Tilly Mint's travels

An adventure ends, but another one is starting for Tilly Mint - in a few days she will leave the Caribbean to sail back to the Mediterranean with a new crew. After over two and a half years on board, Bill and I are taking a well deserved holiday, leaving Tilly Mint in good hands with our long time friends and highly qualified crew Arwyn and Andrew. Our last week on board couldn't have been better, with all four crew, the owner and his wife racing Tilly Mint for Antigua Sailing Week. A great time was had by all, and many emotional goodbyes were said. The crew is now working on getting the boat ready for her sixth Atlantic crossing. Fair winds and following seas to Tilly Mint and her crew, we sure will miss you!    

Tilly Mint felt very small last weekend, as our charter itinerary took us to St Barths to watch the Bucket Regatta, which involves some of the biggest sailing yachts ever built. Here are some shots of the Saturday race. This is what the AIS looked like in Gustavia... Visione and Hetairos, last two boats to start Spinnakers are out on a short downwind leg The graceful Adela Schooner and ketches From that distance they almost look small...

When we picked up our charter guests in Virgin Gorda a few weeks ago, we were not entirely sure we would be able to meet all of their expectations for the trip. They were going to be on board for 10 days and had already sailed the BVIs extensively, and one of their requests was to discover new anchorages every night, if possible stunningly beautiful and deserted. It didn't sound easy, but it sounded like a challenge and we happily took it on. So we ventured in unknown (if not uncharted) territory, with crew on the bow looking out for coral heads as we carefully picked our way through reefs protecting perfect turquoise water, spending hours looking for new bays on the charts, and sailing up and down the channel trying to spot an empty cove. We spent 7 nights out of 10 in anchorages that were new to both the crew and the guests, and we all fell in love with one or two of those secluded bays. We won't reveal all of our secrets, but here are a few pictures taken during the charte...

We dropped off our guests in Marigot Bay and quickly turned the boat around for our next charter that started 48 hours later. The itinerary for that trip was more familiar to us, but we hadn't been down island last year so we were very happy to have a chance to sail the Grenadines again. The Pitons, St Lucia Our first night was spent anchored in between the spectacular Pitons, on the South end of St Lucia. The next day was a long sail past St Vincent to Bequia, our first stop in the Grenadines. As we approached Admiralty Bay, we noticed a small dinghy jumping on the waves towards us, with a man wearing a harness and a camera taking pictures of us. He came by the boat the next morning and our guests decided to purchase the photos. From Bequia we sailed on to Mustique, spent a few days in the postcard-perfect setting of the Tobago Cays, snorkeled the reef around the deserted Sandy Island, and finally dropped off our guests in St Georges, Grenada. A few hours ...

During our last charter Tilly Mint passed the 40,000 nm mark on her log. We have sailed over 25,000 of those with her, and we still love sailing her as much as we did when we first came on board. Many miles were added to the log during the past few weeks, as we went all the way from the Virgin Islands to Grenada, then back up to the Virgin Islands in about 6 weeks. After our holiday charters in the BVIs we took some time to rest in St Martin in January, then sailed to Antigua to pick up our next guests. That charter was a new itinerary for us, and it was great to stop in all the islands that we usually just sail past. Falmouth Harbour, Antigua. Tilly Mint is there, all the way to the right! Our first stop was Deshaies, on the North West corner of Guadeloupe, a lovely little fishing town in a protected bay. Our sistership More Magic pulled in just after us and anchored nearby. More Magic in Deshaies Before the squall After the squall We then sailed further South ...

A very happy New Year to everyone who made 2013 great for Tilly Mint and her crew, may 2014 be as full of new adventures! Tilly Mint is currently recovering from her holiday charters in the Virgin Islands, before sailing to Antigua for another trip with a new itinerary, from Antigua to St Lucia in one week. We are looking forward to discovering new islands with our guests and doing some serious sailing! Brand new headsails, all out on the crossing! Christmas in the North Sound, Virgin Gorda (find Tilly Mint in the picture!)