Well, Merry Christmas. I hope you are all having a great day
and eating and drinking to excess. We are and its only midday. Lionel has been
eyeing up the huge inflatable duck the three children on the boat in front of
us have got from Santa. I may have to warn them to padlock it up at night!!!
As the last week of 2019 approaches it is time for
reflection of the year we are about to leave behind and excitement as a
brand-new year develops in front of us. As many already know I made a huge
decision in November which changes our lives – no more long distance off shore
sailing for me. The decision was made during a particularly gruelling passage
between Norfolk, Virginia and Bermuda. I thought I would have changed my mind
by now but no. After taking time out and reflecting on the mental and physical
strains of offshore sailing I am even more adamant now than before. Thank you
Mads and Lotta for helping Lionel get Ruby to Antigua. They had an arduous
passage made even worse by the gas line to the new cooking stove failing and
having to eat cold food for five days. Coming out of Bermuda, for the first 48
hours they were yet again hit by huge swell. I don’t know what was worse,
watching the satellite link and getting emails or not being there. At one point
the Tracker failed and we did not get any information for about four hours but
it was just a blip and everything started working again in the afternoon. I
spent most of a day contacting gas fitters in Antigua about fixing the gas
problem and thank goodness one of them came through like a star and had it
fixed while they booked into Antigua. Thank you so much.
I flew home for a short break to see friends and family and
have a quiet pet sit with two very well-behaved dogs, three cats and fifty-five
sheep. It rained most of the time I was there but we still got out for some
spectacular walks round the Border countryside. I managed to catch some sort of
virus between Glasgow and Guadeloupe and arrived back at Ruby feeling drained
and very very ill. The next couple of weeks, I slept, I drank liquids then I
slept some more which was a real shame because we visited some of my favourite
places. Reaching St Kitts, I started to feel better and after some barraging we
managed to secure a berth in the marina and a few days of sightseeing and walks
around the capital. Not the most scenic place but I felt much better as we left
to head towards St Bart’s and one of our favourite little anchorages for
Christmas. Although it isn’t as peaceful as we remember it’s a lovely spot and
being a French Island good food can be found, duck and traditional roast
veggies for Christmas dinner tonight.
So, for the rest of the winter we will float west wards
towards Cuba spending time on the larger islands which we have neglected. We
are hoping to do some land travel on DR and Cuba if we can find safe places to
leave Ruby but one thing this year has taught me is never make a plan in stone.
It is still hoped we will coast hop up the east coast of USA to Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland for the summer, we both loved Canada and are looking forward to
exploring even more. It’s business as usual on Ruby Tuesday, we just have to
plan better ahead and anticipate when we will need crew for the longer off
shore passages.
Merry Christmas and here’s to a fantastic New Year for all
of us.
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