Happy New Year. Vix and I are (working unfortunately!) in St Barts in the French West Indies for the start of 2007.

St Barts is a hugely popular destination for yachts especially at New Years when everyone who is anyone (or thinks they are) wants to be seen partying with the rich and famous on this tiny island.

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Years and we are planning to catch up with lots more friends and family in the year to come.

For the last few days we have been cruising the Exuma islands and stopped at Allen Cay to see the Iguana’s which come running out onto the beach looking for food whenever a boat stops by. There are hundreds on the island from baby ones a few inches long to the biggest that are nearly two feet.

Just a few hours south is Staniel Cay, we did some amazing snorkeling in a cave where the James Bond movie Thunderball was filmed. And to keep the wildlife theme of the trip we visited Big Major where there is a family of pigs living on the island, again as soon as you get to the beach they come running and even swimming out to get the tidbits people bring for them.

Well we are back in the Bahamas again. We have been seeing a lot of Atlantis this autumn, but by the end of the week we will be heading south to St Maarten & St Barths for Christmas and the New Year.

We have been in Ft Lauderdale for the last two weeks catching up with bits and pieces that needed doing on the boat, and enjoying the chance to see old friends.

I have been learning to kiteboard whilst we are here, though the wind is not cooperating as well as it could. I am going to try and take a few photos over the next week or so, and will hopefully get around to posting them here soon. Though maybe not until I can do it as well as this guy kiteboarding in Squamish.

After our trip in the Bahamas we got to have a few hours of rest and relaxation, before heading off to Ft Lauderdale. Vix tried wakeboarding for the first time, got up straight away, and did pretty well as you can see.

The crew swam, dove and Vix jumped off the top of the boat (about 45 feet to the water!).

We also got to have a go on the jetski’s and enjoy the beautiful weather wich was finally co-operating.

After the Bahamas we are heading to Ft Lauderdale for a few weeks to get some work done and prepare for the winter season.

We will be heading to the Caribbean sometime before Christmas, to get ready for a charter over the new year.

The bad weather continues in the Bahamas at the moment.

It is blowing around 30 knots (35mph) today so we have decided to stay here in the Atlantis marina for another day or two until the frontal system moves through. It does mean we can spend a little more time at the amazing aquarium they have here at the resort.

After our crossing from Europe we are now settled in Nassau, Bahamas.

The crossing went very smoothly overall. The weather for the last couple of days was a little rough but nothing could dampen the excitement of arriving after two weeks at sea.

For the last week we have been tied up at the Atlantis marina (see above) getting the boat ready for a trip down through the Bahamas next week. The weather is still a little wet and stormy but should clear up soon.

After the Bahamas we are heading over to Ft Lauderdale, where it is always good to catch up with friends and enjoy some sushi.

After 12 days at sea we are now around 1 day out from the Bahamas. It has been a good crossing to date with the highlight being on my birthday when conditions were so calm that, as you can see in this picture, the sea was literally like glass.

Of course Murphy’s Law means that the last 24 hours look as though they might be a little rough, but I think everyone is just looking forward to getting to dry land again so we’ll just steam on through.
I’ll try and get some more photo’s posted once we are settled in Nassau.

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, we have been racing around finishing off the summer season and preparing to cross the Atlantic.
We are leaving Gibraltar today to cross to the Bahamas so will be a little out of touch, but we will be in Florida for a quick visit in November and I will try to get some more photo’s posted by then.

Our time in Venice turned out to be a wonderful few days. We were able to tour the canals by boat, and ate at some wonderful restaurants. Unfortunately we had to head off all too soon to pick up another charter in Syracuse, Sicily.

After that charter we have been cruising the Amalfi coast and Sardinia with guests, though Vix and I were lucky enough to get to fly to Zurich with the owner of Dream in his private jet which was an amazing experience. At the moment we are in Corsica with one charter left this season. Everyone is looking forward to a day or two off as it has been a busy summer (the last day off we had was in June), and then we'll be heading across the Atlantic to the Bahamas and Florida.