This brings to an end our blog-free week. We went down to Barbados to sort out our US visas. Having failed to do this at home before we sailed away, we were left with the choice of doing it in Barbados or the Bahamas, and Barbados won. So we now have ten-year visas and can legally take Barracuda to the US and US territories without fear of large fines, boat confiscation or worse.

Reflections on Barbados:

The beaches are white, white sand and the water around the edges is milky turquoise blue. Just sublime.

Whilst the island may have been famous in the past for its very high end hotels, it has become very affordable for more regular travellers who are here in significant numbers. The south west is fringed with white beaches, hotels and apartments and there are endless local places to eat and drink so the island is able to absorb the tourist numbers with no problems. And, much like most of the rest of the Caribbean we have tried so far, the cost of living is quite reasonable. We constantly met Brits and Canadians in particular who have been coming down here for years to soften the northern winters.

Like many other islands Barbados has a regular fleet of visiting cruise ships depositing their passengers on the island for a day to explore, tan, shop or drink (we saw all four).

The diving around the island is great. G spent 3 1/2 days doing his PADI Open Water diving qual and is now certified. Been meaning to do that for ages. The reef and wreck dives were very colourful with loads of fish and corals to look at.

K did a fair bit of exploring around Bridgetown and St Lawrence whilst G was diving. We feel very comfortable here wandering about day and night.

Public transport is reasonably well organised and is well worth using as part of getting to know the island character. In addition to the larger scheduled buses there is a ramshackle fleet of minibuses that run on agreed routes and constantly pick up and drop off. They typically have loud reggae music playing and are a lot of fun.

Good fun meeting a lovely young couple, Dan and Jess. Dan was G's dive buddy on the PADI course. Thanks for lining up the Harbour Lights - a good fun night out. Can't believe we randomly got on the same minibus next day. What are the chances?

As a landfall for yachts crossing the Atlantic Barbados is OK but limited. There is a small marina of sorts in the mouth of the river at Bridgetown but it has a fairly heavy surge coming through the place, and no visible facilities. Most of the few boats seem to anchor outside. There look to be a couple of anchorages on the west coast too. The upside of landing here would be the possibilities it then opens up for cruising options in the Caribbean.

Should we need a dose of boat-free winter sun, Barbados would definitely be on our list.

So now it's back to Antigua for a few days before Duncan and KK arrive.