Capella Marigot Bay

After making good progress in recent days, having caught up on the delay due to Matthew, we were unable to leave this morning due to an unexpected storm. Just a little one, but enough to create 21 knot gusts and 2m high waves that would be hitting us side-on as we attempt to cross to Martinique. While we struggle with our little delay our thoughts go out to everyone who has been so severely impacted by Hurricane Matthew since it developed after nudging us nine days ago.

We have though, been somewhat well looked over the past two nights. Our eternal thanks go out to everyone at the Capella Marigot Bay Resort and Marina. After a difficult day (another supposed rest day that turned incredibly tough) where we capsized early on - see George's account below - and spent the next 15 miles battling against wind and current, it was a huge relief to kayak into the sheltered Marigot Bay and paddle straight into the Resort's marina where we berthed the kayak and where overwhelmed by the frozen flannel and arrival cocktail presented to us. 

Arrival cocktail and burger after a testing first ten days

Marigot is one of the most beautiful bays in the Caribbean. The high hills surrounding the water make it incredibly sheltered; many ships use it as a hurricane shelter, and it has been known to be a getaway hideout for escaping pirates, who would sail into the bay and hide their ship behind the palm-studded sand spit of the bay. With sails dropped, the ship would become virtually inconspicuous. More info here.

We felt like we were escaping from the seas too after the morning escapade......

The Capella Marigot Bay Resort is incredible. Everything is presented with stylish precision and the customer service is 100%. They have everything and anything that is not to hand your personal assistant will sort for you. It seemed like within moments the whole staff team knew our names all have taken a huge interest in our expedition. We are staying in one of the fantastic Resort View Rooms (with a hot tub), which has all the bells and whistles including big TV and dvd player, expresso machine, complimentary minibar restocked daily, aircon (most important), and great free high speed wifi. Check out the different accommodation options here.

Our kayak steals the show at Capella Marigot Bay Marina

Happy birthday George

We would thouroughly recommend the all inclusive package - what more could you want!? The resort has four different restaurants and bars to eat at, including a swim up bar next to the pool, and the options of private and in-room dining. The food is fantastic and waiting staff, again, generous in their service They even presented George with a belated birthday cake at dinner!

Chef Shawn blocking the view of the breakfast buffet

Perhaps the greatest attraction is that there is so much to do in the local area. Unfortunately we have not had the time to try the spa and fitness centre, the rum tasting, sport fishing, sailjng, diving, tours or any of the other fantastic activities and attractions on offer. Luckily we have our own adventurous activity to contend with.

Staying at Marigot Bay has given us the opportunity to get our kayak repaired after a crack formed in the foredeck, right above the forward 'watertight' hatch that keeps it afloat. Imbert, local handyman, has done a fantastic job for us not only patching up the crack but also reinforcing the foredeck so hopefully it will not happen again! If you are ever local and in need of a job doing the Marina Office will put you in touch.

Imbert working on our kayak

So there we are. One day behind but the weather is looking like we might be able to set off first thjng in the morning. We've still got a very long way to go and more challenges and discomfort lie ahead. Have a look at this map... after 10 days of hard paddling it looks as if we haven't even started...

"Extraordinary Sea Journey"

So for lack of a better story the Grenadian news company GBN have run a two minute feature on our trip that went out across the Caribbean a couple of nights ago. "An extraordinary sea journey" was how they described it! It was strange having a camera in your face at 0630 in the morning while still out of breath from carrying a 45kg kayak down the steepest hill in Grenada. There were definitely points for both of us where we ran out of words, or even knew what we wanted to say but our mouths decided no, we will not function today. Well that is our excuse for the tongue-twisted performance - enjoy...

After our fantastc stay with Annie and Phillip at Petite Anse we left mainland Grenada and it's friendly faces behind and pressed on for Carriacou. On this crossing we got our first taste of big(ish) waves (although we don't think the gopro footage does it justice) and we got to feel our kayak, a Seaward Passat, in rough water for the first time...

Particularly amazing over the past few days have been our Celtic Pro Sea and Touring 650 Paddles. They are super lightweight, efficient and powerful... we will post a few videos of our kit, equipment etc. over the next few weeks but for the moment you can see some of the awesome stuff we need to get us to Miami here. Most importantly our hands are doing ok.. only a couple of small blisters so far.

Tropical Storm Matthew over the Windward Islands

Meanwhile Tropical Storm Matthew is making it's way past just North of us and it looks like we will have to sit out for another day tomorrow. No danger to us though as we have the kayak safely secured in the Carriacou Yacht Club's boat shed and we are being very kindly hosted by Allison in her storm proof concrete house. Althouh just a few miles north in St Lucia they are experiencing 80kmph winds and 5.5m high swells! Allison in fact runs tours on the island and the surrounding area. She is currently fundraising to expand her project and is looking for support here.

TS Matthew and it's predicted course

Finally a massive thank you to everyone who has shown there support and become founding sponsors of the Get Exploring Trust by sponsoring us on this expedition.

Hard Landings

So after months and months of preparation we are finally out here in Grenada!

After both arriving on Thursday and negotiating the delights of airport customs - for some reason George created a bit of a stir with the customs officers when he turned up with his 7 bags of equipment - we have since been unbelievably busy getting ready for the off.

Friday morning was spent collecting the kayak from Grenada's commercial port. This involved being bounced from enquiries, to security, to customs, to brokers, to more customs, back to security, and finally to the port storage warehouse. Here, after many stomach churning blank responses from the managers as we asked for what we could only assume would be a fvcking great big box, we finally found our vessel tucked nice and inconspicuously out the back.

A bemused truck driver helped us deliver it back to our poor host's house, aptly named Hard Landings after his career in the RAF. Since then it has been hard at work sorting, prepping and packing our kit and testing our equipment. Check out some of the kit we are using here:

http://www.getexploringtrust.com/kit-list/

This morning we spent time customizing the kayak and adding our sponsors details to make it look like a proper expedition boat. Check out some of our sponsors on the website here:

http://www.getexploringtrust.com/sponsors/

And this afternoon, finally, we got out on the water for a paddle. The Caribbean is average. But we think the kayak looks cool... 

The plan is to set off in a few days time. We have more preparation to do in the meantime and have been told Grenada's national news want to interview us tomorrow!?.. Monday is the proposed date of departure, although this may slip to Tuesday. Our only concern at the moment is the depression developing over the Atlantic heading our way - these things often turn into tropical storms, in which case we will have to batten down the hatches for a few days and wait it out.. 

More to follow! Check out our new Instagram account: goldenarcexpedition

Incentives!

Well we've been a bit slack recently at keeping you all up to date with our progress, probably because George buggered off to Mexico and Will to Germany... but we are getting back on top of our social media now. 

We have, though, reached the nice £1000 mark on our Virgin Giving page (thank you Chris Mak for that!). We really appreciate the support from all you generous folk who have sponsored us and shared the page.

And thank you Vicki for the added incentive! 

If you would like to, you can sponsor us here. Please pass onto friends and family who may like to sponsor us.

We have also had some brilliant corporate sponsorship... we are really excited to be working with a whole host of companies and kit suppliers who have supported us with some really fantastic items from charts from here and here to dry bags to expedition hammocks. We will be having a look at it all in due course..