Goodness Gracious me…..what a palava….. Being sick ain’t a good look!!

Trust me!!!But at long long last I am bouncing on back and have a good amount of catching up on this ole blog to do!!
My last healthy entry was just after our Callisto Caribbean season had come to an end back in May..

I must admit I never thought I would be as happy as I was when i arrived on US shores.. I did love the Caribbean..

LOVED IT…

but USA meant just a hop skip and a jump (and a 2.5 week sail!) to Europe which meant home which meant family and friends, which I love!!
I managed to surprise my Aunty, Uncle and cousins on their trip to New York…

I “bumped” into them in downtown Manhattan and hijacked their time there We had a freak storm which totally shut down NYC - Excellente! It meant my flight got cancelled and I got an extra day with them!!!
I also managed to hook up with an old friend, Riad, who partied out with me in Manhattan and then met up with me the next weekend down in Miami for an equally stupendous weekend in South Beach!!
And if that wasn't enough a group of us went to see The Killers perform in Fort Lauderdale -

what an excellent live band!!!

Then it was button down our hatches and sail back on over to Euro land… we left Florida Fort Lauderdale and stopped off in Bermuda for a few days (avoided a storm) then hot footed it over to The Azures and then through the boating equivalent of the M25 - Gibralter straights - and ended our epic journey in Marseille.
The crossing wasn’t as sunny or smooth as going over there but there were Dolphins and Whales galore - and few wavy moments

(which I secretly enjoyed!) and just good times - I really love crossings (passages!!), its not every day you get to be in the middle of one of the worlds greatest oceans!!!

Coming into the Mediterranean brought up a real sense of coming home. And home I was bound.. But first I headed over to Barcelona

for a weekend of fun - the train ride from Southern France across the Spanish border is a journey well worth the effort! After visiting some familiar faces

I popped on down to Granada where me and Dee,

my beautiful mother, spent a lovely few days saying Hi again after 6 months, we cruised round the Alhambra Palace
(one of the wonders of the world!) and lapped up all the beauty of the Andalucian Sierra Nevada mountains.

After the Spanish assualt on my senses I came home for a reunion with all the gang.. I visited all the babies who are little bigger

and all my mates who I miss just that little bit more..

This time the homecoming theme was much more family orientated than the normal “woooooooohhhh im back , now I’m gone, uh oh now I’m back again!!” stylie.. I loved it! There was a little Southern adventure where I hooked up with my Grandma in Eastbourne,

a Bournemouth night out with Riad

and some guys from the boat and even a little drive around Swanage. England in the sun really is a beautiful place to be..

So, after all that fun and frolics I found myself back on board the mighty ship Callisto and ready for a summer season of cruising the Med and working my little toush off… But alas, that was not meant to be! After welcoming our owners on board I promptly fell sick and didn’t recover or return to the boat until 1 week ago!

Its been a testing time, Hepatitis A is not something I would recommend, but there is nothing like a big ole shock to help you make a few life re-evaluations!!!

After spending the last 2 months practically bed bound, I am back on board gingerly getting back into the swing of things - and between you me and the Ether I’m loving having things to do, there is only SO much Richard and Judy daytime TV one can take!

So much so - and I promise this entry is nearly over - I took myself over to Cannes this weekend

to catch up on some shopping and more importantly to watch Achive perform with the Cannes Orchestra - a truly amazing musical experience and a great start to the road of recovery.

During sickness delirium I have toyed with the idea of leaving yachting and taking some time off, returning to Colombia and snuckling on down in my own little casita. But opportunity knocks and with a little step up on board and a season in the Maldives on the cards the sabbatical will just have to wait a while.. at least until my health (and my bank balance) is back up to fighting fit (bouncing around the world) capacity.. Another 6 months aboard the good ship Callisto awaits!!!!

Bring it on!

Silence from me over a long period of time is rare! Can only mean 1 thing - I am offically SICK GIRL!!! got lots to fill in from American antics, Atlantic madness and 3 weeks holiday amongst nearest and dearest. However I came down with a liver virus at the end of June just as i was about to start the new season of work, have been housebound at home ever since.. YUK

All a bit boring and down but the old Amelia will be bouncing her way back in a matter of weeks - I can just feel it!!!!!

Caribbean Dreamin' !!!

I am slack slack slack and have so much to report.. There have been 2 more charters (very successful) - an amazing meet up with a good friends mum and the long hankered for Colombian holiday - mix all that up with some serious exploring, diving, running amok on other boats and a bit of Beach Boys for fun-I kid you not - and that about explains my last 2 months!!

Anyhoos back to the past 2 months our last charter (The English guys) had a few moments of madness involving the now infamous Alpine Ski Club night which included all and sundry donning ski outfits (yes in the Caribbean night!!) a flaming Sambuca bar, our special guest the Jacuzzi and general raucousness. As well, of course, as some good service for the guests.. They were extremely happy, we were nearly sacked!!
After some serious grovelling - and some well earned telling off - we were given a few days off in St Lucia.

A good friends mum lives there - Carole -

so we hooked up and she showed me around. Fish BBQ Friday proved to be good fun and an amazing Sunday at a secluded beach

was just what the doctor ordered.

I even managed a few dives, very good for the soul!! Refreshed and resolving to be good dogs we returned to Antigua (I for one was sad to be leaving St Lucia but Antigua and all our mates there beckoned!). Some serious partying and some sun tanning and gentle working ensued…we adopted a bar there - The Gallery -

as our (all 17 of us) local! And for the first time in a long time I felt really comfy - almost a bit like home. Didier the owner - pictured above - adopted us all and lock ins and dance offs were his gift to us, and ours to him..

Moving around all the time you miss the local feeling - and in Antigua I got to know people, I got sort of comfy, it was just what the doctor ordered!
But sure enough we had to move on, we picked up another charter in Guadelope and after a week of hard but rewarding work (I got to work on the dinner service which was really interesting) we landed in St Thomas the US Virgin Islands. It was a frenzy as its tax free shopping there and we were all tip laden. I managed to get a few things I really needed and even more goodies I probably didn’t need.

I also managed to help christen a newly purchased boat - by witnessing its stern deck blow up!!!!! No Joke after meeting this rather happy new boat owner

my friend and I agree to help him by christening the sale with a glass of red! After a quick tour we were left to our own devices while said capitan turned on the generator for music and lights then BOOOOOOOMMMMM...............

Wish I could thank my safety training but my reaction (please note it was 1 am after a rather long night) was something along the lines of.."Wow! what was that noise??..Anyway where is the music???" Instead of "Evacuate!"

So after shopping, sunsets

and beach exploration (oh and boat cleaning, tidying and preparing!) we were at last told we could take some serious time off… I bit that gift horses head off and promptly booked a ticket to Colombia… Let me explain, here is my thinking on it:
Firstly, I am in the vicinity. Secondly, it has been nearly 7 years since I last visited there and since that stupendous discovery I have been boffing on to anyone who will listen that I want to move there. It felt only right to check the place out just in case I had over romanticised the memory. At times I have been known to exaggerate, just a little! And also, on a practical note, I needed to double check things hadn’t changed drastically. So yeah that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!!!! Colombia it was and my oh my what an amazing moment I had!!! 1 week was definitely not enough but it was just the little taster I needed .
I took myself off to Taganga

a sleepy fishing village on the northern Caribbean coast.

Great for diving and great for just kicking back. The plan was to train up to Rescue Diver level and get the feel for the place. However as always, the moment I got there things changed. I realised the only training I was going to do was improving my relaxation skills!! As is always the case I met some amazing people. I visited my old haunt of Santa Marta

(the nearest city / town), supped the famous Jugos,

popped into the Hotel Mirimar where I had stayed all that time ago and luckily I met some old faces! I also made a trip out to the glorious National Park Tayrona where I had a truly wonderful time sleeping in hammocks

and cruising beaches. From the moment I arrived I met a great friend in Lior

an Israeli traveller we quickly became 3 when Steve

an English legend joined our throes.

Then when Jolande a dutch beauty cashed in on the trip to Tayrona we had fashioned our own little gang. At Tayrona we were joined by John and John 2 Americans and the once 3 musketeers became a hilarious sextuplet! Good Times!!!

Just to add to the mix and in true Amelia stylie I met up with a guy who is good good mates with my cousin back in Malta who also just happens to be a dive instructor in Taganga!!!! Small world!!!!!
Bottom line is Colombia is still the mother land. From the moment I left Miami, Colombia bound, I knew it! The people are so friendly, so open, so welcoming! The music is everywhere and so lively, full of passion, really part of the way of life. And if all that wasn‘t enough the countryside is bloody beautiful. So I am still going to be boffing on to anyone who will listen that Colombia is the place where I will try make a go of it!! Focus. Focus. Focus!!! Watch this space…

On my reluctant return to St Thomas our marina had its official re-opening with The Beach Boys headlining!!!!! Desperate for live music of any sort I popped along

we did have a giggle but took way too many photos - so much so the lead singer took a picture of us! Back at ya!!!

So I am currently cruising the The Bahamas. We have the owners on board for a month and so far all is going well! The work is cool I’ve integrated into the team and the owners seems to gel with me (they are from London! Hearing them chat is definitely making me more homesick than usual) . Following that we head to the USA for 2 weeks then a hop skip and jump back over the pond to the Med. Should be over that way in about 6- 7 weeks if all goes to plan! I am hankering for some home time but only time will tell!

It did occur to me the other day how lucky I am with this job - on my break I was sunbathing out on the bow as we were sailing to another anchorage in The Bahamas, it was a wonderful moment. I don’t always appreciate where I am or what I have. This environment is a strange one and can take its toll on your mental health - working and living in a confined space with the same 17 people for 5 month is intense- it’s like the real real big brother! I remember going to work in central London and passing all those houses on the train, all those lives and social networks thousands if not millions of people daily - having interactions with so many people on the street, in the shops, at work, at home, on email, on the phone. Contrasting that to here where we have us, 17 of us, sometime guests but rarely… yes we do dock at times in marinas but again a lot of our days are at sea.. It’s like my interactions, my involvement in the world, has been shrunk.. Like my world has been shrink wrapped!!.. It can be very intense - you have to try and keep your head focussed - your perspective clear! That’s why those moments of realisation - of how lucky I am - are so important….

I think that was !!!!!!

And yeah that’s me in a nutshell..
Hope all is well with you, my public,

I’ll be back in touch soon Until then….. xx