Hello everyone!

Life in the Caribbean is good and we would like to share with you what we have been up to in the last 6 months. We came back to Antigua in November after some time in Venezuela and we have had work from that first week. The money has rapidly flowed in which means we can stay sailing longer and see more places than we planned from home. The plan has changed since we left but that´s why we have them!


A life during the sun.

Kris has worked at Chippy and there’s been a lot of jobs on the megayachts with anything from frames to flatscreens to perspex dividers for the china. He has enjoyed himself and has collected a lot of new contacts. Gunilla has, apart from dayworking also worked in a marine chandlery and as a stewardess on an 88-ft sailing yacht. During the last job she went to the BVI´s for one charter and sailed from Antigua to St Maarten stopping at the islands in between for the next one. She has seen a little of much, there isn´t too much spare time during a charter but she remembers the anchorages. It´s been fun and well paid.


Vicki with a genuin roti.

We had a visitor, Vicki, in January and that was fun! She brought a piece of Sweden and things from our ”wish-list” so it felt like Christmas again. Vicki is the first one who´s come and stayed onboard Elvina and even though the boat is small it all went well. She also brought the DVD about Elvina that has been aired on Swedish television and we saw it together with friends on Dione Star, a 120-ft yacht. The TV-team had put up one condition and that was that we had to watch it on a big screen and not a computer, we had lots of fun watching it!


We are watching the film about Elvina together with Gary and Leslie.


Gunilla reads news from home.

There is a club named the Wobbly Club in Falmouth Harbour, a group of friends who gather around a wobbly table and drink rum together. Each year they have a competion named the Wobbly Race which means you build your own boat out of plywood and then you race it. Chippy had two teams and Kris got to paddle in one of them. The boat didn’t hold his weight very well but he won as the first swimmer. The other Chippy boat got a sail and won the sailing class. There are lots of people and it was good fun to see all the different creations. Not very seaworthy but alot of flair!


The building of the chippy boat d'Nada.


No, it couldn't take Krilla for long.

Another fun event has been the new Woodstock boat Nada. She is made after old drawings and is a 6-metre. There has been a launching party and a name giving party, for the latter the prime minister of Antigua showed up. Nada has gotten a lot of attention and won the single hand race in Classic Week. She has now been sold but Woodstock will be glad to make another one should someone be interested...


Woodstocks nya 6-metre Nada sjösätts.
Press here for a larger view of this beauty.

Since we have been working we have bought things we wouldn´t have otherwise. During Gunillas visit in St Maarten a new camera was bought since the old one started acting strange. Kris flew to St Maarten for a day a month later and bought an iPod so we now have more toys onboard. We are still reading the manuals.The iPod is great though and we say it´s a way for Elvina to loose some weight as we can send our CD-s back home now.

Classic Week was held a few weeks ago and there was another atmosphere in the harbour then. Wood, varnish and happy boat owners have been replaced by rivalry and testosterone now when Antigua Race Week is held. There has been fewer boats in Antigua this season and it is fun when it is bustling again. Spring is here which means warmer weather and less wind. We have 34 degrees C/90 degrees F during daytime now.

A bonus when working on the megayachts is that they throw and give away a lot of things they won´t use anymore. We have been given lines, t-shirts, shorts and food so we have had a good time on Elvina. Last week we have gotten a lot of vegetables, onions, cauliflower and pumpkins we have made soup of. Cheese and wine for the evenings. Crumbs from the rich mans table is gold for us!

We have started to plan our next move and we hope to set sail towards the USA this summer. We have worked our last days here for this season and we have a list of things to do on Elvina before we can leave. We have many friends to say goodbye to but we hope to see them again somewhere sometime. Until then - take care!

Gunilla and Kris on Elvina


It's okay with a beach party, but get the policemen a beer.