Cassini blog #101 Back to the Caribbean from the UK
Cassini's blog
Simon and Sally, Nigel and Catherine
Sat 16 Mar 2024 13:19
| Back to the Caribbean from the UK Nigel and I have just returned from a 2 week break in the UK seeing family. It was a great trip, very busy and lovely to see everyone. Fortunately, the weather wasn't too chilly. Having a deep bubble bath, using the washing machine and our own comfy bed were bliss! During our visit, all the family (7 adults, 2 toddlers, 1 dog) except Richard who was away with work, went up to Thornton Cleveleys (near Blackpool) to see my Mum, brother, sister and to say farewell to the Family Bakery. My brother is retiring so the business my grandfather started 86 years ago, is closing. We had a final tour of the bakery, enjoyed flapjacks, sausage rolls, custard tarts in the cafe and came home with a bag full of parkin, Battenburg cake, and more custard tarts. Mum was delighted to see us all and meet her 2 great grandsons. She has 14 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren which is increasing to 15 this year! Nigel and I had a trip to Stratford upon Avon to see Robin and family. Grandad was the favourite with Dax, wanting to hold his hand and sit on his lap. This was brilliant for Nigel as he has been away for 6 months. We also spent time at Clare's new house in Haselmere. Luke chatters away and amused us with his car, truck, us, Land-rover spotting in the car and his serious dislike of the vacuum! The visit flew by and it was soon time to return to Cassini. We flew back to Antigua on Tuesday, our friendly taxi driver, Eric, brought us back to the dinghy dock where Simon met us. A quick change into shorts and T shirts then off we all went to the Mexican bar for happy hour where we met up with 3 couples also sailing the Caribbean. One couple we met in Porto Santo, another couple were fellow ARC+ sailors and a couple who joined Tot club at the same time as Simon. Nigel also had a chat with another ARC+ couple from Portugal who plan to visit Portsmouth this summer. It's fun and useful also, to meet up with fellow yachties, hear of places worth a visit, share stories and also problems that may have occurred. We left Antigua yesterday and sailed down to Guadaloupe. It was a bit bumpy in places but sailed most of the way putting reefs in and out as necessary. There were sporadic showers so Simon had his waterproof on, the rest of us just got damp, it was warm rain! It took us a while to find a safe anchorage spot but we were finally secure just before sunset with 55 metres of chain out, that's a lot! Today, Friday, we had no definite plan so after the long day yesterday and sadly a problem to fix, we decided to stay here. The watermaker has developed a fault. Various messages, videos and emails have been sent back and forth to the experts and Simon and Nigel have spent several frustrating hours trying to identify the problem and fix. A new clutch is required, next step is to find a supplier. Not quite so easy as Amazon next day delivery. It is five weeks left before Sally and I return to the UK. Nigel and Simon have 4 crew joining at the end of April ready to cross the Atlantic. The end of our Caribbean adventure is approaching. Catherine |
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