Mir, Mandy & Me

  Curacao was a surprise, besides the heat it was very much like being in Holland. Only 400 miles down the road from Grenada and a very different feel. Arriving in Spanish Water anchorage, which reminded us of the anchorage in Salinas, Puerto Rico, the first thing I noticed was no American or Canadian flagged boats. All European, German, Finish, Danish, Norwegian, English and of course lots of Dutch. No French strangely.  The dinghy dock was very small and crowded, Dinghy Soup. You had to climb over lots of other peoples boats to get to your dinghy. We had to get the bus in the main town, Willenstad, 30 minutes away to check in. The bus was air conditioned and still only cost £1. Such a colourful town. As soon as we got off the bus Mandy was in vegetable heaven. The floating market was amazing, so much cheap, fresh vegetables all from Venezuala. Best veg in the Caribbean.       The check in process required about 1.5 hours of walking around Willenstad to immigra...

  I still have to pinch myself some days to realize what a beautiful place the Caribbean is. The above photo is from my sunlounger in Le Phare bleu (The blue lighthouse), a bar where all the yotties gather on a Wednesday afternoon for $1 wings, 1 Caribbean dollar = 27p, and beer. You can see the pool, then on the other side of the coconut trees is a small beach with a dinghy dock and small marina and in the distance you can see the reef at the south of the island. Quite a stunning view. There is also Hog Island which is a great venue for yotties, bars on the beach, you don't have to lock your dinghy and always something going on. We went to a jumble sale one day and I got a spare prop for my dinghy for a fifth of the cost that Yamaha would sell 'em. We played skittles.  We had lots of fun with Joe and Vicci there. One Sunday at hog island a great band where playing. Again all the yotties and the locals gathered to drink and dance. They sounded amazing, the clip doesn't do t...

It's humid here, 12 degrees north of the equator, and it doesn't cool down at night time. We can't complain, it's what we left the uk for but you can't walk up any hills during the day and fixing the AC has shot up to near the top of the jobs list. For now we have lots of fans moving the air around, particularly at night. So a new great pleasures in life is to stand in the rain and have a lovely cooling fresh water shower. We took a mooring ball in Prickly bay marina for 2 months as the hydraulic rods were getting new seals and we have no steering. Here's a great tour of our current home.  Best be on a mooring ball, that's checked weekly, than on anchor when you haven't got any steering. It also stops our anchor chain getting smelly. Because the water is so warm the wee beasties grow at a phenomenal rate. Someone told me their dinghy was so thick with growth after 2 weeks they couldn't get on the plane. As my diving kit is also on the list of things ...