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The bashing east continues but so does the fun on the island of Vieques

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The locals told us if you want to get along the south coast of Puerto Rico at this time of year then best do it in little hops leaving at sunrise when all is calm before the trade winds kick up the sea. So we did. Boquerón to La Parguera to Ponce to Salinas then onto the island of Vieques just off the east coast of Puerto Rico. Still motoring but only for 4 hours a day. Before we left Boquerón we were chatting to some locals who asked if we were going to music festival on Vieques. Why not we thought. So when we got to Vieques, anchored in Esperanza bay, the town next to the festival site bay. We took the dinghy around to the next bay, it was a little hairy, but when we got there it was worth it. The music was great and the people so friendly. We befriended Omah, his wife and sister in law who came across from Puerto Rico on their jet skis with the zillion other jet skis and speed boats. Only 7 miles but the seas where really rough. Nutters!! A truly wonderful day, great people and grea...
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Dominican Republic - still bashing east

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The trip from Turks and Caicos started out well but during the night we had another terrible thunder storm just off the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The cells showed up clear as day on the radar but did not travel in the same direction of the wind. I felt like they were circling us. It's more like asteroids than Galaxians. I hate lightning at sea. If you get hit, the best that will happen is a £20,000 bill for new electronics and the worst is the boat exploding and we all die. Just another thing to worry about when on watch in the middle of the night. We arrived in Samana, Dominican Republic to a lovely uncrowded, safe anchorage with a bridge to nowhere from the 70s. Samana bay is famous for it's breeding ground for hump backed whales but we arrived at the wrong time of year :-( We bumped into our British friends Dave and Anna on Tamerisk. We first met them in Turks and Caicos and they were the first British sailors we'd seen in 6 months. Britannia no longer rules...
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Hell and heaven - The Keys to Turks and Caicos

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So we left The Florida Keys on the next available weather window for the 600 mile trip east (ish) to the Turks and Cacos. It started well, we champagne sailed for 12 hours without the autopilot just using the sails to steer. Then the weather turned, nothing like the predictions. We had 25 knots of wind gusting to 35 on our nose for 4 days. We were not planning to go to the Bahamas as they want $700 for a 3 month cruising license but we did cut across the south end of the Great Bahama bank. It's very shallow, around 8 metres deep, so the waves are small but the frequency was not good to be bashing into it. It was hell, we were burning through our fuel like a Saturn V rocket and only doing 2 knots. (that's 2 days to do 50 miles) After 2 days we were looking to bail out somewhere as we were running out of fuel. The only places were either go back the keys, Cuba (they have no fuel in Cuba) or the Bahamas ($700) Then the genoa ripped. We argued, for the first time on the boat. We we...
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An unexpected visit to the UK

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  When you see this building you know exactly where you are in the world. We had to return to the UK for 2 months as both our mothers were very ill and subsequently died while we were home. It was not a complete surprise but still very sad.  Rest in peace Alma, (90)  and Joyce (86) It was all a bit of a mad rush to get the boat in a marina, extend our boat visa and book flights to the UK. But before we know it we were back in the cold. Within minutes of getting off the plane this was a distant memory In between all the sadness of hospitals, homes and funeral directors we managed to have a great time seeing family and friends. The great St Georges hall and it's amazing organ Got to see it when picking up my Mum's death certificate And now for something completely different Family meal My three contributions to mankind I get this photo once every 10 years or so Out with my 2 sons for a meal and Richie just can't help himself to play the locals in chess. Saw our mate Pete. A...
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