Position: 17:00:89N 61:46:37W

Well, my last week in the Caribbean was spent being hectic, which is against the grain of the last few months, but necessary in order to get Nutmeg ready for returning to Europe and it’s not much fun doing nothing when you’re on your own.

Once the girls had gone, I spent my time cleaning and tidying away all traces of family life, just as we did in Las Palmas.  Dolls and teddies were put into plastic bags and stored under the bunks, Lego, seven million plastic toys were collected from behind cushions, in the engine compartment, under the saloon floor etc and packed into boxes, and books were stored away, wrapped in plastic, into lockers.  The storm jib and big genoa were pulled out of the forepeak and Jemima’s doll’s house took their vacated space, pushed into the bows, out of the way.

Jim and Jo from “Starblazer” invited me round for supper one evening, which was lovely and I was enthralled by their girls – Josephine (9) and Clemmie (7), who just seem generations older than Millie and Mima.  Clearly we need to make the most of our girls being young as these two seemed so grown-up, yet are only a few years ahead of ours.  A lovely evening.

Then on Tuesday, I motored round to the fuel dock – my first close-quarters handling on my own – and I am pleased to say I moored alongside without so much as grazing the fenders, so I was very pleased.  I then managed to reverse into the haulout dock without hitting anything, which was a bonus.

Then Nutmeg was lifted out of the water for the first time since the Canaries last November, and I got to see all those bits of her that I’d only seen through snorkel and mask.  All that muck and barnacles was finally blasted off with a jet wash.  Just as the guys were finishing jet washing her, a small crab peered out of one of the seacocks!

Two long, hard days were spent sanding, priming and antifouling the bottom.  Various local guys came up to offer their services but at US$12 / ft, I could not afford them so did it all myself.  One friendly guy did however help me out by lending me his sander, and giving me a few tips – he could obviously spot a bodger when he saw one!  By the end, Nutmeg was looking smarter than ever, and Ollie was looking scruffier than ever - very tired and covered in red paint!

Nutmeg hauled out in Jolly Harbour

We were lifted back in at 1330 on the Thursday, so I decided that rather than hang around in Jolly Harbour, I would stick my nose outside the harbour with a view to perhaps going round to Falmouth Harbour.  And that’s what we ended up doing – my first singlehanded sail was a dead beat to windward for 15M in 15-20kts.  It was a great sail and Nutmeg was going really fast with her shiny bottom.  I loved it!  I suppose singlehanding on a short passage is no different to sailing with the girls as I tend to do most of the sailing work myself, but it is a bit odd not needing to tell anyone I’m going on deck!

Falmouth Harbour was heaving with boats, as it was the start of Classic Week.  I finally found a spot and dropped anchor without any issues, then cracked open a beer and sat on the main boom and watched the world go by.  It’s not too bad, this singlehanding!

The following day, delivery skipper David Hunnable and his crew arrived from the UK.  David seems to be highly professional and I immediately liked him which is a good start.  His crew, John Apps, appears to be one of those legends in the making, having completed both Jester Challenges (ie he raced across the North Atlantic in a UFO 27 via the northern route – either mad or extremely brave) and although, as a singlehander unused to the relative luxuries of Nutmeg, he will probably be a nightmare to sail double-handed with, I could not ask for a more experienced pair of sailors to steer Nutmeg back to Europe.  I just hope that I can get the go-ahead to join the boat for the Azores – UK leg so I can learn from these guys.

From the point that David and John turned up, I transitioned from being the luckiest man in the world, sitting on my own yacht in Falmouth Harbour, to being a nobody – just another random sailor heading home on the plane.  Apart from running David through the entire boat in detail, there was little for me to do.  My bags were packed, the boat was ready, all they needed to do was fill up with food and water, and all I needed to do was hop in a taxi to the airport.

So I found myself in the lounge at Antigua airport, at the end of our Caribbean odyssey, full of mixed feelings and emotions.  I felt like I’ve talked myself out of sailing back, and although I know it is a logical sensible conclusion, it doesn’t stop me feeling sad, cross, and disappointed.  I have gone from having a clear goal and plan, to suddenly being directionless and not knowing what I am going to do for the next few weeks.  Not only that, I am cold for the first time in six months, from the aircon!!

I jotted down my random thoughts as I sat there:

I love this traveling lifestyle, and I love meeting new and interesting people, where everyone respects the other for what they’ve done, not what they’ve got.  Everyone is equal, and age, sex, material wealth don’t really matter.  There’s no hierarchy.  I love seeing new places and peoples.  I love the community feel of a small island, something which we wish we still had in the UK as our villages have grown and homogenized over the last few decades.  I don’t need lots of money – in fact I don’t even want it.  I have loved being a family.

What I’ve learnt from all the amazing people we’ve met is that there are lots of people out there who have found their happy niche, be it sailing for 6 months of every year in the Carib, living in Antigua flogging T-shirts, delivering boats etc.  There is a lot more to this world and this life than becoming a big cheese in someone else’s big company.  True success is about achieving your personal goals in your way – for us this year: sailing the Atlantic, loving life spent with our girls - doing things that make us feel proud of ourselves and make us happy.  I think we have achieved our goals.