A relatively easy couple of days getting to know 'Provo' better and meeting some fellow cruisers on the same path.

We started yesterday by getting checked into the Turks & Caicos Islands, a two hour process. We have not had to do this for a while so it was a bit of a shock to the system to get back into all the form-filling. Because we came into Sapodilla to do our check in, rather than a marina, we had to go to the government port for our session with Customs and Immigration; which meant we had to walk in through the stevedore area where all the containers get handled; which meant that we had to be issued with hard hats and high viz vests to get to the office, a dusty portakabin in the corner of the industrial docks. Bikinis they said! Living the dream eh!

We have hired a car to help with provisioning and getting around the island, as otherwise we would be a bit stuck. In the last two days we actually feel like we have 'done' Provo from a visiting sailor's perspective. If you were an occasional tourist here you would be enthralled by the milky turquoise water and the white reef fringed beaches and the water sports. As we have these all the time, we were looking for something else, like some colonial history or a historic plantation perhaps - but nothing's open on a weekend. So instead we had a good drive around, saw lots of lovely villas and exclusive holiday developments, plenty of building sites and some beaches.

We have got to know some of the folks on other boats anchored nearby who are doing exactly what we are doing - trying to go south and east, against the wind and current. We all had drinks ashore tonight to compare notes on routes, strategies and weather windows. The next stage is an interesting navigational challenge, so well worth discussing and comparing.