Barbados

Minutes after we dropped the hook in Carlisle Bay, Barbados. 

We sailed into the anchorage at Carlisle Bay around 2:45 pm on December 26th, dousing Big Red just before dropping the hook. After cleaning up, we took a crew photo, jumped in for a swim, and then called it a day. We crashed hard, as we were finally at anchor after 16 days at sea.
The following morning, Stef and Matt set off for customs to check in to the country and remove Matt from our crew list. He would be flying home later on that afternoon.

Stef's notes about checking in to Barbados:
No need to call on the port authority on the VHF. Just anchor and dinghy in. We noticed that all the boats who hailed on the VHF had to circle outside until the cruise ships departed, which can be hours or even all day long. Some friends who arrived ahead of us filled us in on the details, and so we were thankful to have avoided that issue.

You can tie up the dinghy in the small canal, just past the large green bridge (go underneath it) on the right side. Beware of some broken lights strung along the wall. It is advisable to lock your fuel tank to your dinghy and then the dinghy to the wall (there are cleats to lock up to). Rubbish bins are nearby. There are local fruit and veggie markets, bank to pull out some Barbadian currency, a mall, and supermarkets near here, as well.

The walk to the port is about 20 minutes from the dinghy parking lot. Walk along the Princess Alice highway (side walk goes along through a little park) until you see the large Bridgetown Port sign. The security guard is in the little building on the right, sort of near where the cars drive through. You'll need your boat docs, passports, and crew list. The guard will check these over and then provide you with a wristband with permission to visit customs.

After getting our wrist bands from the security guard, we proceeded on to the large A-frame tourist mall. On the far western side, we entered the building and climbed the stairs to the health office. You have to go in order of health, customs, immigration (although if there is a long line, they will sometimes give you permission to go out of order, just to keep people moving). Be sure to go either early in the morning or wait until after 2pm. The cruise ships and mega yachts get priority and you'll be told to come back later if these guys are checking in ahead of you. 
We filled out one form and handed over a copy of our crew list (if you don't have copies of your crew list, you will have to complete a separate form). From there, the health official gave us a slip of paper and we chatted a bit about her island and things to see. We next walked across the hall to the customs office, where we encountered a very busy and overworked official. She reluctantly handed over two forms for me to complete, twice, so after completing these four pages, we returned to her office to find her gone. A cruise ship had come in and so we'd have to wait an hour or so before we could continue on. In fact, all of the officials from health, customs, and immigration left to go to the cruise ship, so Matt and I walked around the little mall for an hour.

We eventually returned to customs and got processed. There, after the official apologized for being so busy and making us wait, asked a few questions about any pets on board (we were not checking Sunny into the country due to the complications here), length of stay, and next port of call. She gave us the go-ahead to visit immigration, clearance papers in hand.
Immigration involved filling out a form for each crew member, getting passports stamped, and removing Matt from the crew list (crew disembarking will need to show flight details). She was very kind and a cheerful lady. Procedure done, we walked back to the boat and had lunch prepared for us by the kids.
Upon clearing out: You will need $50US or 100 BD which is paid to the customs fee building clerk (behind the customs area, left of where the cruise ships dock. You'll see a yellow 2-story building marked STAFF ONLY. Go inside and up the curved staircase to the office at the back marked SUPERVISOR). Once you pay the fee and fill out a one page form, you'll walk away with a receipt and instructions to visit customs. After filling out two more forms in duplicate for the customs official (the same you completed upon checking in), you'll need to visit Immigration to complete the clearing out process. 
Bringing pets to Barbados: online it says you must complete their pet import application, pay a $25 application fee, a $60 vet fee, and also obtain a customs clearance agent (which would involve paying another fee). So, we didn't clear Sunny in here. We heard of two other boats who brought their dogs and customs didn't care, no fees paid, no vet inspection, etc. So, it may not be as complicated here as it appears online. Either that, or those boats just got an easy customs clerk.

Jared texted me while we were on our way back that Zach would need to see the dentist asap, as he broke off part of his front tooth! Yikes! Apparently, he had slid headfirst into the dinghy and broke his tooth on the anchor locker (we have told our kids over and over not to do this, as the dinghy  bounces with the swell caused by all the jet skis zooming around). I guess he was escaping one that zoomed too close to our boat, bumped his mouth while sliding in and learned a hard lesson.

As it was the holidays, everything was closed except for an aesthetic dental specialist that was by all miracles, was open! They had a spot available for the following day. Thank goodness!

We said our goodbyes to Matt and Jared dropped him off to catch a taxi to the airport. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, cleaning up the boat, snorkeling with friends, and just relaxing.


We had quite the introduction to the party boats we had heard about. These boats wander throughout the anchorage blasting music from about 7pm until 7am, no joke! It is really loud and forget sleeping. We had heard a little of it the night before, but we had crashed pretty hard after the crossing. We all agreed we would move as soon as possible, if it kept up.

Boat kids at play!

Up early, we wandered into town to get the boys' haircuts, source some provisions, and get to Zach's appointment. We showed up around noon, (our appointment was at 3pm) just in case they had a cancellation and we could go in earlier. We were in luck! While I filled out the paperwork, Jared took Matt and Cadence to a nearby cafe and then Zach was brought back to start the work on repairing his tooth. Dr. Car---- was amazing and so kind to Zach. After learning Zach was a swimmer, he told his story about being an Olympic swim coach! We had a great chat and 2.5 hours later, Zach's tooth was repaired and we were on our way. The office asked to take a photo of us, to use for their instagram account (they loved our sailing adventure story) and with 'farewells' and 'visit our shores soon', we set off to meet friends on the beach.

Landing the dinghy on this beach was a laugh. We thought the swell had passed and made a run for it, only to be surprised by a sneaky wave which filled the dinghy with water. After pulling Hermes up higher on the sand, we pulled the plug and drained out all the water. We then helped our other friends pull up their dinghies and bail out the water (they had the same surprise waves). We all enjoyed drinks from the Pirate's Beach Bar and soaked up the sunshine while soaking in the lovely water. Now this is the way to relax! The kids happily playing nearby, finding all sorts of things like lost sunglasses and discarded beach toys.

Roundabout hosted about 30 people for a huge Atlantic crossing party to celebrate our big accomplishment. We also welcomed in our friends on No Plans Just Options, as they completed their crossing around 6pm that evening.

Dinghy parking lot behind Roundabout!

We spent a few more days here, spending our time snorkeling and playing with friends. Everyone gathered on the beach for  crazy, fun and wild New Year's Eve party . Fireworks completed the night at midnight and boom, just like that we entered 2019.

New Year's Even party and all the boat kids celebrating crossing the Atlantic!

After a last morning snorkel and swimming with friends, we said 'see you later' to all our friends (we also delivered the Atlantic Crossing flags the kids made for our group who crossed with us), and set sail for Martinique.