Pwllheli to Puerto Rico

I thought I would do a bit of a summary, more so to remind me where we have been more than anything else. We left the UK 650 days ago and have done 8,163 nautical miles. We've had 32 visitors, mostly in Europe, which is about 1 visitor every 2 weeks. We have stopped at 119 locations which is about one different location every 5 days.  

We have spent £3,200 on fuel (That is for the engine, generator and outboard) which works out at £34 per week. That is for our heating, cooling, cooking, locomotion, water making, telly, internet, computers, washing machine and of course Mandy's hair dryer. We use about 6KWhrs per day on all of the above and the solar produces around 3KWhrs per day. I remember back on land we used 12KWhr per day in electricity. (This does not include gas cooking and heating) So our power consumption is easily a quarter of what it was on land. (No gas used on the boat) When we started planning this trip, pre covid, we reckoned on a budget of £2,000 per month. In reality we have spent around £3,000 per month. What we didn't take into account was Mandy still working and having to go into the office once a month. There are quite a few hidden costs here. Besides the obvious airfares there are taxis to and from the airport and the cost of leaving me and the boat in a safe place, usually a marina. Then there is the 3 days a week when she works, we have to be somewhere safe and calm so this has meant more motoring and more stays in marinas than we expected. But yes we didn't think Mandy would still be working which is a massive plus. The other thing we didn't take into account was Richie living with us for 7 months. So taking these 2 things into account our initial budget of £2,000 per month was pretty close. 

Manatee spotting

Back to Salinas. We met so many interesting sailors, Ian, from Blackpool, who has been sailing around the world for 40 years and taught me how to play pool properly, none of this 2 shots on a foul nonsense. Brett and Amanda, a couple of Aussies who have be living aboard and travelling for over 12 years and Scott and Tami who saw Elon Musk's last rocket explode from their boat in Florida.

We took the dinghy out early one morning to give the engine a bit of exercise, explore the cays and look for manatees. Out the bay and across the channel to an uninhabited island. 

We had a trip to Walmart to pick up my new spectacles and stock up with food. I now have the trendiest Ray Ban, polarized, varifocal, glasses thanks to Richie falling in the water and taking me and my glasses with him.

They still sell Campbells condensed soup in the US. So much tastier than packet soups, especially my favourite the New England clam chowder. We have stocked up with a few for those nasty crossings.

We had a trip to Home Depot, very similar to B & Q in the UK. Bought a few things like a bucket, fans to keep cool and most importantly a disco ball. (So useful on a boat - not)

Then it was on to a waterfall for a refreshing swim.

The only thing we didn't like about Salinas is the amount of growth on the hull of the boat and the dinghy. It's because it is in a mangrove bay and there is so much life in the water. And the watermaker suffered. I had to do a fresh water flush every time I made water and it stunk of rotten eggs due to all the wee beasties dying. Also I had to change the filters.

Then it was time to start heading south for the hurricane season. Very sad leaving such an amazing place and time to take down our Puerto Rican flag.

We decided, wrongly,  to head straight to Guadalupe, a 3 day crossing. Everyday is a school day. (Bet you haven't heard me say that before) We had been fresh water rich for a month, swimming in rivers, waterfalls, free showers in the marina and so much clean rain to wash the boat. Didn't realize this until the first wave broke over the front of the boat and instantly turned us back into salty seadogs. It was a hell of a crossing, 3 days with up to 30 knots of wind on the nose, very uncomfortable and lots of fuel burnt. On day 2 at 3am in the morning we had our first experience of lightning at sea. The least thing to happen if you get struck by lightening is it fries all of your electronics but the worse is the boat explodes. We put as much of our electronics in the microwave. (apparently, as it's a faraday cage, it should help if we get struck) All of a sudden all these lightning cells started forming around the boat. Clear as day on the radar. We spent 3 hours slaloming between the storms. The radar was amazingly useful. It was like a really scary video game. 3 strikes were very, very close, everything lit up and we jumped out of our skins. It was the first time I have been scared on the boat, you feel so helpless. Anyway the storm past and we got to revisit Ilet de Pigeon, Malendure, Guadeloupe. 

Islet de Pigeon

We stopped here to stock up on French wine and cheese and also fill up our fuel tanks. A great place for sailors, 3 supermarkets, a petrol station, a launderette, a pharmacy, a chinese shop and of course a bar. All within 5 minutes walk of the dinghy dock. So close and you can use the supermarket trollies to hump your stuff to the dinghy dock.

After a few days relaxing, cleaning the scum line from Salinas off the hull and many dinghy trips to the petrol station with barrels to fuel up, we set off on an overnighter to Martinique. We arrived in St Pierre at sunset and dropped the anchor for the night.

Mandy sending a video message to the girls in the shadow of mount Pelée, St Pierre.

We left St Pierre at sunrise and had the fastest sail down to Le Marin ever. 25 knots of wind, a flatish sea, constantly over 7 knots (I saw 9 knots at one point.) Exhilarating, we're definitely getting better at sailing this boat.

We arrived in Le Marin to meet our friends, Paul and Opal, whose we first met back in Torrevieja, Spain, Christmas 2023 and last saw them in La Graciosa, Canary Islands. Great to catch up, swap stories and learn more about this sailing life.

The anchorage was a bit sad though, loads of abandoned boats many of which have sunk. But it was flat and calm so we stayed for 3 nights while Mandy worked. 

Then it was time to head off south to St Lucia and new locations on our way island hopping to Grenada..........