Tuesday 26th February. We sailed through the night to Marigot Bay St. Lucia, it was a beat all the way, and we arrived at 5.30pm. Some friends from home flew out to meet us bringing lots of presents from our family. We sailed them down to the Pitons but Jill was very sick and didn't enjoy it much. We bought a red snapper from a boat boy and had it for tea; we tied the boat to a tree and put out a bow anchor then went ashore. We saw an elephant which belongs to a local hotel and a young boy showed us a smokehouse on the beach and gave us some smoked coconut from it .We sailed back to Marigot Bay but Jill was sick again and has got very badly sun burnt so they have decided to spend their last few days in a hotel. We moved up the coast to Rodney Bay but it is very dirty.

Monday 11th March. We set sail north for Martinique, it was a great sail and we got there in 6 hours. Ian and Sarah were there and showed us the best place to anchor. We cleared customs and then Ian and Sarah introduced us to Gary on the boat Miss Barley corn which registered in Hull. We rented a car and explored St. Pierre a town destroyed by a volcano and toured the rest of the island. We decided to leave the harbour which is very busy and anchor at Anse Arlet a few miles south in company with Ian and Sarah on Grants Freedom and Gary and Jan his wife who has flown out to join him on Miss Barleycorn. We had a barbecue on the beach, the water is very clear and everyone is enjoying playing on the windsurfer. As we headed back to Fort De France Gary went to the rescue of a charter boat that was dragging its anchor

Tuesday 2nd April. We lifted the anchor and headed north to the Isle de Saints a group of small islands, part of Guadeloupe, which had been recommended to us by another cruising Yacht. The next morning we climbed to the highest part of the island, the view was superb. The Sat Nav has gone wrong so we decided to move to Burgh the capital of the island to see if there were any chandleries. The harbour is overlooked by an old fort and we spent the afternoon exploring it.

Monday 8th April. We set sail at 09.00am for Guadeloupe and dropped our anchor in Deshays Bay at 05.00pm. We only stayed for a day and weighed anchor at 06.00am heading north for Antigua, there was not much wind at first but as we cleared Guadeloupe the wind came up and we arrived at Antigua at 01.30pm having averaged 6 knots. We dropped anchor in Freemans Bay and went ashore. There were lots of holiday bungalows and Sarah met a little American girl who took her to watch videos in the T.V.room. We took the dinghy across the bay to Nelson's Harbour and explored the museum and the old dock yards where he used to careen his boats. We met another British boat called Tanamera, they are working for the charter company here, the wife is a hairdresser and cut Sarah's hair, it is it is the first time she has had it short and she has decided she does not like it, luckily it will soon grow back. We are anchored next to an American boat and we went over for drinks and picked up a lot of useful information about America, although they did not have any charts that we could copy.

Sunday 21st April. We filled up with fuel and set sail but there was not much wind so we decided to stop at St. Barts. The town was very pretty and we went ashore to explore but were shocked when 2 drinks cost us $12. We will sail to Saint Martin tomorrow.

Tuesday 23rd April. We arrived at Philipsburg St Martin at 02.00pm. Ian and Sarah are here but we could not find the South African boat Hiss that we met in Bequia We went to the famous Sam's Bar for a drink this evening and John and Sue from Hiss were there. They are anchored along the coast at Simpson Lagoon.

Wednesday 24th April. We bought a T.V. today. Dave and I were given free $5 vouchers to play roulette at the casino, and then we met an American couple who gave us vouchers for free drinks at the casino so of course we had to go and try our luck. We won $5 and decided to keep it and buy ourselves a couple of drinks elsewhere. This evening we were invited to a barbecue on board Hiss in Simpson lagoon. It was great and Sarah enjoyed socializing with Tasha and Driff their 2 children. It was a great night with lots of music and drinks and we slept on board Hiss, and returned to Philipsburg the next morning. Today is carnival day. It is very colourful and all the floats traveled along the main street then we all followed behind dancing to the steel bands until we reached the field were the costumes were judged .We went for a Chinese meal with the family from Hiss then back to the carnival for the evening festivities. We decided to move around to Simpson bay but it was very rolly so we only stayed one night, and returned to Philipsburg to bid farewell to Ian and Sarah on Grants Freedom, who are sailing back to the U.K. We made up a parcel for them to open halfway; it seems strange that we won't be seeing them again.

Monday 6th May. We went for a final meal at the Chinese restaurant, and Dave changed the log impeller, it was funny to see the sea through the hull. We left harbour at 04.30 but there was no wind so we motored all night.

Tuesday 7th May. We arrived at Roadtown Tortola in the British Virgin Islands at lunch time. We went ashore to the post office to collect our mail. We found a electronics place to look at the Sat Nav and were told it would take 10 days so we decided to explore more islands whilst it is being repaired. We took Sarah to the cinema tonight to see The Karate Kid.

Friday 10th May. We sailed for Virgin Gourda, but the wind was on the nose so we headed for Trellis Bay instead. The T.V. picture is good here. As we explored ashore we found an old wrecked aircraft, there was some useful alloy tubing on it that Dave can use to repair the Windsurfer boom. We went swimming in the bay and Dave and Sarah opened an abandoned fish trap and released some big fish that had been in it for a long time.

Tuesday 14th May. We went to Marina Cay today, but the anchorage was not too good and the shore was full of signs saying private keep off, so we motored over to the Baths, but the gear lever jammed and we had to go over to Spanish Town where Dave repaired it. It is a rotten anchorage we are rolling all over.

Friday 17th May. We finally went to The Baths on Virgin Gourda today. The anchor was not in too well but we decided to go ashore as it is a calm day. The boulders are fantastic and we found a little bay with a beach and went snorkeling on the reef. There are hundreds of different fish and the reef went very deep. It was just like being in a film. We headed back to Trellis Bay at 04.00pm and anchored at 06.00pm. It had been a great day.

Saturday 18th May. We started doing jobs to prepare for our sail to the U.S.A. Dave scraped the hull, prop and log. It rained all day. I tried to get some charts of the U.S, A, but no-one had any. We changed the mainsail but it still does not set well. We moved to Roadtown to check out of the customs. A family from an Australian boat Ah-men that we had previously met rowed over to see us. They have wrecked their boat on Anagardah Reef Just north of here and are waiting to try to salvage their belongings.

Thursday 23rd May. We moved to Nanny Cay for fuel and water and everyone at the marina was very friendly. We were given beers and a chart of America. We decided to anchor at Norman Island for the night as it is lovely and calm.

Friday 24th May. We explored the treasure caves by dinghy and got inside a few of them. Then we went to the end of the island. Sarah was frightened by strange noises and when we investigated we found a blow hole.

Saturday 25th May. We packed everything up to sail this morning, just before we left someone on a motor cruiser asked Dave to take their photo. He took it before they were ready and then couldn't figure out how to wind on the film so he pretended to take a photo. We finally set off at dinnertime and past Jost Van Dyke Island at 04.00pm. We are heading north through the Bermuda Triangle to Beaufort North Carolina.

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