Court Short

It should be the title of a book!  If Ocean Rainbow is a party boat then so too is Merlyn III –  anchored close to each other, we started with sundowners on OR followed by a sumptuous dinner on MIII – four courses!  The next day we mounted an expedition to Baradal to seek out […]

After a month of hard physical labour cleaning and mending things with mad dashes up and down the Windward islands for stores, equipment and deliveries we are now in Union Island.  We had a great reunion with Freebooter and Ishtar in Carriacou before heading north to try and meet with the cousins.  As Tyrrel Bay […]

We had a great overnight sail from Le Marin, Martinique to Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou – 125nm in 25 hours from starting the engine in Le Marin and weighing anchor to turning off the engine in Tyrrel Bay having set our anchor.  We had a 3 hour period with no wind so motorsailed and a further […]

After another day’s hard work on Ocean Rainbow - all the dobie laundered, the doghouse spruced up (and yes, we did get silicone all over ourselves!), James up the mast to check all the fittings and the boat hoovered and polished – we sat down at 5.30pm to a well-earned cup of tea and then, […]

Well not on OR!!  So: the electric autohelm is broken but we think we know a man who can fix it; YamaHaHa is ill again and we spent two hours last night stripping the engine to no avail - however we know where to find a man to fix it so all is not lost;  […]

If shopping on dry land is a nightmare, it is absolutely horrendous on a boat!  First you have to assemble all the bags you need, load them into the dinghy, make the trip to the dinghy pontoon, tie up and lock up your dinghy.  Then walk to the shops, get trolley, load trolley and still […]

Once more back in Rodney Bay to book out of St Lucia!   This time a little more leisurely so on Saturday night we were able to invite David (from Serendipity, an Oyster 58) on board for a sundowner.   On Sunday, after a very good sing-a-long at church in Castries, we returned to Rodney Bay in […]

Here’s the picture you’ve all been waiting for …… Puddle Mk II in all her glory!   She’s a great little foldable dinghy with an inflatable tube that creates a ‘V’ in the floor and allows the dinghy to plane if you have a large enough engine.   You’ve guessed it – YamaHaHa is only 2.5hp and […]

Puddle’s disintegration has taken us by surprise.  Although we knew her seams were worn and we would have to replace her before next season we had no idea that, during our time in UK when she was stored in the wetlocker, she would start to fall apart.  We inflated her on Friday 7th and she […]

Well our time afloat was short lived!  Once we were safely tied up to a buoy in St David's Bay we had a swim around Ocean Rainbow and discovered that during the launch process our antifouling had been badly gouged by the lifting strops - back to the gelcoat - not good news.  The yard have been […]