While we stayed at my parents house and finally got Lisa sorted out with a course of antibiotics, Nigel brought Spinalonga home. His journey of about ten days went well, with strong SW tailwinds. Nigel’s friend Barry met him outside the English Channel as he made a flyover in his small aeroplane, and got some great aerial photos!

Nigel passed a sleepless night getting through all the traffic for the last 100 nm or so through the English Channel to Guernsey.

Daniel and I got up early to welcome Nigel and “Spinalonga” home, seeing him off St Martins Point and into the harbour.

In the Azores we met lots of friends, some who had come directly from St Helena or Ascension Island.

We also met many British boats, the most we had seen for years. It was funny to ask them about their trips (usually from England or the Med), and then they would ask about ours – “oh yes, we’ve been away for five years and are on our way back from sailing around the world - these two children were born on the way” – the looks on their faces!

Nigel painted a souvenir of our visit on one of the marina walls in Horta, as is customary.

We rented a car for a day to see around the island, visiting the large, ancient volcanic crater in the middle of the island, seeing the roadsides full of hydrangeas and wild pink roses, and some spectacular rock formations and lava flows at the west end of the island.

We saw a paediatrician who was great but he still could not solve Lisa’s problem, and we sadly decided that I would have to fly home, taking Lisa and the other children with me.

We had a great encounter with a large number of pilot whales, and even snorkeled with them.

The sea was also busy with Portuguese Man’O’War jellyfish, although at the time we didn’t know what they were. We referred to them as “fairy wing jellyfish”. The floating sac with a sail on top keeps the jellyfish permanently afloat and moving.

Sadly, Lisa had caught some kind of bug in the Caribbean and she was very unwell. We were so worried we almost stopped in Bermuda, when she became much better. Two days later and well past Bermuda, she was ill again. We cursed ourselves and hoped for a speedy arrival in the Azores, but that was still two weeks away. We did find NW wind at about 32 degrees N which carried us all the way to the Azores.

About four hundred miles from the Azores we saw some phantom sailing boats, masts appearing and disappearing in different places. Finally we realized that they were whale blows, very tall ones. Three groups of whales were swimming in our vicinity, and as we watched, they came closer, and then one whale came right across our boat. We were amazed by its size and its pale grey colour, and realized we had seen our first and only Blue Whale. It was a very moving moment. There were a mixture of whales as another close approach was by a black whale.

Although we had not intended to visit Guadeloupe again, as we had planned to leave from Dominica, the winds conspired to drive us straight into the broad double island. We didn’t mind too much, although the timing of our arrival meant a long wait to go through the bridge, as we arrived on the only day when the bridge didn’t open!

We had to sign in/out, and played at the playground in the square that we had enjoyed on our previous visit. However its character was different this time, deserted on a Sunday morning with only the odd dodgy character around, and I was pleased to get back to the boat. Nigel foraged for some baguettes which we enjoyed, then we had time for a swim at a small islet nearby, familiar from our previous visit. This time it was overcast, no good for snorkelling, but Elaine, Lisa and George enjoyed swimming in the still water from the boat, and both Lisa and George made good progress in their rubber rings, swimming through the water kicking their legs.

We anchored for the night up the Riviere Salee soon before the first bridge, in a small area with enough depth for us. There were no mosquitoes, thankfully, this time, although I had prepared by plastering us all in insect repellent and long pyjamas.

We awoke before dawn to go through the first bridge, the kids were on deck and we waved to the gate operators! The mosquitoes finally arrived in force as dawn came, so we hurriedly covered up. Through the second bridge we managed some photos, and after negotiating the buoys in the bay to the north we were free of the Caribbean at last!

We waved to Antigua on the way past, and sailed into the Atlantic Ocean for our third and final time.

We also had to source a few items for the boat which turned out to be simple.

Anchorage was easy, next to the hotel just south of the cruise ship dock, with easy access by dinghy.

Roseau was good to visit again, and I appreciated its old Caribbean style more on this visit.

We spent a week in Roseau, and left when we were ready. Sailing and motoring up to Portsmouth in the NW of the island, we saw a constant rainbow over the island, a feature we remembered. Dominica, being immediately hilly and lush, attracts lots of cloud and rain, and the clear skies above the sea complete the recipe.

We spent the night anchored well out in the bay at Portsmouth, leaving in the morning north and hopefully eastwards to clear Guadeloupe to its east. However we were aware the winds were not doing their best in direction and that escaping the islands might not be so simple.

At about 6 am on 31st March 2009 with all the children still asleep, we entered the Boca de Monos and completed our circumnavigation! Finally we were sailing through territory we recognised – a very strange feeling!!!

In Chaguaramas we saw very many American yachts doing their thing just having popped down from the United States, however we did see one or two boats that we recognised from South Africa! After checking in we went round to our old haunt at the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association, where the children can swim and Elaine could get started on the laundry – after over six weeks without we were a little desperate!