Hi to all,

We are fine. Hurricane Matthew was only a tropical storm when it passed over us in Grenada. We were prepared to run to Trinidad if needed but decided to stay after the forcasts all looked ok. We had sustained winds in the high 20's to low 30's for about 24hours. We had a little bit of rain but not too much.

Thanks for the messages of concern.

The reason for this post is to let you all know that I have made a new website and my blog will now be located there. I am also starting to make videos to document our journey. Lastly I have finally started using Facebook. All the links are below. Thanks for following me and I look forward to seeing you on my new blog.

All the best
Lyle
Gabriel 1

Website: Info + blog
http://lylekelly.wixsite.com/sailinggabriel1

Patreon: If you like to support my vlog then check out this link
https://www.patreon.com/SailingGabriel1

Facebook: I could always use more friends
https://www.facebook.com/lyle.kelly.712

Pic: sitting on the beach in carriacou updating this blog :)

We're still in Trinidad. We got our new batteries and have fitted them and also a battery monitoring system. Now we have enough power to use lights at night :) we can also see how much power we are using and when we have replenished it. We have also installed our new isotherm refrigerator. We spent about a week in Chaguaramus again but it was rolly all the time, the water was dirty and we even got a bump in the night from a Venezuelan fishing boat. We decided to try out a small bay called Grand Fond Bay on Mono's Island. We met a local when we were anchored in Scotland Bay and he said it was much better, well it is. We have been moving back and forward between this bay and Chaguaramus, we try and only come back to get supplies and then leave again. We also met some really nice locals Felix and Keithan that invited us to their boat for drinks, they have offered to drive us to get supplies or anything else we need. It's been a long time since we met good people. We have slowly been crossing thing of our to do list but there is no hurry. We hired a car and got a couple of loads of diesel and also stocked up on food. Unfortunately our dingy has developed a leak so we have to keep pumping it up, we will try and repair it when we get a chance. Our visas expire tomorrow so we will be heading for Grenada. We will hang around there or in Carriacou until hurricane season is passed.

30 July 2015
Today we moved around to Havre Du Robert and anchored behind Ilet Ramville. We are going to stay in this big bay for a couple of nights and maybe move to one of the many other anchorages. We caught a nice tuna on the way here. The first part of the trip was very rough, it was rarely deeper than 20 meters which made the seas quite tall and close together. We seen the sun for maybe about an hour since we've been in Martinique and it's rained a bit too.

29 July 2015
We had a good sail down to La Trinite. We were sailing along at 6 or 7 knots for the first few hours, unfortunately as the day went on the wind dropped and at one stage we were only doing 3 knots. Fortunately the wind increased and we got back to the 5 or 6 knot range. Still haven't caught any fish. We arrived just before midnight but the channel into the harbour is well marked and all the light on the markers work. Today we are going to try and find somewhere to check in. Our guide book doesn't have any details on the east coast so we try and find our own way, with our limited french.

27 July 2015
Today we sailed down to Marie Galant. The wind wasn't too strong and we sailed here without having to tack. On the way we noticed some of the stitching on the job was coming out. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to sow the sail whilst swinging around in the bosun's chair. After I had done the sail we moved a bit further south because it was too rolly but the next spot wasn't any better. Tomorrow we will head for Martinique because we have already checked out of Guadeloupe.

25 July 2015
Yesterday we sailed up to Point A Pitre, we had to tack a few times at the start it but eventually the wind cooperated and we were able to sail in the right direction. The harbour is very busy and there is a large dredging ship that seems to be going 24/7. Today we walked around a bit but a lot of the places were closed so we just bought a few things at the supermarket and went back to the boat.