St Maarten- St Barts- Barbados.

IRIE! Absolutely loving the Caribbean. I can definitely say that it is better than the Med trip that we just did. We have spent most of our time in St Maarten, part of the Dutch Antilles, since our arrival mid December. We left for a 1 week charter to St Barts with the owner and a 4 day crew holiday in Barbados to get our visas for America.

St Maarten is where I flew into to join the boat. She was moored in a marina called ‘Isle de Sol’ back to back with one of the islands infamous bar ‘The Sand Bar’. We were berthed in the marina with around 30 other Super Yachts, including ‘Xtasy’ the biggest Super Yacht of her time, owned by Chelsea manager Abromovich. To stand on our sundeck at sunset was a chance to witness a beautiful sight. The sun would set over all the other boat’s masts and it just looked surreal.

We worked our normal 9-5 weekdays and enjoyed the weekends off. Each evening we’d have sundowners in ‘The Sand Bar’. At the weekends we would hire a car and venture off to explore the islands beaches and shops.

I spent Christmas day here and had an excellent one. Christmas eve a few off the crew went to the casino, where I proved to be quite the shark- walking out 300 dollars better off. GO ME! Christmas day we all woke up to a feast and a half. The chef had been slaving away in the Galley since the wee hours of the morning and provided us with everything form pancakes to Champagne. After our feast we hit the ‘Orphans Beach Party’, a party that anyone without a family to see on Christmas gathered in mass. We took our cricket set and played all day. I was sent to field in the sea and spent hours swimming after stray tennis balls.

Shortly after this day we were sat in a bar and a man came up to me and Hannah for a chat, as the Yanks do. He told us that he had spent Christmas day at the Orphanage handing out presents, to which Hannah replied “Oh! We were at the ‘Orphans Party’ too.” He said “ No, not the ‘Orphans Party’, a real orphanage.” Shame Hannah! Maybe next year you can be Mother Teresa.

Then after a few games of volley ball we headed back to the boat for Christmas day and presents. Our captain dressed up as Father Christmas and handed all the presents out. Its was a great day!

Our guest arrived shortly after and we sat sail to St Barts (French Island) for a week long new year charter.

Although we had the guest on new years eve it was still something special. I managed to sneak off the boat with one of our deckies for a few celebratory beverages. Then we had the count down on the boat, 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… Ow my God! The 100 Super yachts anchored in the bay all chose this second to flash every light, ring every bell, sound every horn and set off every fire work. It was the loudest, craziest, most amazing moment of my life.

After the charter the crew were ‘forced’ to take a 4 day break in Barbados to get our Visas. Seen as the boat insisted on paying for our flights and full wages while we were there, we didn’t mind too much. He he he. We flew from St Maarten to Barbados, a 2 hour flight, but after sitting on the tarmac for 2 hours waiting for a slot and then waiting in Barbados for the rest off the crew on a different flight, it took the best part of a day to get there. The crew on the other flight didn’t eve arrive till the next morning, they ended up delayed in St Lucia all night, Caribbean airlines eh. Our accommodation was unreal, the had hired us an old plantation house with 10 acres of land. We had 5 Bedrooms and a swimming pool, it was lush. We did the usual days at the beach and evenings dining out. We stayed in one night and two ladies came to cook tea for us. Then we sat on the porch and played a really funny game, the game goes, each person writes down 10 famous people, the names go in a hat then u split into 2 teams, one person as a minute to try n describe as many names as they IRIE can then over to the other team and so on. When you get to drinking you get some pretty fount ones. For example, Pippi, our stewardess, had to describe Heidi Klum She did so by saying “Er er er, you know, the gorgeous blonde Slovakian model, married to Sean.” Who’s Sean? “ Ow come on guys, you know Sea, really famous singer.”. It turns out she meant “ The German model, married to Seal.”.

Anyway we made our way back to St Maarten and are now heading to the British Virgin Islands to await our boss.

I’ll let you know about all the mayhem we cause there.

xxxx

Going to the Carib, IRIE!!!

Hello Guys,

This is just a quick update of my comings and goings over the last few months. October saw our arrival into Palma for a two month shipyard period. All crew were seriously looking forward to the Monday- Friday, 9-5 job that we very rarely get to experience. I was definately ready for my 5 weeks of holidays that I knew were coming up before Christmas.

The Shipyard period was good, ill give it that. It was a break from the norm and a chance for the crew to recharge after our Mediterranean season. Most of us joined a gym and went there after work each night, then we would spend our evenings chilling on the boat or go out for drinks. We spent our weekends cruising around the island, mainly hitting shopping centers as it was a bit wintry for hitting the beaches- October in Palma, a little chilly. The one time we attempted to lie on a beach we somehow ended up on a nudist beach and then the heavens opened up.

Nothing overly exciting happened at shipyard, just had a good time- that’s all that matters right?

All the crew took it in turns to take their holidays. October 30th came and it was my turn. I spent the first week with Mum, Dad and Bro in Ibiza, then headed to Bolton just in time for my nephews Christening on the 4th November. He was so cute when the Vicar was saying the vows to him. Brandon kept on nodding and smiling in agreement although he couldn’t possibly have had a clue what was going on. The Christening was a great opportunity for me to see all of my family in 1 sitting, RESULT!!!! Not much effort needed on my part. As always my dads great and he hired me a car. It’s amazing the freeness that comes with a pair of wheels, I just love jumping in the car and going for a drive. It’s a thing that most people take for granted or maybe not, some people don’t like to drive I guess, but I love it!

I drove to Berwick Upon Tweed for a couple of days at my room mates parents house there. Hannah and I have shared a cabin on the boat for 7 months and she came to stay with my parents in Ibiza. It was a 4 hour drive from Bolton to Berwick and spent the whole time driving there screaming (as opposed to singing) to my ipod. Berwick was so lovely, a great difference to Bolton. Small town where everyone knows everyone (especially Hannah’s dad who taught most of the town music at the local high school). I decided to stay there for 4 days instead of 2. Also I had a little drama there with my car key. I parked the car in town and when I went to get back in it the key phob wouldn’t open it so me and Hannah had to take it to a garage where they claimed there was nothing they could. A few phone calls later the Saab dealer told us that if you pull the key phob apart then there is a key in it. Back to the car we went and all was well.

After the holiday in Berwick-Upon-Tweed I planned to spend the next two weeks of my break in Switzerland skiing for a week then in the Caribbean for a week of sun awaiting the boat there after its trans Atlantic from Palma.

My Auntie Sue and I arrived in Saas Fee, same as the year before but this time we had planned our accommodation in advance- learning from last years mistake. After our first week there we decided to stay instead of going to the Caribbean. We skied everyday and really felt broken after that holiday. I did find myself in quite the dilemma one day after coming out of the restaurant at the top of the mountain to find my skis gone. A girl rocked up an hour later when she figured out she took the wrong skis. Think next time I’ll be trying my hand at snowboarding.

Well now its off to St Maarten for me to meet the boat after its Atlantic crossing from Palma. I’ll keep you posted.

Apologies for there being no pics as my iphoto as crashed. I’ll tell you all about my Christmas and New Year n the Caribbean once the problem is rectified and I can add pics.

So Ciao for now xxxx