Newsletter  22:   5 January 2008 

Day:                                                               Finished!

Position:                                                       18:24.943N  64:36.853W 

Approx Miles from San Sebastian:              2818

Approx Miles to go to Road Town:             Finished!!!                                                              

Hello Friends, and Supporters,

Firstly, sorry for the 'long sleep'....I did plan to get back to you with my wrap up sooner than this, but to be quite honest the whole thing has taken me by surprise in the way it has overwhelmed and disorientated me!

Secondly, I'd like to take this opportunity of wishing you and your families all the VERY best for 2008.

It maybe worth taking you back to the last 8 hours leading up to me anchoring in Road Town:

'Someone' decided to just give me a last set of challenges, just so I'll never forget this crossing. All was going well till just after sunset when I was about 30 miles off Road Town but in amongst the smaller islands, and lots of shipping around. (Cruise liners, other motor vessels, and yachts). I knew there would be no moon for at least 3 hours so I thought I'd check all the navigation lights etc. Yes, low and behold the main tri-colour navigation light, the same one I had fixed and had worked every night since then, decided to not work on this critical evening. I was so confident it was fixed that the day before I had taken of the emergency light attachments that I had secured on the day I first had the problem early in the trip. Fate has it...the day you take them away ids the day you need them!!  So I went about re-attaching them, in the pitch black only to find that two of the globes were now useless, so now I had no navigation lights. To make things worse my sentimental headlamp (Its shown me the way on 3 years of adventures!) decided to break, and the spare I had bought in the Canaries lasted 10 minutes before it broke too! At the same time the wind picked up to 25 knots and we were screaming along in a REAL pitch black night with no navigation lights, and with the depth meter showing 15-18m!  Not that I didn't know where I was or didn't expect the depth to be this, it was just the change from being 'out there' with depth off scale, no islands or shipping around!  Its amazing how things escalate when basic light and visibility issues are compromised. Eventually I made a plan with two torches and using the red and green lenses from the emergency lights. It just meant I had to change batteries every two hours. Eventually things settled down and I had a perfect trip to customs house in Road Town. Dropping anchor was a special feeling, and I immediately got onto the satphone to tell Ruth I was in!

We agreed to meet on the shore at a place we thought we both new..... Well I was running up and down shouting for her with just my speedo on and at 2 am! I had rowed ashore to a place that was miles we she was, and after more phone calls I finally got the hug I was waiting for! The rest is for my private diary! But I can say it involved a surprisingly nice chilled bottle of Californian Sauvignon Blanc!

One of the first things that hit me was the tropical feel of the atmosphere.....hot, humid, with lots of cricket noises around. I really did feel like I was on a new continent.  Also I was swaying like a drunken as I walked down the streets anticipating its rocking like the deck of Solone.

We slept on board that night and then I managed to steal 'the best bath' I have had in years at Ruth's hotel room just before checkout time. My skin just shrivelled up all over as the fresh water soothed it. It was then off to customs, and have my first experience of the now common, surliness of the local people here. A long process with no smiles, welcomes or thank you's!  I have come to realise that these people are just sick and tired of cruise liner tourists. There is probably a lot of anti-colonialism involved too!

New Year's eve was spent at Trevis bay, where there was a full on reggae, fire and fireworks evening...quite special. Ruth and I cycled the 20km from the boat to the party and then slept in my one man tent on at nearby 'secluded' beach, right next to the water. We had two lots of romantic couples seeking a quite place, then a crew from one of the yachts anchored off the beach came back drunk and disorderly, then a lovely stray dog found us and sniffed its way into the tent.... And finally Caribbean birdlife showed us what its all about with a parade of perfect roosters and hen couples past our tent at sunrise! 

I have to admit to feeling very disorientated at the moment, and because so much has changed and is foreign and I am sure spending 18 days isolated has something to do with it, I am not sure exactly what is causing it. I felt a bit like this after the 'big cycle trip' and I think a few more weeks will see it all 'straight' again! 

Today I completed my circumnavigation of the island.  When Ruth was here we took a few days off to cycle around about three quarters of it, and yesterday I paddled my kayak around the last quarter. From a cycling point of view, the road around the perimeter of the island is largely flat, but then to get 'over' the island there are the steepest roads I have ever seen in my life. The have violent switchbacks and the locals drive like hell, hooting at each sharp bend forcing any oncoming traffic to come to an abrupt stop to let them through.

I have been living on the anchor since arriving, but tomorrow Solone goes into the marina, as I am flying out for an 8 day cycling adventure in the Dominican Republic. On return I'll be doing a 5 day sea kayak of Anegada Island just near here, before heading off for Antigua.

On thinking about the past year and my sailing and cycling trips it hit me how they have given me a REAL feel for the size of the earth!  Sounds silly, but when I fly I don't really get a feel for the actual distances, whereas sailing and cycling made the distances comprehensible. Its amazing how small the world feels to what I though it was.

On the issue of what being isolated for 18 days does to one.... I am still reflecting on this, but there is no doubt that for me and where I am at, its had a big impact, and I have a need to be part of social interaction!  I think Ruth initially felt the brunt of this need!

Finally, thanks for your support through this very special adventure of mine. I have really enjoyed the interaction with many of you and hope you received something too!

Till next time take care.

Howard