Sulana – Oyster Round The  World Rally Blog – First Entry

After a five-month visit back home to the UK for the birth of our third grandson, Harry, and to enjoy a wonderful traditional family Christmas, we returned to Sulana on December 28, 2012.

We motored round from Jolly Harbour to moor stern-to in Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, alongside a number of other Oysters, preparing for their departure on the Oyster World Rally on January 6.

Although we had intended to join the World ARC 2012 I got cold feet and we dropped out. Alan was very understanding but suggested that if I should change my mind again, we could always join the Oyster Rally in 2013. That remained a vague possibility until about November when I said I DEFINITELY would not be doing a circumnavigation because there was another grandchild on the way and I didn’t want to be away from the family for such a long period.

So, we decided to explore Cuba.  Alan bought charts and pilot books; signed us up for a flotilla taking aid to a Canadian nun running an orphanage in Haiti and resigned himself to not fulfilling his long-held dream of sailing the world. Sons Tom and James, plus James’ girlfriend Holly, were all keen to join us there for the Easter holidays and Peter and Liz Clements signed up to sail with us from Antigua to the Dominican Republic.

Then, we got to meet families on the neighbouring Oysters and generally got caught up in the excitement of their preparations. It was all very reminiscent of preparing for the ARC, which we joined in 2010 and thoroughly enjoyed.

It was when we attended Oyster’s farewell party at The Admiral’s Inn two nights before they set sail that I felt I really wanted to be a part of this big adventure. I was still half-joking when I asked Alan if it was too late for us  to join the fleet, but within moments we were being congratulated and welcomed aboard!

Since then we have been playing catch-up. As fellow Oyster owner, Eddie Jordan, commented when taking a break from an impromptu music session on the dockside (which was brilliant!): “I’ve  been looking forward to this for 18 months but these latecomers have signed up with about 18 hours to go.”

First, we had to ask Peter and Liz if they would mind island-hopping down to Grenada instead of heading north towards the Dominican Republic. They kindly agreed and we had a great three weeks with them.

Then we had to find crew. We were lucky  enough to be introduced to two young men in Antigua, who were keen to do the circumnavigation with us and one, Will Morris, joined within a few days. He has proved to be a great find, fitting into the Sulana way of life perfectly. We consider ourselves very lucky to have him along. The other, Jack Ollington, will be joining us in Panama, on the Caribbean side, ready to help us navigate the Canal and sail the Pacific.

The day Peter and Liz left us, we were joined by Richard Smith – a good friend and former owner of Yantina, a sister-ship to Sulana. He gave us a memorable holiday on Yantina in 2001 and we’re enjoying returning the favour.  He will be with us until the Galapagos Islands, where we’ve booked a five-day trip on a cruise ship, the Isabella 11, which will take us up close and personal to some amazing wildlife.

Since leaving Grenada on January 30, having bade farewell to our playmates Terri and Trevor Butcher, Suzanne and David Chappell, David and Jane Royce, and of course, Peter and Liz,  we’ve already seen turtles and had dolphins criss-crossing our bow-waves. One really took our breath away – leaping above the height of the lifelines, staying airborne for a couple of seconds!

Richard and Will have already proved to be a formidable fishing team, landing a 15kg sailfish, or baby blue marlin, just 35 minutes after casting the line. We’ve already had two hefty meals from it and there is lots more packed away in the freezer.

Three days on, we’ve covered over 600 miles and are looking forward to reaching the San Blas Islands within the next 60 hours.