So ... we finally finished our stint with the freighter, after five days at the dock. I was over at Port Louis Marina, pointedly not watching as they towed them off the dock. Just as well I wasn't watching as the steel hawser line broke and the pilot was going ballistic at the freighter crew who weren't paying attention. Later that evening we met the pilot, Lazarus, and his wife for supper at Port Louis and the service was so bad we ended up banning ourselves from ever going there again; it's not the first time we've done it but this time we definitely mean it.

Then on the Saturday morning I went to Angie's and Mike went out with the Buzzard to get fuel off Tobago and then head up to Carriacou. The weather wasn't in our favour though and they got a licking going back up.

People think that because we're a relatively big boat that we can handle the rough stuff, which on one level we can (or at least the Buzzard can), but it doesn't mean we don't roll, get green water over the wheelhouse and two foot deep on the side-decks, and have things flying all over the place. Mike said it was a good job I wasn't on board and I have to say I totally agree with him.

But, anyway, he got to Carriacou ok and spent the next few days working hard to try and sort out the mess that was our boat. I got the ferry up on the Thursday after my first root canal appointment, and the vomit comet most certainly lived up to its name that day. Mike was on the dock to meet me and was looking very un-Mike like, with the tiredness barely concealed beneath his multi-coloured (mainly white) salty sea-dog beard.

Of course instead of going back to the Buzzard we went to Tanya's boat for five hours to help her sort out more of her electric problems, so when we finally did get back it was about 9 o'clock and we were both over tired. Which didn't help my mood when I walked into our cabin to find that stuff was still all over the floor, we'd had a diesel leak in the hold, oh and the fridge wasn't working again, and on and on ..... welcome home!

We tried hard to have a somewhat relaxing weekend but that didn't quite pan out, mainly due to some fairly serious issues between Tanya and her partner Jason. I also had the job of sorting out our cabin and the saloon and realising we'd become very complacent about the amount of stuff we had that wasn't secured, and having to do a fairly major cull. Then I had to catch the ferry back on Sunday afternoon so I could be back for my next dental appointment on the Monday morning (for which I arrived on time and then had to wait two hours because the chair was broken).

Mike left Tyrell Bay at 6.30 am Tuesday and headed back down to Woburn. They were shadowing Don whose old wooden boat was drastically in need of a haul-out and who wasn't sure it would make it down to Grenada. We had the bridles, ropes and spare pumps ready but luckily everything went well and they weren't needed.

They were back on the mooring buoy by 2 pm but had managed to get water in our one functioning generator so he had to fix that before they could get the crane going to launch the dinghy. I think he finally made it into Sep's around 5.30 pm, and then we went to the yacht club to meet up with June and Jeff, only their outboard wouldn't start so that didn't happen, and now they're up in Carriacou so we still haven't managed to see them. Just hope they get to come back to Hog before June leaves next month.

The last week has a been spent trying to catch up on sleep and sorting out some of our myriad problems. The new generator is now on the island, after leaving Florida a week later than it should have done, and hopefully we'll be able to pick it up tomorrow. The Onan generator has been un-installed. The fridge broke, got fixed, and has stopped again. The awning split and we had to take it down and get it sown up because having no shade is not an option and the 'new' awning is nowhere near being installed. We had a problem with a leak in the sea-chest and salt-water was seeping into the fresh so that had to be taken apart and fixed. We still don't have a working inverter so we're down to torch light once the generator goes off, and the batteries aren't doing what they should either.

It's almost like there's just so many problems to fix at the moment that we don't know where to start. Luckily though we are beginning to catch up on sleep and the world is beginning to seem slightly more manageable. I had hoped that Mike and I could get away for a couple of days but that's not really an option until James gets back (hopefully soon), as Tony can't always start the generator. Although he has now got over his home-sickness, has decided he does want to stay with us (good job), and has become slightly more motivated.

I've now had four dental appointments but when I went yesterday the abscess still hadn't gone so I'm back on anti-biotics and they can't pack the tooth until it's cleared up. It's starting to hurt quite a bit too. On a positive note though I went and got my blood results from the hospital and I don't have AIDS, hepatitis or syphilis, so that's ok.

It's also so good to be back on our mooring and among friends, and the weather is finally starting to calm down, although considering we're officially in the dry season there's still an awful lot of rain around.

Tony went off on Saturday afternoon and spent the night with Devon so we had the boat to ourselves for a while which was wonderful. And we had some people over for brunch on Sunday and even managed a few hours on Hog Island in the afternoon. So normal life is starting to be resumed.

I'm hoping that the next blog will be all about how the new generator is up and running perfectly, the inverter has been fixed, the outboards are now working, the fridge is keeping the beer as cold as it should be and we've just had a wonderful three day stay at a luxury resort (that isn't Port Louis) ... anyone like to bet???

Love to all ...