guys from Dominica and Monique fell in love again with another Pedro :-)

Monday morning at around 10 am we left for St. Kitts. I decided not to go to Barbuda. That's a very tricky place to go because all the reefs and you have to sail there in good daylight. We weren't gonna make that, so Barbuda will stay on the list for another time...

The sail took us about 10 hrs. The wind was good and we could set the spinnaker for the first time here. Also we caught our first tuna :-) ;-)

St. Kitts will be our last stop before St. Martin. If it works out we'll go up the mountain and see monkeys but we also want to take a ride with the train, the only train in the whole Caribbean :-)

Guadeloupe, Jan. 12th

We left Dominica January 10^th, leaving Heidi behind. She loved the Island so much, she decided to stay for a couple of weeks and maybe months. Dominica is indeed a fantastic place!

The day after we came into Ruperts Bay, we did the Indian River tour with Spaghetti as our guide.

He's one of the guys of the Portsmouth Association of Yachts Security and is actually named in the cruising guide.

The Indian River is one of the places where they shot the Pirates of the Caribbean. The tour was magnificent and at the end there's a bush bar where you can have a drink. There's one guy actually living there and he showed us his place. The place is amazing and we stayed there way longer then just for a drink.

That night we went to the Sunday nights barbeque which this PAYS club organizes specially for the yachts that are in the bay. The food was indeed very good, so was the music and the rum punch :-)

During the party, the Dominican minister of tourism came over and gave a speech to compliment all the PAYS guys. This was not part of the regular program and they were very pleased with his attendance. He stayed for a while and danced with us :-)

We also met 4 Israeli and we teamed up with them to explore the Island some more. Next day we first had coffee at there boat and went ashore. Cobra, one of the PAYS guides was waiting for us. We thought of going by ourselves but eventually decided to go with him. That turned out to be a great decision!!

He took us to the Chadiere Pool, a place we would never found ourselves. The road was actually off road and the path down to the pool was very steep and slippery. The pool was amazing. You could jump in from the rocks or slide in by the waterfall. Unfortunately my waterproof camera turned out to be not waterproof and it died :-(

When we came back to the car, it turned out that the battery of the car had also died so we had to push it uphill to jump start it. Luckily that worked :-)

This Cobra guy was a great guide who enjoyed showing us around. Every now and then he stopped to get us all kinds of fresh fruit, or a bush rum or a pastry. After the pool he drove us through Carib Country. Dominica is the only Island where the original Caribs still live. They have their own land and community and no Dominicans are allowed to live there.

After that he drove us to the Emerald pool, the place we wanted to go to by ourselves. He told us not to because all the people of the cruise ship would go there and it would be packed. He drove us there as a bonus on the tour and by the time we got there, they were all gone.

When we came back to Portsmouth we had dinner with the Israeli and went back to the boat. By that time Heidi had decided to stay and during the ride back she talked with Cobra. He's not only a guide but a very serious entrepreneur with a serious business. He started the Indian River bar, was a real estate broker and he was planning to open a souvenir shop so Heidi could come and help him to set it up if she wanted.

He picked Heidi and me up next morning and drove us to customs and immigration to settle the paperwork.

After that we left and sailed to Iles des Saintes. A group of small island just South of Guadeloupe.

Again the difference with the other Islands was striking. You're in the South of France instead of the Caribbean...

We stayed there for the day. Next morning we snorkeled and left for Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. The plan was to sail through the river that divides Guadeloupe in two and sail to Antigua next morning. However, there is this bridge and it opens only once a day at 05:00 in the morning. We left at 04:30 but missed the only bridge in the Caribbean by 2 minutes ….. :-(

So we went back to the marina and will try again tomorrow. There's no point in sailing around the island, that would double the trip to 85 nm. So now I have some time to update my blog and add some foto's, ….from Monique's camera.... :-o

That is... later maybe, the wifi connection over here really sucks, too bad to add foto's :-(

Dominica, Jan. 7th

Monique arrived spot on and we all went out for dinner. She was glad to be back again and so were we :-) Next day we chilled on the beach, picked up the sails from the sailmaker and then we went over to the anchorage where we had a nice barbeque.

Heidi, the French girl joined us the day after and we had a great sail to Martinique.

Martinique is different. It is a Caribbean Island but has nothing to do with the Caribbean so it seems. No Walters to help you with a mooring buoy, no ice man, no lobster man no nothing. Ashore no 'ya mann', but bonsoir monsieur.... no music except for the hotel trio...

Checking in was on a computer at the marina. That sounds very sophisticated, however, the form I had to fill in was in French.... also the keyboard was French, not the normal qwerty keyboard.

It's so not welcoming for all the yachts that come in. It feels more that you're being allowed to anchor as long as you comply with all the French crap.

So, instead of staying another day, we left next morning after breakfast. Breakfast was the only good thing about Martinique. The fresh croissants that were indeed the best we had so far. Only Rutger and Heidi nearly got arrested for trespassing. It turned out that the dinghy dock was private and the had to climb the fence to get out. On their way back security at first had no clue on what a dinghy was :-o and then told them to walk all the way round the bay and over the beach. Which they didn't of course....

After breakfast we sailed to Dominica. Another great day of sailing. Underway we explained a bit on celestial navigation to Monique and Heidi and took a sight. Ru tger almost caught a fish but when it saw Rutger's face, it took off again...

We made it just after sunset and found a mooring buoy at Roseau bay and I cooked my tuna pasta with no fresh tuna unfortunately...

This morning after I checked in, we went to the market and bought some nice fruits and a big tuna steak to put on the barbeque tonight. After that we sailed to Rupert's bay where we were welcomed by Spaghetti and the fruit man that also did ice and bread since we got the fruit on the market....

The plan is to stay her for at least one other day to explore the Island a bit. There's a nice tour up the Indian river and Sunday there's a big beach barbeque we might wanna go to. Both we can do with Spaghetti :-)

Also there's Big Pappa's... according to the cruising guide, they have loud music on Wednesdays and very loud music on Saturdays.... :-) a nice place to have a drink later...