Barbados 3

26th December 2014

5165 Miles from Ramsgate by log.

I think this has been the longest period in-between blogs yet but the days just seem to slip by and so first things first happy Christmas everyone. We are still in the Careenage in Bridgetown and Spectra has benefitted from the stay by having lots of maintenance lavished on her. All of the rails and rubbing strakes have been re varnished along with the stern woodwork and all of the portholes and metalwork so she is now looking very pretty again, but then I am rather biased on that subject. The back up battery charger is still broken, after spending 2 weeks on the engineers shelf he said he could not get the parts, when asked which parts he needed he hedged a bit so I suspect he didn’t really know what was wrong with it. I shall try again in Grenada. Steve has pulled all of the chart plotters wiring loom apart to try and find why it drops out intermittently but it still has the problem and so again we will have to live with that for a while. As always I have back up systems and so it is not a major concern, just a niggle. Meanwhile Tony has been playing with the outboard and it now starts on the second pull and positively purrs along, well purrs as well as any smoky two stroke ever will. The dinghy will now go up on the plane with one aboard but still hasn’t got the oomph to do it with two up but that is sooo much better than the useless lump of metal that I had hanging on the back rail before Andy and Tony had a go at it.

Coat number 4 goes on

      As far as sightseeing goes Norma, Tony, Steve and myself grabbed a taxi and went to Harrisons caves which in the centre of the island. They have a tram which takes you several hundred meters under the ground to explore the limestone caves where  runaway slaves used to hide in days gone by. We also had another night out at the jump up in Oistins bay which is always worth the trip. Sue and Tommy have been here for a while and we have had several good nights out including a day on the beach and a Bajan buffet at their hotel. We also visited the other yacht club which is a much more relaxed affair and we were invited to join in their regatta by a Canadian diplomat, but me thinks Spectra is not for the race track and so we gracefully declined. As it turned out the race was cancelled so nothing lost there then. Alwin from the cricket club dropped by for a drink one evening and brought us a spice cake as a gift and some marrows from his garden. I think he enjoyed himself, in fact I know he did, as he fell asleep in the cockpit for a couple of hours before weaving his way of home.

100 meters below the ground

More pictures from Harrisons cave

Special shirts on for the first night out with Tommy and Sue 

The Mount Gay Rum Factory

Another Q festival and everyone except Norma and me run for cover as the rain comes down.

Tony’s feet have a great view of me swimming

It isn’t all work you know

The Local Weather station

At the days end Tony takes another picture of his feet

We all gathered for Christmas dinner on Spectra yesterday and so all maintenance and thoughts of fixing things were banished. It was a bit of a rainy day but we still managed to have a swim in the morning and eat starters on deck in the sun until a rain cloud stopped play. After dinner we had drinks on the aft deck and watched Bridgetown promenade past us as Independence square seems to be a major social gathering place. All of the children brought their favourite Christmas presents out with them and so the square was soon converted into an impromptu race track as remote control cars whizzed back and forth chased by excited toddlers.

Christmas morning at Carlisle beach

Santa Visits Independence square

Another carol concert in the square

Drinks on deck after Christmas dinner

Crew shirts on for Tony’s going away picture 

Boxing day today and Tony will be leaving us in the morning, when Tony stepped aboard in Tenerife his total experience of sailing Spectra had been one trip from Ramsgate’s inner to outer marina, now he has clocked up over 3000 miles and is a hugely competent crew. He has also completed an Atlantic crossing on a small yacht which is something he should be rightly proud of. We talked to Gemma, Duncan and Lily yesterday and with losing Tony tomorrow it is hard not to be homesick. Still Gemma, Duncan, Lily and the new baby on board are flying out to see us in Florida in April so that is something to look forward to and Tony hasn’t ruled out joining us for at least a part of the return trip.

      Barbados has a traditional boxing day horse race at the Garrison race track which is only a mile or two walk from the dock and starts at twelve today. The plan is to meet up with Tommy and Sue there and after the racing go on to the Barbados Cruising Yacht Club for a drink or two so our day is pretty full on.

While I think of it congratulations to Stan and the Cruising committee for organising the harbour Christmas lights in Ramsgate. Malcom sent us some pictures and Sue showed us some that she had and it looked wonderful……… Talk soon … MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF OUR READERS.

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