January 2018

Firstly I would like to wish all our readers, advertisers families and friends a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year for 2018.

As I write this in mid December, I am reminded of what a busy and hectic year we have had here at The Islander during 2017, and the memory which stands out to me was our lead 10 page article in October from James Rieley following the devastating Hurricane Irma. James has sent us an update this week, on progress thus far in the BVI’s which we include in this issue. Related to this was the outstanding fundraising event we were involved with a few weeks ago at Astilleros de Mallorca’s premises, where we managed to raise over 10,000 euro for the Caribbean relief fund. A huge vote of thanks to all those who helped on the day and to those of you who donated much needed funds.

It is heartening to hear that Sunsail and Moorings have reopened their bases in the BVI’s recently, albeit with less stock available for this years charter season. Antigua is reporting brisk business too, with another successful Charter Show having closed its doors last week.

Traditionally, the industry here slows down for a few weeks during the festivities, before kicking off again in mid-January. STP is still super busy with some big projects ; the yard resembling a tented village!

The Volvo Ocean Race has just started leg 3, a Southern Ocean sleigh ride from Cape Town to Melbourne where the leading boats are expected to arrive by Christmas Day; hopefully all safely. Some of the video footage at the start of this leg was spectacular, with the boats reaching speeds of over 30 knots in relatively flat water. I can’t wait to see them in the huge Southern Ocean seas they will undoubtedly encounter.

We are due to hold our contributor’s Christmas dinner this coming weekend in Palma, where we will also be celebrating 20 years of publishing The Islander. One of our principal contributors is Roger Horner to whom we are presenting a canvas of the classic yacht “ Islander” at this year’s dinner. Roger , as many of you know is a real stalwart of the industry, and CEO of e3 Systems who have recently won several industry awards. Roger has written his monthly technology articles for us in an amazing 241 of the 245 issues published so far over the past 20 years, and we owe him a huge debt of thanks for his enthusiasm and dedication. Thanks Roger !

Finally, it is with great sadness that we report the recent passing of Patrick Griffiths, a long time resident of Mallorca , ex Captain, Owner of Larkside Engineering and a stalwart of Club de Mar. He will be sorely missed.

Fair Winds