Hello all,
We are now just leaving Vancouver for Aruba having spent a wonderful Christmas with my Mum, the children and the Grand kids. It is all a blur but we had a great time and the weather was ok. I had to scrape the windshield on the truck a couple of times to get rid of the ice but otherwise all was very nice. It is hard to leave the family and I will add more info when we get to Aruba but now it is time to board the flight and do the all nighter to Toronto and then down south.

Happy New Year to everyone.

We are now in Aruba having spent three days in Curacao. It was a surprise with city being so much bigger that we thought. All very Dutch with the buildings right out of Amsterdam except without the canals. We had a good time but rather too short as we had to get to Aruba which we did this afternoon. We now have cleared in washed the boat and have Kilkea II med moored beside some big power boats in the harbour. We went out for a quick dinner and now after a busy day it is time for bed. Tomorrow evening we leave at 18.00 for Toronto and a short overnight then on to Vancouver on Sunday morning!!! Hope the old body holds up.

We wish all our friends and fellow cruisers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

All is well with Kilkea II and we departed at 13.45 for Los Roques which is one of the out islands of Venezuela or should I say a whole bunch of islets that cover an area of 14 by 20 miles. They are for the most part very low sandbars with lots of mangrove on them all. The charts are not good for this area and we have to navigate with the use of drawings in a cruising guide and using our eyes to avoid the numerous coral heads.

We arrived here Monday morning around 09.00 and had a good sail with the wind behind us all the way at around 15 to 20 knots. We used just the genoa out on a pole. The stars at night were wonderful and the moon rise beautiful. Sailing at night is a great experience, as with most people we all live in cities and forget to look up and even if we do the lights block out the beauty of the universe.

We spent the day just relaxing and swimming which is the first real time we have had to do this since arriving back from Canada. We were going to leave today but have decided to spend another day doing nothing.

It was an ideal day with swimming and reading and relaxing.

Next morning we left for the Aves arriving there around three in the afternoon. Good time to arrive as we had to negotiate our way through a lot of reefs and had the sun to our back which makes it much eaiser to see all the corals and shallow spots. This is another reef of mangrove swamp and full of birds. Here we were behind a reef that gave us protection from the waves but the wind was up blowing in excess of 25 knots which is rather tiring. We spent the night and left in the morning for Bonaire arriving here in late afternoon. Again good down wind sailing but a trifle more wind than we would like as it was up around 30k for a time.

Bonaire is a clean small Dutch island that is very European in nature and quite a change from any of the other islands we have been to. The weather has been windy still with the odd rain shower coming thru. The weather is supposed to improve a lot on Tuesday so may stay until then. We have managed to have a couple of great dinners out and a far cry better than most any we have eaten at in the Caribbean.

Heading West

Another busy week. Managed to get the out haul on the mail boom repaired but the gear looks a little suspect so have ordered another from Amel. Also we have a new cockpit table made out of teak which works very well.

We left Trinidad at 4.45 am on Tuesday and had a good sail 80 miles up to Grenada arriving at 16.45 the same day. Boats really do not like being laid up and we found another problem with the forestay furler and thought that we may have to go to Guadeloupe to get it fixed but with the help of Mike on White Bird we got it apart and found the problem and fixed it. So now we are ready to go with no know problems.

On Thursday we did a tour of Grenada which is know as the Spice Island. It is amazing how many plants are usable for making teas and eating. We bought some nutmeg nuts and will bring some home for Christmas. Last night we went to a Pan and Parang at the cultural center. It was great with all the Christmas music played on the Steel Drums with the Caribbean beat.

Today (Saturday) we will leave around noon for Los Roques islands over by Bonaire and should take us just less than two days. It is always hard to leave a place as we have made some good friends in this part of the world. But they are staying in the Caribbean and we are moving westward. It is also hard to fathom that three weeks from today we will be leaving Vancouver to come back to the boat in Aruba and that is 500 miles from where we are now.

Today is Friday in the evening and this week has been busy as there never is enough time to do all the things on the to do list. We took a couple of days off on Tuesday and Wednesday. We did a little tour up in the jungle to a place called Asa Wright which is on the 1oo0 places to go before something bad happens. It is a birders Paradise with hundreds of exotic flying animals. I know very little of this subject but the place is a beautiful old plantation house up in the mountains with a most spectacular view and very tranquil. We went up with three others from "Stryder" and had a great time spending the night and enjoying the bird sounds. Lots of walks and just relaxing in the main patio over looking the jungle and reading my book.

Tropical forest and birds.

On Wednesday we went to a mangrove swamp, about 40 square miles to watch the red ibis's coming in to roost for the night. There were hundreds of them all blood red along with all the white herons made quite a sight. We also saw a four foot Cayman which is like a crocodile or alligator, will have to google it. A mean looking animal.

Caiman going for a swim!

Thursday Marian went into Port Of Spain to do some shopping and sightseeing while I had a VHF antenna put up the mizzen mast to run our AIS. We had the cable split before and were not happy with the results so now have dedicated antennas to each unit. Then as we were planning on leaving today we found that the out haul on the main boom had both seals broken so had to remove the gearing and it will be Monday before we can get it fixed. The good part of this is it is much better to find and repair the problem here where we have the support.

Today we found a wood working shop that is going to make us a teak cockpit cocktail table and will be ready on Monday. We were back and forth to a couple of chandleries and are tired out with the walking in the heat. Still not used to this much hot weather.

Yesterday we reinstalled the aft nav light and gps antenna, washed the boat which needed it as we did not get all the grime off when we were in the yard. We cleaned and greased some blocks then spent some R&R time up in the pool.

Kilkea II from the top of the main mast



This morning, Sunday, I spent about three hours up both of the masts cleaning and changed to an LED anchor light. A little squall came through with heavy rain when I was at the top of the mizzen but it didn't matter much as I was soaked anyway what with the sweat and the hose up there with me. Marian had the hard part of moving me up and down with the windlass on the main and the hand winch on the mizzen. I guess she still loves me as I wasn't dropped or left dangling.

Chaguaramas harbour

This evening we are getting together with a couple of other boaters for a pot luck dinner up by the pool.

The shark and bake was great. We had a good time and came back to the boat with friends from Strider for a few night caps. Yesterday the heat got to me so managed the mizzen sail up in the morning then Marian did the laundry while I had to lie down. I guess it was too much sun or heat stroke. Later in the day we put up the main sail and today we will attempt the Gib if there is not too much wind. They say that it is hotter than normal down here as yesterday it was above 37C and that is just too hot to be out doing anything. Not complaining too much but a little cooler would be nice.

Well it is Thursday the 19th of November and we are back in the water! What a relief as the dust and dirt in the yard was not nice. Also it was getting very tiring climbing up and down the ladder to get on and off the boat and all of this in 35+C weather with 90% humidity.

Tomorrow we will put the sails back on if there is not too much wind and then start to wash and clean up K 2 as it is in need of some tlc. I will have to spend a good few hours up the masts washing and cleaning so will try that early around 6.30 am when it will be coolest. That is it for now as we are off too dinner for a shark and bake???

Hi all we are back in Trinidad working hard to get Kilkea II back in the water. We arrived on Saturday morning around 1 am from Vancouver via Toronto and spent a short night in the marina hotel. Up early to have Kilkea moved from the secure yard to the working yard where we can stay on board and work on the boat. We have been busy from 7 till 7!! It is amazing how much work is involved to have those idyllic days anchored in a beautiful bay. It is Tuesday night and we will have the third bottom coat of paint on tomorrow. We had a man do the waxing as it is just too hot for us on that one. We will get the propeller back in the morning as we had all the bearings and seals changed. The anchor has been straightened as we tried to lift Greece onto the boat when we were there last year. Also had to take off the back port section of the railing to get straightened as we were hit by an anonymous boater in Antigua when we were off the boat in April. Nice guy!! Not too bad but had to take off the GPS antenna and the aft nav light. We have had all the anchor chain out for inspection and cleaning and will have it back in the locker with the anchor connected by the end of the day.

The good part of all this it is hot! Maybe that is the bad part as well! No just kidding as it will help me sweat away some of my over indulgences over the summer. I will try to keep updating this more often now that we are back home.

Still alive and well

Natalie and Derek

Eamon and Elise getting ready

Dad and the Bride

Well I am not very good at keeping up on this blog so will just give a quick update so you know we are still doing ok.

The big news of the summer is our daughter Natalie was married. The day was beautiful as was the bride and the resort did a wonderful job with everything.

We did manage to get out on the boat after the wedding going to Princess Louisa inlet then up to Desolation Sound and caught lots of prawns. We spent around three weeks relaxing which we needed after the wedding.

We did manage a drive to Calgary to visit the newly weds and enjoyed seeing the southern part of the province of BC as well as some friends along the way.

We have been doing a little babysitting of the grand kids and are trying to organize our return to Kilkea II. We hope to be back in Trinidad on either the 10th or 16th of November and get her back into the water. From Trinidad we will head for Grenada then turn west. We plan to cross Panama in February and then into the South Pacific.

Still alive and well

Hi Again!!!



Well we are now back in Vancouver for the summer and part of the fall. Our travels after Dominica have taken us down to Martinique where we stayed for just a couple of days and then back to St Lucia which we do enjoy. We anchored under the Pitons which are two mountain peaks which are left overs from an ancient volcano and are very spectacular. From there it was a day sail down to Bequie which is in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and is very friendly to yachties. We liked the Grenadines very much as you can sail from one anchorage to another in just a couple of hours. We spent a couple of weeks or so just gunk holing around and ended up in Tobago Keys which is the most beautiful place we have visited in all of the Caribbean. The waters are crystal clear and the marine life plentiful. It is a marine park and needs to be to maintain the corals and fishes. We swam with huge turtles who let you come very close to them without fear. The corals were wonderful and full of brightly coloured fishes of every description. The park is a reef that protects a few small islets and keeps the anchorage calm although as every where down here it always blows from the east at 15 knots day and night. They have dinghy moorings out on the reef so that you do not damage any coral. We would go out and snorkel for hours every day as it was like being in an underwater garden. On one outing Marian saw a six foot reef shark and it sure did not take her long to get back into the dinghy. I went looking for it like a fool until I thought that maybe this was not such a good idea.



We then headed down to Grenada which has a lot of cruisers staying in the country for the summer as most insurance companies require it. It is supposed to be out of the hurricane area but in 2004 hurricane Ivan hit the country and caused great damage on land and destroyed hundreds of yachts. I guess that is why our insurance requires us to be below 11 degrees north during the season which runs from June 1 to November 30th. We got an extension on our insurance and arrived in Trinidad on the 11th of June. For the last couple of weeks it has been noticeable hotter. The temperatures are about the same but the humidity and the strength of the sun is noticeable. We spent four days cleaning the boat up for storage staying at a nice marina where they would deliver a paper to the boat in the morning and even bring you room service if you wanted. We were very happy that we had air conditioning and between noon and three it was just too hot to do much of anything.



Well on the 15th as planned Kilkea II was hauled out of the water and blocked up in a secure yard. The bottom was fouled with all sorts of marine growth but the propeller was just fine as we used a product last year in Greece, called Prop Speed, That really works. So now she sits out of the water for five months with an outside air conditioner installed and the boat shrink rapped as it rains a lot in the summer down there. Not to worry though as we are now back in Vancouver living on Kilkea which is our power boat that we use as a condo when we are home. So as you see we really are boat people.



We have been home for three weeks now and have been enjoying the children and grand children and catching up with some of our friends. We have spent some time in Victoria as my Mum is not doing well and this week Marian is in Ireland visiting her Mum who is also having some troubles. So we have not been around too much. Marian should be back on Friday in time for Natalie's shower which Sarah and Lindsay are throwing for her on Sunday the 12th of July. We will be busy thru the end of next week and then we hope to get out to the gulf islands for a few days of relaxation. It does seem we are busy all the time. Anyway I will try to post some pictures of our journey through the Caribbean shortly.

Dominica 12th of May

Hello again this time from Dominica. We spent a couple of weeks in Guadeloupe waiting on some small boat parts. We had a good time and toured all around the island. Have been in Dominica hiking up to waterfalls and swimming in some nice fresh water. Really nice to get the salt out of our bones!

Now we will head for Martinique for a few days then further south to Bequia, Grenada and then Trinidad.

This a picture of an old boat at sunset in Dominica where they shot Pirates of the Caribbean movie


Barbuda with our new dinghy

Lorne Gwen and Marian in Barbuda

View of English and Falmouth harbours in Antigua

Frigate bird colony in Barbuda.

Antigua again!!!!!

Yes I know that we have not posted anything for a long time! I guess we have been too busy or lazy or partying too hard.

The last blog had us heading up to St Martin which we did with a great sail of 100 miles. Here you enter a lagoon through a bridge that opens three times a day. Half the island is Dutch and the other half French. The Dutch side is best for boating stuff and grocery shopping and the French for dinning and ambiance. As we were in need of batteries for Kilkea we went straight to Budget Marine. Once there we found they did not have the batteries that we needed but hoped they would be in soon??? So seeing as how we were in a marine store we bought a few things for the boat. We ended up coming home with a new nine foot AB dinghy with a new 9.8 hp Tohatsu engine. Now we have two dinghies and two engines for them!! It ended up that the batteries were not going to arrive anytime soon so at another marine store we bought twelve AGM batteries and installed them which took considerable effort. Dammed heavy things batteries, especially when you have to take out twelve and then install the new ones. The good news is that we now have power that works and we can leave the boat without worrying that the fridge or freezer will go down. We spent a week there before spending a couple of days at a small islet, Tintamarre, with friends just swimming and walking around the island. We left here for the BVI's at 0300 and sailed another 100 miles with favorable winds.

The BVI's are a number of islands much like the gulf islands in BC. The week we spent here the weather was not good with big winds and lots of rain but this did not stop us from having a good time and meeting new people. Cruising life is very social. Actually just had to stop writing this as we had company we have not seen since Turkey. This is why not many blog entries!! Anyway, after a week is was time for us to return to Antigua via St Martin, St Barts, and then back down to Jolly harbour in Antigua.

We arrived at sunset, saw another green flash, and had a quiet night before heading into the marina in the morning to clear in with customs and clean up Kilkea before Lorne and Gwen arrived in the afternoon. We needed to pick up a few things and rented a car and met them at the airport. Good thing we did as they were held back at immigration because they could not tell them where they were staying. So we had to go inside customs and vouch for them. All ended up well and we had a wonderful time. We went up to Barbuda which is the northerly island of the country. This island is low and has miles and miles of empty pink coloured beaches with no houses, hotels or people. It is wonderful to walk for an hour or so and see no one and to see no footprints. There is a small town on the top of the island inside a lagoon and you need to take a water taxi over. This we did and had a tour of the island and then out to a Frigate bird breeding ground in the mangroves. The males have this red pouch that blow up to a huge size to attract the females. We spent a week around Barbuda swimming and snorkeling and enjoying BBQ, beer and wine. Not too tough. We then came to English harbour for a couple of days then to Carlisle bay for a few days of swimming and watching the turtles swim around the boat.

On Sunday the 5th of April L & G left and Marian went with them back to Vancouver for a couple of days then over to Calgary to see Natalie and lend some support for her wedding arrangements in August. I had a quiet time and managed to do some of the boat list jobs that had been on hold. Marian returned the next Sunday and I jumped ship and went to Sea Mist on Monday for a week of racing in the Oyster Regatta. This was my first time racing so it was all new to me. It is supposed to be a friendly race each day but from what I saw it was flat out racing with some of the bigger boat with Olympic crews on board and they only sail one way. It was great fun and I learned so much about sailing which will benefit Marian and I in so many ways in the future. There were six guys on board and all were needed to operate Sea Mist a 56 foot Oyster and each day we were in a different harbour with big receptions each night and even an afternoon of golf!! Just to see how competitive this was out of thirty boats one was T-boned, two others ended up on reefs, two arms were broken and one person sent to the hospital with bad rope burns. For us we blew out a clew on the fore sail which ended our first day of racing but after that we finished with two seconds and a first place finish. We all had a ball.

So now that we are recovered we will leave and start to head south to Trinidad where we will be by June 1st. We will pull Kilkea out of the water and park her on land while we come home for the next few months. We plan to be back on board in November to start making our way to Panama and then the south Pacific.

Hello from Antigua,

Larry and Elaine arrived an hour earlier than we expected and found us sitting on the boat having a drink. Not that unusual! I had just changed the oil in the engine and generator and we were finished with Amel so we were ready to go. We stayed in Pointe A Pitre for the first night then anchored out in the bay the second day as the winds was against us (again) so we left for Marie Gallant the next morning. The wind still was against us so we motored over into the waves which our company did not enjoy too much. Once on the island all was OK and the next day did a tour of it via taxi. Very pretty island with three rum distilleries of which we visited one and sampled their products. Here a bottle of rum cost about the same as buying two beers so our new favorite drink is rum mixed in many ways.!!

Larry and Elaine with us on Marie Gallant

We spent a couple of days here before sailing down to the Les Saintes for another two days. We had a great meal out and did some swimming and snorkeling. We then had a good days sail up to Pigeon Island which is one of J Cousteau's favorite dive sites and we did some snorkeling, eating and just relaxing. Then it was up to Deshaies to clear out of the country and sail up to Montserrat. It was a six hour trip and we managed to sail all the way. This island has the bottom half closed to the public as they have an active volcano which is an amazing site when sailing by watching all the venting which covers the top of the crater. It erupted in 1995 and destroyed the main towns on the island. the population went from twelve thousand down to four thousand. This was done as most people left the island and as we understand only nineteen were killed. We did a tour the next day and it was amazing to go into houses that are abandoned with the fixtures and furniture still in the homes. Others were buried up to the roofs in ash. The people that are living there are building a new town but it will be years before it will be finished. One thing about the island is it was populated by the Irish and most all the people have Irish last names and would all say to Marian welcome home!!! It was very sweet.

steaks on Kilkea

We had had a rolly night so after our tour we pulled up anchor and set off for Antigua. Again the wind and current were on our nose so had to power into the wind and waves and arrived in Carlisle Bay for the night after dark. The next morning we sailed into Falmouth Habour where we presently still are. We rented a car for a couple of days and toured the island and dropped Larry and Elaine off to fly home. We sure had a good time with them and Marian loved having help in the galley.

volcanic ash and the remains of a house

We ended up keeping the car for an extra day as other friends on Following Tides (Robert and Darlene) needed a ride up to the airport as they had just learned that their home outside Cranbrook BC had burnt to the ground! Very sad as they have lost all their belongings as well as the house. Darlene flew up and Robert is here and keeping up a good front.

That it for now. We will be heading up to St Martin this week where we hope to be able to buy some new batteries for out house bank.

Hello everyone.

We hope you are all recovering from the holidays and are well and looking forward to 2009.

Well as you can see we made our Atlantic crossing in exactly 17 days getting into Rodney Bay St Lucia at 0700 on Saturday the 20th of December. We actually had to slow the boat down as we did not want to arrive before daybreak. We tied up in the marina and celebrated with breakfast of bacon and eggs and champagne and orange juice on a boat that was not moving around. When I went up to clear customs and immigration I had to hold onto the desk and was walking like a drunk as it was strange to be on land! I did the clearing in before the champagne. We spent the rest of the day napping and doing a little visiting with other yachts crews and just relaxing. On Sunday I washed the outsides and Marian did the interior cleaning up before we went out for a much deserved nice dinner.

On the morning of the 22nd we packed up, put the boat in bond, and headed for the airport. It is an hour and a half drive to the south end of the island through fields of bananas and tropical rain forest. We made it up to Toronto and spent the night before getting a flight to Vancouver the next morning arriving around 11.00. It wasn’t that easy as all the flights were oversold and we had to standby and did miss a few flights. When we arrived it was not the usual sight as there was snow and it was cold especially for us shorts and t-shirt folks!! We were picked up by Linda and in a short time we had the truck licensed and saw Nevan, Sarah and Elise, bought some groceries and arrived at the marina to find Kilkea, our power boat that is home away from home, frozen up and locked in ice in the boat house even! We got the heat going and went to see Andrew, Lindsay and the grandsons Eamon and Calum who were most surprised to see us in real life and not in the computer on Skype.

Anyway the Christmas season flew by with a Danish dinner on Christmas eve at Henning and Lindas, then the Crawfords for Christmas dinner and then on the 28th Natalie and Derek arrived from Calgary and we celebrated at Nevan and Sarahs. All the time we were home it snowed and was cold. It was so bad boats and boat houses were sinking under the weight of the snow. It was great to see the children and grand babies who are growing up fast. We were very busy with Marian and Natalie finding a wedding dress and sorting out some other wedding plans. The big day is the 29th of August. Our apologies to friends who we did not get to see as we just ran out of time and we look forward to seeing everyone this summer.

We arrived back to Kilkea II on the 11th of January at Rodney bay to some impromptu drinks and dinners over the next few days. We sailed down to Marigot bay to visit with Sea Mist and on the second night with Red Herring as well. We had not seen them since Sicily. They all left for the Vincent and Grenadines and wanted us to come with them but we were too tired and went outside Rodney bay anchored and spent four very quiet days.

We are not in Guadeloupe where there is a general strike going on with the island pretty much shut down and are waiting for Larry and Elaine to arrive tomorrow. We did a quick run up here through Martinique, Dominica the Saints and here to see Amel about some problems we are having with the batteries. On the way we spent a couple of days with Rapture I and Howard and Kelly were in good form and enjoyed there crossing.

Looking back 2008 was a busy year with us going back to Turkey from Vancouver in January then onward to Greece, Cyprus around the Peloponnese up to the Ionian then on to Italy, Sicily, Malta, and Tunisia. Then it was back to Vancouver for seven weeks before returning to Tunisia. Back up to Sicily, Rome and Northern Italy before arriving at Monaco, the French Riviera to Hyeres then the Balearic Islands. Over to Spain to see Dave and Sandy along the east coast to Gibraltar down to Tangier then Rabat in Morocco before sailing down to the Canaries and finally across the Atlantic to St Lucia. I’m exhausted just thinking that we did all this in a year. I think we sailed over seven thousand miles at six and a half knots so you can do the math. It was a lot of fun and we look forward to this year in the Caribbean, our daughters wedding in August and four to five months at home.

PS Photos to follow!!

Well finally I will put down a few thoughts of our last month or so.
We went up to Fez for three days and had a good time with John Cheryl and Ian touring the old walled city which is medieval and still holds 500,000 people. With its narrow lanes that only facilitate donkeys and carts you would think that you had been transported back a thousand years. You name it and it can be bought in the Medina. We spent two days here before heading back to Rabat via the mid Atlas mountains which had snow. Not what one imagines when thinking of Africa. Morocco, at least the parts we saw, is very fertile with big farms quiet modern.

When we got back to the boat we had planned to leave the next day for the Canaries but I got the Fez fuze and was out for a couple of days so did not leave until better. It was a four day sail down to the Canaries and we managed for a change to sail all the way. We stayed at Rubicon on Lanzarotte before going over to Las Palmas on Grand Canary. There we met up with other boats we are friends with and the next morning we went out on Sea Mist to observe the start of the ARC. This is a yacht rally called the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. There were over two hundred boats at the start line and it was a sight. We spent a few more days in Las Palmas doing odds and ends and still getting over my bug.
Marian and I left for Tenerife where we spent a night then over to Gomera which is a beautiful island which we drove around right up into the clouds with mist and fogs. Very pretty and had a good lunch and were shown the art of Silbo which is a conversation that was carried on by whistling over great distances. This island was not really connected to the outside until after 1956.

On December 03 we untied from the dock and left for the Caribbean at 1100. Oh it is 2700 miles and you have to leave sometime. We ran into a squall right away which got us into the program quickly. We did over 180 miles the first day which was great as we have to sail not having the fuel to get very far. We have made good time the first week with a couple of days with winds up more than we wanted but again it moved us along. Since then the weather has been very nice with each day getting warmer as we move south west. Today is Friday the 19th and we are 120 miles from land fall at St Lucia. We will have done the journey in just under 17 days. I think that is pretty good for two old folks sailing across the Atlantic with no crew. Actually it is pretty easy the hardest part untying from the dock.