RELAX
If you’ve never been in the Caribbean this time of year, the climate change once you step out of the airplane is quite impressive. The rainy season is about to start and with the humidity close to 100%, the 28°C. takes some getting used to. But you don’t have to walk for long until a sign with the inscription ‘Relax – You’re in Barbados!’ calms you straight down after that thermal shock. Apparently the dudes unloading the plane live and work by the same slogan, a bit over two hours later we left the building. Brian was waiting outside the terminal with Sunshine, Rainbow, Ocean and Lion – 4 of his kids and two cars, ready to go.
For the first two days the wind and waves forecast was pretty good, followed by lighter days during the middle of the week. The coffee was dripping through the machine at 6am next morning, at 7 we were already on the way to Surfers Point making our way through those little roads around the area. Wind is anything between 5.0 and 6.2 in Barbados. Days on 4.5 or 4.7 are rare – at least in June. Max and I are both pretty light, so we only packed 5.0 and 5.2 as our biggest and even that was just not enough on day one. That left us having to watch Hannah pump her kite. Life could be worse, but the next day got better for us. The wind picked up and it was our turn. Three hours of sailing at Surfers Point was enough to leave some signs of hard work on our hands and fingers. The warm water makes the skin more sensitive to the pumping of the sail. That’s the only downside of these temperatures; otherwise sailing in such a warm environment is pretty hard to beat. All you need to wear is your harness and some sunscreen or a Lycra top against the sun.