Many thing are lost on the couple – the art of navigation for example – but the book is full of humour. The story is a great example of following a dream when faced as Timothy was with an uncertain future and potentially a life cut short. Although the tv series only covered part of the journey this details their trip around the UK over a five year period. Well worth picking up a copy not just for the story but the inspiration to make the most of life.

A real classic single handed sailors yarn, updated, and as fresh today as it was in 1966 when the original was published.

Provisioning, if you see it, buy it. Caribbean and Mediterranean stores aren’t as consistent as the the US or mainland Europe. Think about bringing favorite condiments and the odd sauce to get you started (and a washing tablet or two if you need to rinse something through).

While you might not want full provisioning, think about the heavy stuff like bottled water or cases or beer and mixers.

Check the yacht specification against what your used to, or need for an extended stay does it have -

autopilot
plotter with charts
Bimini or sun canopy
Sail reefing systems
what life jackets are onboard, they could just be foam, so bring your own if you want to wear them all the time

Remember anchoring is often king, hopeful the only time you’ll be tied up in a Marina is when you pick up and drop of your chosen vessel. So water and diesel will need to be managed.

Yacht checkouts are a real pain, check the time of the pickup and how long checkout will take. If an express checkout is available with skipper think about it as it might give you another days holiday.

Double check when the yacht needs to be returned, it’s easy to lose a night at the start and a day at the end in the same spot while you check in/out.

Some charter companies send you out a pilotage guide ahead of your charter. If not think about picking one up before you go, while in date they do retain there resale value.

For sailing in the Caribbean remember it’s a collection of island nations, if you travel between countries you’ll have to visit customs and immigration each time, both checking in and out.

You often have to pay to fill up with diesel at the end of the trip be ready to pay. If you’ve lost something might be worth sourcing it yourself as the charter companies can charge fortunes for simple items like fenders.

If you have a PLB, handheld plotter, fishing gear, snorkelling gear or favourite torch you might want to bring it along.

Any gizmos to charger ? remember the 12v chargers or consider a cheap in car inverter.

Internet access is handy for weather and booking meals out etc look out for a local sim card.

If it’s hot, how will you keep cool? A windscoop is fairly portable as is a 12v car fans, just watch the battery drain.

Pilotage guide has to be Chis Doyles Sailors guide to the Windward islands

Yacht Check out

 recommendation – take the express check out option with skipper out of Grenada

Horizon Yacht Charters offer  what they call “Ease into the Grenadines” with their express checkout with one of their appointed skippers.. This particular skipper turned out to be both skipper and local taxi driver who we then used to get ourselves back to the airport at the end of the trip. It does cost $250 but not having to check out at the dock and do it underway means you can have an extra day outside of Grenada.

On our return and I guess most people’s you have to sail the day before back to Grenada (5/6 hour sail up her West coast) -  most likely to Prickly Bay, just round the corner from the yacht base.  So if you have headed north (and 99% would)  to be able to return the vessel back mid morning  you will have some time in Grenada as it is.

Another plus for taking the skipper is you find out about the yacht as your sail her not still tied up to the dock, you have an extra pair of hands for your first day and first attempt at anchoring, getting the tender going etc.  Going through the on board equipment list is a chore, so you can also kill an  hour of two while heading in the right direction. it’s worth noting that the sail up the west coast is probably the most arduous,, it’s the longest sail and can get a bit lumpy, so while it’s not a Biscay crossing I think its $250 well spent.

On arrival in Carriacou after anchoring we dropped the skipper off for his boat ride back home.

Provisioning in Grenada

recommendation  - provision in Grenada

Provisioning is limited at the base, so I ‘d recommend a taxi to a supermarket (most likely one on the back of Grand Anse beach (where you can also get a good roti) about a 10 minute drive away – we did this as we spent a week in Grenada before the charter. We did though take advantage of the pre provisions for a case of beer, soft drinks and water which saves the back. While the starter kit is reasonable, and you could eat out pretty much everywhere the shopping is best on Grenada (though there are a couple of Western style specialist shops on the way and smaller local supermarkets).

Shopping isn’t cheap in the Caribbean but worse than that it’s a bit hit and miss, if you have a favourite you can’t live without drink it with you. Bottles of Pesto, quality pasta sauces etc  are probably a good idea.

recommendation  -  bring luxury foods and condiments from home

Customs and Immigration

never much fun, but you have to check out in. Horizon do supply some prefilled paper work for you (crew lists etc)but you still have to go along, pay small fees and write your name and get passports stamped.

Carriacou, Hillsborough Bay (Grenada)

Fine and easy to do, there is loads of room to anchor by the jetty. To get ashore either tie up there (preferred as you are the right side of a chain fence) or you could dinghy onto the beach. We did end up going on a Sunday and had a cab ride round trying to find the customs guys, we didn’t find them (or the overtime we would have been charged) but had planned to anchor the night anyway. Customs by the harbour and the immigration was in the Police station a five minute walk down the road.

A small western deli is nearby the police station and there are a couple of medium sized (Caribbean medium) supermarkets.

Union Island (St.Vincent)

Anchoring is a bit tighter here than Carriacou but you’ll probably want to look around anyway, again there is a dingy dock with a sort of security guard. Customs/immigration is up at the airport which is a 10 minute walk, no problem just form filling and paper work. Not my favourite place. There is a small market with tourist prices and a small western deli which is worth a visit.

Prickly Bay  (Grenada)

Easiest customs and immigration of the lot, right by the water and near the bar. No problem.

Chartering a Bavaria 38 from Horizon Yacht Charters

The company did give us a mobile phone, so we could call in with any problems. We got an airlock in one of water tanks so lost some pressure. Once we phoned them their engineer was able to sort that out over the phone.

The fuel tank gauge was faulty, always showed full. Bit a problem but when we took on extra water at Petit Martinique we also topped up the fuel (this is the easiest dock to do this at).

The life jackets supplied at the time were the bulky foam versions, so if your used to wearing your own jacket all the time, best to bring it along.

The Yacht (at the time) didn’t have a map function within the plotter. You are supplied with laminated charts but if you’re used to a plotter with map, best bring one or check if they have upgraded the onboard unit. I used my garmin 76map with charts and it does help. Clearly most of the Navigation is by eyeball and marks but if you’re used to it a plotter a handheld with be very handy.

All in the yacht was in good condition – the windlass worked well, the sails and rigging where in good order, a quality dingy and outboard were provided. We’d return.

Pros

you get to visit Grenada ! lovely island and great people. This isn’t always the case some charters operating from the north only allow you to stay in the waters of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Two weeks was plenty to do this, but if we only had a week, we’d probably rather start in St Vincent.

The Charter operation at Horizon isn’t huge in Grenada so it is more personal than some of the larger operators.

Cons

Travelling between Grenada and St. Vincent does mean you’ll have to check out with Grenadian customs and immigration, check in with St. Vincent and do the reverse on your return.

It is a reasonable sail up the West coast to head out to the islands and takes half to a full day.

Check out their blog hosted by mailasail which chronicles their voyage out to India and then onto the Seychelles within whose waters they were taken. They where incredibly fortunate to have had the adrift Lynn Rival picked up a couple of days later following their abduction and delivered back to the UK by the Royal Navy. Their blog now details the refit of Lynn Rival so they can go out and cruise once more.

Hostage: A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters by Paul Chandler,Rachel Chandler

A very interesting read. A whole volume dedicated to navigation without the use of technology. Useful for everyday navigation away from the chart plotter.

Emergency Navigation Card

A lot of information on a laminated card, doublesided with reminders on navigation including celestial short hands, predicting rates of travel and simple angles if you’ve left the sextant on board etc. Ideal for the grab bag.

Essentials of Sea Survival Behaviours

Written by two Doctors the tome covers short term immersions, hypothermia, cold water, physiological, life rafts and examples from history from Shackleton to to the modern day. A definite works, hundreds of pages packed with information.

RYA Sea Survival Handbook

An excellent publication covering a range of subjects of on the practicals of sea survival including kit and equipment, such as deploying and using a life-raft, flare use, radio use and helicopter rescue.

Rescue in the Pacific: A True Story of Disaster and Survival in a Force 12 Storm

Written byTony Farrington this book chronicles dozens of cruising sailors hit by a “bomb” storm on a route north from New Zealand, the stories of survival and loss are taken from the experiences of several of the yachts and rescuers include at least one catamaran.

117 days Adrift, Maurice Bailey and Maralyn Bailey

A Pacific Sinking followed by four months in a rubber raft in 1973, 1500 miles of travel. The classic raft survival story.

Last Voyage of the Lucette, Douglas Robertson family

Great read recently updated by the original authors son. The loss of their vessel causing the family to spend a long time in their lifeboat. What comes out from a sailors perspective is the simple yet highly accurate navigation that the author uses to help to give them hope. The survival techniques they develop and the psychological issues they deal are highly informative.

Left for Dead by Nick Ward

Nick was an original crew member on board a yacht in the 1979 Fastnet. This is a real survivor’s tale. Nick covers the lead up to the race, the events that unfolded and the events post the event. What makes this fascinating is the fact that he was left onboard while others took the decision to go into a life raft in horrendous conditions.

The Long Walk, Slavomir Rawicz

Slavomir Rawicz was Polish cavalry officer arrested by the Russians in 1939 and imprisoned in the depths of Siberia on a 25 year sentence which he knew he couldn’t survive. Just getting to the prison took three months. He along with 6 others escaped, this is their story on how they spent the next 9 months escaping Russia on foot. Its a fantastic true story which shows what human being can achieve. The story has now been turned into a motion picture but I’d recommend you read the book – the film will short change you and his story.

The Damage Done: Twelve Years Of Hell In A Bangkok Prison Warren Fellows

A young Australian man makes the mistake of his life and ends up in the infamous “Bangkok Hilton”. One man struggle to survive in conditions that would be alien to all of us.

One must is the Imray Chart 100 2006: Atlantic Ocean Passage Chart which is ideal for planning and tracking progress on a north Atlantic crossing.

Another strong buy for me is World Cruising Routes: 1000 Routes from the South Seas to the Arctic: Companion to World Cruising Handbook written by Jimmy Cornell. This does exactly what it says for an Atlantic crossing it’s most certainly overkill but the dream factor and the detailed knowledge it imparts on the routes across Atlantic (and every other Ocean highway and byway) makes it highly valuable.

I personally wouldn’t buy World Cruising Destinations: An Inspirational Guide to All Sailing Destinations either for an atlantic crossing or world cruising. While it is a solid detailed guide your better off checking on the likes of Noonsite which has end user and destination content posted by country making it much more uptodate. Noonsite was was started by Jimmy but is now owned by the Company behind the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers).

You’ll clearly need a set of cruising guides but for the basics including passage advice, routing information, landfalls and routing the latest version of the The RCC Pilotage Foundation Atlantic Crossing Guide. This does cover a lot of information in a concise focused tome and you could consider forgoing World Cruising Routes but you’d be missing out on the day dream factor. Very nicely presented and put together.

The defacto guide to routing and weather information and patterns comes with the Atlantic Pilot Atlas: Pilot Charts and Regional Weather Conditions for North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Caribbean, Mediterranean. If you can take a look at this before you buy I’d recommend you try to. It comes in a spiral bound form and is LARGE (a couple of A4 pieces of paper side by side). It has month by month weather charts showing historical wind, pressure, cyclone paths, prevailing currents etc as well as pilotage information. Unless your planning to cross outside of he recommended seasons I personally wouldn’t recommend it for a standard Atlantic crossing, it’s information overkill which is a) hard to store b) expensive c) contains info held in freely available Pilot guides or working through Jimmy’s or the RCC guide.

Your First Atlantic Crossing: A Planning Guide for Passagemakers is another one I’d recommend doing without. It is written in a narrative style and if you want that I’d recommended checking out one of my solo recommendations. I’d take the RCC pilotage guide as a preference.

Hero of Norway has a young family who have sailed themselves to the Caribbean and continue to cruise.

Spinaloga a family from Guernsey who have circumnavigated adding two crew on route!

Dolpin of Leith Couple plus 2 small children heading to New Zealand in a 103 year old gaffer.

sy-biscuit.se is a great read, young family on a 27 footer with a baby who have crossed the Atlantic and spend time in the Caribbean, they have since upgraded to a larger yacht and continue their travels.

Jackson Four on tour covers a family from the channel islands sailing a catamaran from Greece on a circumnavigation.

Yacht Samba a family of four on a circumnavigation on their monohull.

Jean du sud Around the World http://www.thesailingchannel.tv/ see my detailed review of this excellent award winning film here.

Keep turning left http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/ hundreds of films of shoal sailing in a Mirror Offshore with a sense of humour around the UK from an ex BBC cameraman.

Ready to Cross Oceans, Lin and Larry Pardey

A cruising couple like no other. This is the ideal video to give you some much needed perspective on what it really takes to sail oceans. You might not buy into their approach but if your trapped in the idea that a large engine and power hungry gadgets make the cruising yacht this will help you appreciate the other side. Well produced dvd in a series, their books really are a must.

Francesco Mediterranean Voyage

Deep Water Dvd

A documentary detailing Donald Crowhurst tragic participation in the very first solo, non-stop, round-the-world yacht race.

Morning Light Dvd

follow a team of US college students being selected, trainied and sailing the Transpac.

Wind, Matthew Modine,

Americas Cup fiction from Hollywood.

White Squall, Geoff Bridges

A coming of age movie from Hollywood.

Master and Commander, Russell Crowe, Patrick O’Brian

The app provides local forecasts but the real power of the app comes with its routing functionality this provides both actual routing as well as different routes based on different start dates. You can see what the max wind is likely be on a route as well as the average within a number of helpful wind ranges and directions.

Check it out in the android and apple app stores or via PredictWinds website