We have arrived in paradise
Sonar
Ray
Sat 12 Dec 2009 22:59
latitude 61d 42.281W which marked the official end of our trans-Atlantic
crossing. This was within 6 minutes the estimated time used in my entry to
our sweepstake so I claimed the crate of Carib beer prize. Of course, there
were cries of 'fix' from the crew but I put it all down to simple luck. It
had taken us 21 days 3 hours to travel 2,700nm (as the crow flies) and we
had logged 2,906nm over the ground on this long final leg. This makes just
over 5,000nm logged since we left Haslar (it seems a lifetime ago) on 7 September
2009.
We are now very comfortably installed in a beautiful spot on the southern
end of Grenada called Le Phare Bleu Marina. It really is travel brochure
beautiful and exceedingly comfortable as we are actually living in Ted
Andrew's holiday bungalow. So we have luxury hotel type beds, air
conditioning and a view of the Caribbean Sea to die for with Sonar moored to
a jetty in the middle of it. We even made the local Grenada news - see this
link...
http://www.grenadabroadcast.com/content/view/6797/45/
(where they got the type of boat wrong - it was not a Hallberg-Rassy it was
an Island Packet 460 Hull #01).
We were all very tired (more than we realised) when we first arrived to a
pontoon welcoming party complete with pretty waitress, cold beers and even a
piping fresh bacon sandwich all laid on by our great shore based backup and
weather man Peter and the marina owner Jana Caniga. So tired in fact that it
has taken me 4 days to build the enthusiasm to write this final blog entry
to round off the Atlantic leg.
For those of you who have been following our progress at
http://blog.mailasail.com/sonar I will attempt to post some pictures of the
paradise we have landed in. It will make a very big contrast to the Xmas
preparations and accompanying weather we will be finding when John and I fly
back to the UK next week. Ted of course, has simply arrived at his winter
home and has already been joined by his wife Hilda as they prepare for a
Caribbean Xmas and many following months of Caribbean living. I hope to be
back soon in the new year for some Caribbean cruising and exploring. And
then ... who knows?
Ray
Ray Bridges
Ph: 01189 340170
Mo:0797 497 5211