Only 3 days later, on 20 March, Bill and Liz joined us for 5 weeks of sailing, snorkelling, and hopefully (for Bill and Liz) a fair bit of kite surfing also.

A few days settling in to the Caribbean way of life followed - dinner at the Little Dipper and dancing to the band on Hog Island, as well as saying Hi to Rog and Vicki, before following the route we took with Jeff and Jeanette to Carriacou via an overnight stop in St George's. Carriacou was a little disappointing as we'd hoped to get a better feel for the place but a bar and restaurant tried to overcharge us which left us feeling disappointed. Customs pointed out in a stern but friendly manner that Liz's camouflage shorts were illegal (we had warned her!) but apart from that were the friendliest we have come across since leaving home so it wasn't all bad!

We continued to Union Island where Bill was soon out on the water spending a few happy hours kite surfing up and down the reef and then over to Palm Island. The next day, and much to our pleasant surprise, Chrisandaver Dream and Itza Perla arrived simultaneously but purely by coincidence. IP had Charles' sister and brother-in-law on board and were headed straight to Bequia but CD sailed with us to Tobago Cays where we spent a couple of days snorkelling with the turtles and on the reef and Bill had another chance to get the kite out "in paradise". Fi bought a Tobago Cays top from Sydney who sells them from his boat with a massive smile and who was wearing the sunglasses Dave had given him on our previous visit.

We sailed to Bequia (pronounced beck-way) in convoy with CD and dropped the hook near Itza Perla, then that evening went for pizza with Chris and Dave in a restaurant overlooking the bay. The next morning, after a walk through the small town we went for a drink at the L'Auberge, where Fi had a cocktail as a special treat, as 1st April is our unofficial anniversary, and Liz and Bill ate lunch. We walked to Friendship Bay the next day, where the picturesque beach was deserted apart from the few fishermen there and a lot of Frigate birds circling over them trying to snatch the odd titbit. We swam in the turquoise blue water and lounged on the recliners and hammock belonging to a resort there, had a drink from the bar and used their fresh water shower (luxury). After catching a bus back Fi went off for a snorkel with Chris and Dave and was in fits of laughter when Dave tried to pull a huge lobster out from under a rock - unsuccessfully. Bill and Dave went back with Chris and Dave the next day for a second attempt but "Lobby" was nowhere to be seen (hurray!). That evening we got together for a drink with CD and IP at the Devil's Table pub as we were parting company the next day.

We headed north for St Vincent and anchored in the beautiful bay of Petit Byahaut. We left Bill and Liz to mind the boat as we took the dinghy to a nearby cave where two species of bats live. We anchored the dinghy outside and very quietly swam into the narrow tunnel, which was about 35ft long, where the noise and smell confirmed we had the right place! We saw bats flitting around overhead and many of them huddled together in a big fluffy ball on the ceiling. It was well worth it for the pleasure of seeing these rare bats in their habitat. We changed places with Bill and Liz and they went off to explore then we all did some more snorkelling, followed by a sundowner and lentil dahl before bed - a perfect end to another beautiful day.

The following morning we set off early for St Lucia and after sailing, motoring, sailing, motoring and seeing some dolphins, we arrived in-between the Pitons, a couple of impressive towering peaks. After shaking off the boat boys who were keen to earn a dollar or two by helping us onto a mooring, we relaxed and took in our surroundings. It was a beautiful anchorage but we decided not to swim due to the dodgy-looking, unidentifiable film on the water that didn't look too appealing. As we hadn't checked in at St Lucia and the leg to Martinique was too long for a day-sail, we stopped off at Rodney Bay for a night where we accidentally picked up a private mooring (on close inspection it did say PRIVATE in very big letters!). Luckily, the American owner who came whizzing out in his tender to see us kindly allowed us to stay on it until the following morning and, as it was expensive and we didn't find it a place of much appeal we only stayed one night.

We enjoyed a great sail to Martinique, with Bill and Liz taking turns at helming. Liz spotted a very acrobatic dolphin, leaping high out of the water. We anchored in a peaceful and picturesque bay, Petit Anse d'Arlets and had some fantastic snorkelling. There was an abandoned fish trap on the seabed full of beautiful fish unable to escape so Dave went about cutting an exit hole and eventually this vast assortment of fish as well as a couple of moray eels were free. Liz and Bill discovered a massive shoal of fish only metres away and the local fishermen were throwing their nets in an attempt to catch them. We also saw some very fat, yellow starfish, flat fish of some kind, sea snakes and a turtle.

The next day saw us further up Martinique at St Pierre where we dropped our anchor next to Mi Dushi, although Henk and Angela weren't onboard at the time. We met up with them later and went ashore for a few drinks and, after checking in at the local café, free (!), the next morning, we all went for a walk to look at the museum and ruins from the eruption of Mt Pelee in 1902. Only two people out of a population of 30,000 had survived, a cobbler who was in his cellar at the time and a prisoner in a small stone cell (see photos). We ate in a very friendly local restaurant overlooking the sea and had great fun seeing who could spot, and photograph, the next jump of some incredibly large fish right in front of us. We spent a quiet night onboard, during which time Thalia (Fe and Ivan), dropped anchor beside us. The next morning we awoke to find we all had symptoms of the cold that started with Bill, with Fi being the least affected but poor Liz being by far the worst.

We set sail with Mi Dushi towards Roseau, Dominica with a competition as to who would catch a fish. After no more than two hours Henk called to confirm he had a decent sized barracuda. They kindly allowed True Colours to sample in the form of a pate that evening and apparently it was really scrummy! We picked up buoys with the advice of Mark who works for Sea Cat, one of the boat boys who is known to be trustworthy in this area. After checking in the next morning we hired a taxi between TC and Mi Dushi and our driver Pat took us on a very informative tour of the southern end of Dominica. We saw some amazing views, drove through the rainforest and the botanical gardens, saw a bubbling volcanic brook and visited Trafalgar Falls where we bathed in a hot pool before having lunch overlooking the falls. A good day was had by all. After taking on water the next day we all decided to leave as Henk and Angela had been let down by the dive company that was due to take them out.

We paid Sea Cat and set off for Portsmouth at the northern end of Dominica and some boat boys came out to see us. One of them, Eddison, who is mentioned in Doyle's guide, took our laundry for us and told us the best places to eat and drink ashore. We had a few drinks in Big Papa's on the beach that evening but went back to the boat before the beach party got started. This was also where Fi managed to speak to Mum and Dad on skype on a video call. It was great to see them for the first time since leaving home and looking so well (if somewhat dark due to the camera lighting!). Henk and Angela got a dive the next day and we went ashore and walked through the town to the Indian River, stopping off for some photo opportunities at Portsmouth Police Station. Bill and Dave bought bananas to eat on the way but they had bought cooking bananas by mistake and these taste horrible raw, much to the amusement of the locals. We chatted with some people preparing a stew by the roadside and were invited to come back to try it later when it was cooked. We returned to the beach where there was a real party atmosphere, with lots of people, food stalls and music being played loud from one of the beach bars. We had a drink, listened to the music, sampled some local food including Johnnycakes, and did a bit of people watching. Young lads were lined up on the beach doing press-ups, the young girls giggled and played in the sea, Liz was "chatted up" by a local with dreadlocks and had a lady come up and cavort in front of her, and before it all got too much for our tickers we met up with Henk and Angela and had a meal together in a nearby beach restaurant.

We said goodbye to Mi Dushi the next morning and headed for Deshaies (pronounced Day-Hay) Guadeloupe, managing to sail for almost the whole passage. A short dinghy ride took us up a small canal to a dinghy dock where we were told there was no need to check in so we ambled down the street which had a very French feel to it with tarmac roads, planted areas, boulangeries selling lovely bread and cakes, bijou craft shops and chic restaurants. We watched the sun go down on the balcony of one of the bars but unfortunately Bill and Liz still didn't see the illusive "green flash" as it sunk beneath the horizon. Dave declared it was the best he'd seen to date and Fi had seen a hint of the green line but not much.

We started out the next morning, 15th April, and had a wet and windy sail of about 35nm to English Harbour Antigua where we dropped anchor off Nelson's dockyard, much to Dave's delight. The next few days were spent admiring the beautiful boats taking part in the Antigua Classic Regatta and we were lucky enough to get a ride on Thalia, winner of the Grenada Classics two years running, and with Phil on Blues Traveller, who we'd sailed with in Grenada. The Mad Mongoose became our local and we ate a very good meal there a couple of times. We did the "must do" trip up to Shirley Heights on the Sunday to enjoy the spectacular views over the harbours and listen to the steel band. It was the first time we've heard one play classical music as part of their repertoire and it was amazing! They sound like a full orchestra and their timing is perfect.

We said farewell to Bill and Liz on 20th April and they flew back down to Grenada for an overnight stop onboard el Vagabond (thank you Vags!) before getting their flight back to the UK.

Since then we've been getting some chores done and making plans for the next few months, taking hurricane season into consideration. We've caught up with Mi Dushi again and both managed to get haircuts (Fi's courtesy of Melinda in the Mad Mongoose!). So far we've decided to island hop back down to Grenada, catch up with our friends Chrissy and Dave and then head west.

Watch this space as they say......