This was our first visit to SVG and our first flotilla. Aboard DELPHINE, a Sunsail Jenneau 36i were my wife, myself and our 13-year old son. Neither of our two older children could go on this trip, so it was the smallest crew we've gone with so far. This, together with the perceived challenges of harder sailing and security of this cruising ground prompted us to give flotilla sailing a try. Having read the stories of attacked cruisers and aggressive boat boys, and with Sandy forming in the Caribbean, this decision increased our peace of mind leading up to the trip, though in hindsight it appears we needn't have worried and the trip turned out wonderfully.

We left Seatac airport the evening of the 26th for our overnight flight to Miami on American Airlines. I was concerned about the possible effect of Sandy on MIA operation, but apart from canceled flights to Jamaica and the Bahamas everything seemed to be running normally. Our flight from Miami to Barbados was delayed due to mechanical issues, but fortunately we still got to Barbados in time to catch the SVG Airlines flight to St. Vincent. Flying SVG Air instead of LIAT ( based partly on feedback on this forum ) turned out to be a good decision. Other flotilla participants flying LIAT arrived only after many hours of delay. The terminal in Barbados was somewhat chaotic, but eventually the SVG Air agent led us to the plane. After landings at Canouan, Union and one other place I can't remember, we landed at St. Vincent, where we were met by Harold, a taxi driver sent by the Sunsail base. At this point, it was already dark and raining heavily. We had planned to provision on the way to the base, but seeing how the supermarket was jam-packed with people sheltering from the rain we decided that my wife would go provision on her own during the chart briefing the next morning. We did stop at a cash machine to pick up some local currency. Traffic jams turned what should have been a short drive into a longer one and after a 24-hour trip we were eager to arrive.

At the Sunsail base, we were greeted by Simon Carey, who is the base manager and manager for Sunsail and Moorings in the region. He was extremely friendly and welcoming, as were all the staff. Blue Lagoon is, of course, a much smaller base than Tortola and the difference in personal attention was very noticeable.
The boat was ready, we put our bags aboard and went to the bar of the "Black Pearl" restaurant overlooking the base, where Simon treated us to a drink.
At the bar, we met some of the other flotilla participants, a group from Oklahoma, Oregon and San Diego who would eventually form the 8-person crew of a Sunsail 444 - one of four boats that would make up the flotilla. The others were a Sunsail 39i, our 36i, and a Beneteau 44 lead boat.
After stowing our things, we settled down to our first night on the boat.

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