what an amazing trip!

I was happy to be home....for about a day.
It was great to have a long proper hot shower and not have to hold on to the walls because the boat was rocking, and be aware of how much water I was using. It was also very nice to use a proper toilet! But after I settled in back home, the holiday blues kicked in and I missed Barbados, the Stavros and all the crew so much. It was strange to be away from the 20 odd people who I had shared every experience on the trip with. I even missed my hammock style bed!
I will definitely be returning to Barbados as it is an absolutely stunning place. Everything is so laid back, Bridgetown was lovely and friendly and it is just beautiful. We even saw one place that sold flat fish and chips!
One of the girl's on my watch lived in Barbados and I promised her I would go and see her so I have to now!

the final day....

I went to bed in a relatively empty harbour and woke up the next morning to see about four giant cruise ships swamping our 'proper' ship.
A final harbour watch at 7am completed my work duties aboard the Stavros. We had the whole morning free to do whatever we wanted in Bridgetown, so my fellow sailors and I went into the cruise terminal to look around the shops and taste the local produce. The weather was beautiful, the sea was bright blue and there was not a cloud in the sky. As the morning went on I felt more and more upset about coming home. I even tried to change my flights to stay on for a few extra days in Barbados in a hotel somewhere!
Unfortunately it wasn't possible and at 2.30pm we all piled onto a bus and headed to the airport. We left at 5.30pm Barbados time and landed at 6.30am in London. The flight home was OK, but I didn't have a window seat, my TV was broken and the food was awful. I was given my own personal DVD player though with a much wider choice of films which was great, but as it was a night time flight I tried to get a bit of sleep ready for my long journey back to Cornwall.
We landed in a very cold London and I was still wearing my shorts and tshirt so it was a shock to the system.
One of the watch leaders from another watch, Paul, was also travelling to Cornwall so we paired up for the trip home. I got back to my home in Looe at about 2pm in the afternoon, having not had a proper sleep for about 32 hours.

Day ten and we reached our final destination...

Day ten was the last proper day of the voyage as we were at sea for most of the day. Morning tasks involved cleaning the heads and showers and being on watch from 8am until midday. I was on lookout as we came into the harbour at Barbados and helped steered the Stavros in. We arrived at about 2pm and waited to be cleared by customs and immigration which took about an hour. We then had to help clean the ship ready for the next volunteer crew to join the day after.
After dinner we were then free to do what we wanted, and we all headed into town for a well deserved drink.
The majority of us got a tad carried away drinking Mount Gay rum and Banks beer, and a few of us were late back to the ship which landed us in trouble with Captain Paul. But it was the last night and the reasonably sober ones amongst us were let off.
The atmosphere out around the pubs and bars was great, as we all celebrated the fantastic trip we had just completed. But I was also quite sad as it dawned on me that I was going home the following day and I really didn't want to leave!

Day nine....

Back at the beginning of the voyage we were told about an egg competition and the time had come to test our creations. The object of the activity was to throw an egg from the foremast and the winning watch was the one who got the egg furthest towards the stern of the ship without the egg breaking. We wrapped the egg in pipe insulation and made it into a bird, and won the competition! The egg was still in one piece so we had the great task of smashing it over our watch leader's head.
We left Cariacou at midday and headed towards Union Island and Cheltenham Bay. The beach was absolutely beautiful and completely deserted. We anchored in the bay and had a swim in the sea which was lovely. It wasn't until we were back on the ship that captain Paul told us there were sea snakes in the water! After half an hour we motored through the Tobago Cays which were stunning. There were dozens of tiny islands with white sandy beaches and palm trees dotted all over the place.
About an hour later once we had cleared the islands, we headed back to Barbados. We were warned it would be a lumpy journey back because we were going against the wind and current, and it definitely was. At one point the bowsprit was in the water as we went up and over the waves.
We were on watch from 8pm until midnight, although I was asleep for most of it dosed up on anti seasickness pills. By late evening the sea swells died down a bit and it was time for us to go to bed to get a decent sleep.

Day eight, official day worker..

Onboard the ship all the volunteer crew get the chance to work for one day in the galley and another as a day worker. On day eight it was my turn to be a day worker.
My day started at 6am for an hour's harbour watch. Then after breakfast, as part of my duty as day worker, I had to clean the heads and showers AGAIN.
After the morning jobs were done we had a few more hours leave in St George. The weather was rubbish at this point, very overcast with short sharp showers every few hours. It was a Sunday and we all went for a walk in the town but everything was closed, absolutely everything. Some people went up to a fort, others went to the beach but I decided to go back to the ship away from the beggers who were following us all.
We left Grenada at 1pm and headed for Cariacou, a gorgeous deserted island in the Grenadines, for a swim off the ship. The wind was strong today which made the sea a bit lumpy and it was too dangerous for us to swim as the current was too strong. The captain decided we would anchor in the bay for the night and find somewhere else to swim the next day.
We all got our heads down early to take advantage of a calm night's sleep ready for the long sail back to Barbados.

Day seven...

On day seven we were well on our way to Grenada passing St Lucia and other islands on our way. Our first job for the morning was cleaning the 'heads and showers'.... in other words the toilets and showers on the ship. It wasn't the most pleasant job to say the least but it had to be done.
On each trip the permenant crew arrange for all the volunteer crew to go out on a rib and take pictures of the Stavros sailing. By now the wind was picking up and it was very funny attempting to get on the boat without getting wet. I happened to sit on the wrong side of the rib and got soaked as we went over the big Atlantic swell that picked up. Getting back on the ship was equally as fun and I looked like a drowned rat by the time I got back on board. I didn't take many pictures in fear that my camera would get soaked but the wonders of Facebook meant I could copy everyone elses.
After we had dried off and had lunch, we all helped to bring the sails down and we motored into Grenada at about 5pm. We then had shore leave and explored the fishing port of St George. Grenada is known as the spice island, but I was very put off the island as I walked around the capital town. It was full of beggers following you everywhere, and my friend even got her camera stolen from a pub. The town was like a shanty town with lots of derelict buildings which were destroyed in a hurricaine and never repaired. St George is the main terminal for cruises but I assume the passengers get shipped out on buses straight away as the town has nothing to offer.
I came back early from my shore leave with a very negative opinion on the town and I finished my evening playing scrabble with my shipmates with a cuppa and some Gingernut biscuits. Talk about living it up in the Caribbean!

Day six...a relatively calm day at sea

Day six started for me on the horrible midnight until 4am watch. Our activities to pass the time included learning how to tie knots, making tea and star gazing, as well as talking to watch leader Tom and Irish Ian. Overall the watch went quite quickly and of course the stash of Starburst from Laura's suitcase aided the situation.

At 3.40am I was the most hated person in the red watch cabin as I had to wake them all up for the 4am - 8am watch. At 4am on the dot I jumped back into bed for a few hours sleep. 

I woke up to nothing but ocean in sight. We were sailing to Grenada which was expected to take 48 hours. It was very strange not seeing any land, but at the same time I quite enjoyed it. The wind was virtually none existent in the morning and it was all hands to the deck to hoist almost every sail. By lunchtime (when we were on watch) we were slowly picking up speed and then we were joined by a dozen dolphins who were playing in the bowsprit waves. Following them were a shoal of dolphin fish which were beautiful.

We were back on watch at 8pm until midnight giving us a reasonably good sleep.