The adventures of 'Skipper the bear'

For those of you awaiting the next installment of the 'Bear essentials to cruising' I can honestly say that 'Skipper' has been very well behaved. He spends most of his time in shorts at the chart table, closely following our progress as we travelled south from the beaches of Southern Europe, to the Canary Islands, the Cape Verdes and now to the Caribbean.

We were a little concerned that so long at sea without a run ashore would lead him to go wild and 'let his hair down'.

Our fears were somewhat justified as he was frequenting many Friday night 'Jump-ups', consuming large quantities of rum and returned from one excursion with a set of dreadlocks! We were concerned he had become a 'Rastabearian'!

On the French Islands he is more soberly behaved but seems to relish our visits to the former British Islands with some enthusiasm.

He has resumed his position at the chart table complete with 'Dreds' and after our visit to Dominica even has a parrot on his shoulder. He has been warned that this type of behaviour will have to be curtailed if we land on one of the USVI's or a Dutch Island. I believe the response was "No problem mon"! Humm....

We are keeping a tight control on his rum ration and as he doesn't smoke we feel he can get into little trouble when left alone. His behaviour will be watched closely.