THE END OF WINTER 2017

London Girls

We did indeed have a fabulous time with the London Girls and their hubbies, notably Amanda, James, Susanne and Peter.

From the moment we met them in Jolly Harbour, excitedly spilling out of a taxi, to the moment we put them back in one in English Harbour we had a ball.

Happy Days

James and Amanda gallantly took the Pullman; I only once heard a comment about the well-known sport of cat swinging! Peter and Susanne stoically put up with the odd bout of seasickness, as the weather was not kind to us. It basically blow a Hooley and escaping to Green Island mid week for some flat water resulted in an anxious night for the crew. Escaping the next day was exciting, the skipper did a marvelous job of putting everyone’s mind at rest but we were nevertheless pleased

to get back into English harbour, where we spent the last two nights of their holiday tied up to the dock. We restricted our boating

trips to using the dingy to ferry everyone to Freemans beach. We had a fabulous last night in Abracadabra dancing our socks off, my only regret being that we decided not to all pile into the cage on the podium which seemed like such a great idea at the time….

Freemans Bay

James, with the help of his photographic assistant Susanne, made a fabulous film of our week so we can relive it all in years to come.

We lingered a few more days in Antigua making a few repairs and then set sail for Dominica. Our designated boat boy duly met us at the entrance, took us to customs and then arranged to pick us up early the next morning for a tour down the Indian River. Up at the crack of dawn we were duly picked up by Providence, infact not our original man, but he turned out to be an excellent and well-informed guide.

The Indian River

Rowing down the river through the shady green waters it felt like we were deep in the jungle. We learnt much about the local vegetation and animals and were sad to leave the peace and quiet, so we consoled ourselves with a simple lunch on the beach.

Eupraxia arrived in the bay later that day and as luck would have it there was room for them and their shipmates to join us on our tour of the island the next day. We charged around the island with our driver who proudly called himself The Love Doctor. He certainly seemed more interested in waving at all the local girls then talking to us but nevertheless we got a good view of Island life. With only seventy thousand inhabitants and very little employment Dominica is a very poor island but definelty the most beautiful one we have seen so far

 

We visited a chocolate factory, which was fascinating, and I was surprised we managed to get Andrew back into the taxi. A very poor lunch on the road, denoting the lack of provisions on the island, several stops to buy local crafts made by the indigenous Carib Indians, and then a trip to Green Emerald Pools in the middle of the jungle. The water was freezing but invigorating and on our walk through the jungle we spotted a huge green parrot with red markings flying across the valley, it was a truly spectacular sight!

Moving on it was time to head to Grenada to meet the Ewart Smith family. We stopped briefly in St Lucia, whilst swimming in Rodney bay we were rudely interrupted and escorted back to our vessel by the Customs boat who felt we were a danger to ourselves and local shipping, they probably had a point! We overnighted to Grenada and then set about exploring our new island.

Compensation

Catherine, Michael, Tom & Polly arrived within a few days and we decided to take a tour around the island. Another taxi ride, but this time with a fifth day Adventist so we learnt much more about the island, Catherine might have preferred the Love Doctor. Although Grenada is much more wealthy than Dominica the island is very similar in appearance, very green and lush with lots of rivers. This time the waterfall we visited had an added attraction in the form of two young local lads performing diving tricks down the fall, I think they more than made up for our taxi driver…

We had fabulous ten days visiting various islands in the

Grenadines, swimming with turtles in the Tobago Keys, which is beautiful. We were disappointed to find that the famous Basel’s bar on Mystique was being rebuilt so Catherine and I gamely set of for an early drink in the Cotton club instead. We were stopped by a security guard and had to be picked up by the hotel taxi as Yachties are not allowed lose on the island due to the number of celebrities in residence. Two very strong rum punches later we were taken back to Basel’s pop up bar to meet the others, the Ginger thought she could keep up with me and had a third… What happens on Hullabaloo stays on Hullabaloo…

All to soon it was time to say goodbye and we sailed back to Petit St. Vincent, put down anchor and started on some long overdue chores.  We had a couple of weeks before our girls were due to visit us. Very sadly I woke one morning to lots of messages on my phone, my lovely mummy had passed away unexpectedly in the night. It was such a shock and the next few days were a blur as we made our way back to Grenada to head home.

After a very sad time in England we returned with Emma and Georgina in tow for their two-week holiday. It was the best tonic in the world to have our two lovely daughters with us.  We were all obviously in a funny place but we still

managed some special times, we celebrated George’s birthday in the Tobago Keys, Emma caught her first fish and we toasted the B on her birthday during a lovely lunch on Petit St Vincent. We played lots of cards and for the first time since I was about twelve I won the family cup!!

After they left us we had two weeks to put the boat to bed for the summer. We polished the decks, washed down the entire interior in vinegar, vacuum packed all the bedding and clothes and generally got very hot and bothered as the temperature soared. I was almost glad to get on a plane.

We have spent the summer sorting out a multitude of things and are now preparing to go back to the good ship Hullabaloo tomorrow, no doubt to wash it all over again! But I am so ready…