Back and Forth!
With a few hours to kill before the ferry sails, a wander round Fort de France was appropriate. In total contrast to yesterday, the shutters were up and the town … Continue reading
Martinique
Having been offered a few days with Jonathan and Karen on Avanti, a very comfortable catamaran (for sale if you are interested 🙂 ), we sailed up to the French … Continue reading
A Tropical Christmas
My favourite saying is the old Hebrew one that ‘man plans and God laughs’. The original idea had been for a group of friends to take their boats over to Pigeon … Continue reading
False start to Dominica!
Having allowed ourselves to get stuck for a while in Rodney Bay, St Lucia, it was time to move on. The plan was to leave the marina and wander down … Continue reading
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for all the great messages via blog, email and Facebook! It is a constant source of both amazement and encouragement as to the number of friends keeping up … Continue reading
Arrival in St Lucia!
Crossing the finish line at Rodney Bay was a great moment. After being at sea for exactly 22 days, covering a distance of around 3,000nm (3,500 miles/5,700 km), we did … Continue reading
Day 22 – 15th Dec
Now only 155nm to St Lucia, plus a few miles further to Rodney Bay which is on the west side of the island 🙂 We are so looking forward to … Continue reading
Day 21 – Sat 14th Dec
Only 328nm to St Lucia! At current speed, that is another 2 days. The last 3-4 have been ones of rapid progress with strong Easterly trade winds. However the downside … Continue reading
A Visit from the Flying Squad
Sailing with two crew for long passages is about settling into routines, most notably at night. We tend to work on 3 hour watches, one person on deck and one … Continue reading
Day 12 – 5th Dec – Empty Sea
One question that is frequently asked is ‘what is it like out there?’ Now we like an enormous can make a few comments. In calm weather, it is a gigantic … Continue reading
Day 8 – 2nd Dec
Just to deter any complacency, we encountered 2 days of stormy weather. Winds up to gale force, constant rain and heavy seas helped to us see the other side of … Continue reading
Day 6 – Friday 29th
Whilst eating supper on Wed evening at sunset, we were treated to a real show. A shoal of large fish, each about 1 metre long, came close and were leaping … Continue reading
Day 3 – Wed 27th
It came as something of a relief to leave the marina and get out to sea again. A massed start makes for good spectator viewing, but was let down by … Continue reading
Signing out of Las Palmas!
With the last shopping done, we head out today on the big one. The first challenge is already heading our way with a high pressure system blocking our route, meaning … Continue reading
Briefings
The organisers of the ARC Rally are great at getting good and knowledgeable luminaries to talk about their experience and offer advice. However after 2 days of hearing about dismasting, … Continue reading
Vittles
Ever tried working out how much food you need in a month, on the basis that you will never get to the shops? It is not too easy! Reducing the … Continue reading
Crew & Stowaways
The ARC Rally sees various changes in Las Palmas. With so 250 extra yachts in the harbour, it attracts all sorts of animal converge to try and seek passage. These … Continue reading
Sailing to the start
After a wearying journey with all the gear, it was so good to be back on Freebooter! A quick visit to the adjacent supermarket to start the provisioning, with now … Continue reading
Final Prep
Despite having overloaded the boat when we left the UK, there always seems to be a shedload of ‘stuff’ to take out with the inevitable Ryanair challenge. Somehow we need … Continue reading
Townships – a different aspect to South Africa
As the last post in this series, time for a more challenging visit. ‘Township’ refers to a substantial settlement occupied by less well-off African people, reflecting history and enduring poverty of … Continue reading
Whale Hunting
Shame on you those who expect unpleasant and gory content, for this is about feeding and playtime for the visiting Southern Right Whales. (By the way, apologies for my previous inaccuracy, … Continue reading
South as far as you can go!
After spending a night at Swellendam, (great place, The Old Mill), we were rudely awakened by a car alarm going off  at 05.00. Yes, you guessed right, it was the … Continue reading
……..and the carnivorous parrot!
No apologies for extending the comments over a few posts, for it was impossible to do justice to the topics in a single post (I tried!). After all the monkey … Continue reading
A walk on the wild side….
With so much to see and do around Tsitsikamma, some measure of planning is needed. There are numerous wildlife attractions that could appear to be mini-zoos with all the negative … Continue reading
Morgans Bay
This sleepy little hamlet is dominated by the noise of the constant surf. A shallow shelving beach of rock and sand makes for picturesque rollers. The highly recommended family run … Continue reading
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