A little bit of background stuff

My favourite quote...

 

“Twenty years from now you will be more dissappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
― Mark Twain

 

David and I have always been travellers, firstly in a car, then in a little four seat airplane, initially around the UK, then over to Europe and finally we ventured around the Bahamas and BVI. After one such trip David came up with this mad idea that we should 'buy a boat and sail round the Caribbean'. 'Brilliant idea,' was my response, 'but we can't sail and I've never been on a sailboat...' to which he replied, ' we'll learn...'

 

The rest, as they say, is history. We spent four years learning to sail, saving money and investigating boats. How big, what type, how hold, how much to spend...the list of questions goes on. In the end, the same year as David turned fifty, he went to St Martin and 'checked out' three boats, Alhambra, a Beneteau Ocean Clipper 411. being our favourite. After a survey, a sea trial and lots of soul searching we bought Alhambra, and the following April (2007) we flew out to St Martin and moved on board and then set sail. 

 

We spent eighteen months sailing the Caribbean, visiting all the islands from St Martin down to Trinidad where we wintered for our first hurricane season. We then travelled back 'up island' and went as far as the Dominican Republic and then back to the US Virgin Islands.

 

At this point, and for many, many reasons, we decided to put Alhambra on a very big ship who brought her back to Southampton in June 2009. In July 2009 we slipped ourlines and headed for France. We then spent that year sailing around the Atlantic coast of Europe, visiting France, Spain, Portugal, Gibralta and finally making it to Almerimar for winter of 2009.

 

Since then we have sailed from Almerimar, around the Mediterranean coast, along Spain, France and Italy, until reaching Corfu in October 2011. We spent 2012 trundling around the Ionion Islands, and plan to continue sailing for the foreseeable future, wherever the plan takes us...whichever plan that may be.

 

Michele and David - on board Alhambra