We have been busy every minute of the day during the last week arranging for various marine engineers to advise us on how best to tackle the work that needs to be done to get Oceans Dream ship shape again. We will also be working closely with Admiral Yachts (manufacturer of the Admiral 40). We've not been helped by the unseasonal weather - we are in the dry season but we have had some very heavy tropical rain showers and this one was no exception apart from it also delivered a fantastic rainbow. We are now all sorted and today has been spent at a slightly slower pace. We are scheduled to be lifted from the water on Monday and the best estimate at the moment is that we will be out of the water for a couple of weeks. The guys at the yard have been really helpful and we will be able to live in a small apartment at the yard where there is also a restaurant and wifi access so we should be reasonably comfortable as well as being able to be on hand to keep the work moving along. We will also be able to spend some time re-assessing our sailing plans for the remainder of the year - we have to move out of the hurricane belt by June (ie be South of 11 deg N). There are lots of options and being able to exchange ideas with fellow cruisers is certainly a great help.

On the subject of fellow cruisers, it's a very international set here. There are crews from, Canada, USA, Australia, Japan, Germany, and not forgetting a handful of British registered yachts, including Bill from Severn Beach near Bristol. He built his own boat, launched it in 1990 and re-built her a few years back having been hit by Hurricane Ivan in Grenada. We are real 'babes' compared to these guys but already we are learning heaps about life as 'live-aboard' cruisers there is always someone around who can offer some helpful advice.

Well that's about it folks until we send an update following our lift on Monday. Clearly a little disappointing but at least we will be able to have another launch party!!

From Adrian and Jackie - Our Best Wishes to Friends and Family

PS We have just learnt that the Coast Guard station behind us is responsible for the delivery of prisoners to the Trinidad version of Alcatraz. We are now on our very best behavior.