Sailing with my sister

Mandy arrived from the States on Tuesday 9th. We met here at the airport in an absolute deluge of rain. Luckily (plus $10EC) the bus driver dropped off his other passengers and took us down the airport road that was definitely not a 5 minute walk as we had been told. She’d flown in various small planes via Trinidad arriving in the local airport in St Lucia. We taxied back to the marina in a little less rain. The forecast for the week was for constant rain but as it turned out there was a lovely mixture of days and none too hot.

 After one night in the Rodney Bay Marina we set off for Martinique. We managed a false start as the main halyard got around the spreaders in high wind putting the sails up so a quick return to sheltered waters was required to sort that out. A very brisk sail to St Anne was capped by a 32 knot squall just as we arrived and we all got soaked! It was a struggle getting the salis in. Mandy wasn’t freaked out or sea sick – a great start.

 Sainte Anne was closed for half the morning as it was Remembrance Day. We watched the local parade with the boy scouts etc.  The little church was packed. Really colourful with the French National Anthem and flags. Mandy found the local famous chocolate and bought some to take home. Bought baguettes.

The next few days we sailed round Diamond Rock to Anse D’Arlet and snorkelled right off the back of the boat a few times. Went ashore for baguettes. We did much the same at Anse Defour just around the corner. We are embracing the local fruit and vegetables including soursop and custard apples. The next stop was Anse Noir for a half day then onto Anse Mitan where we managed to get internet again and had lunch ashore. Our final stop was Fort de France. We sailed s few zig zags around the bay while we made some water. Really good sailing with lots of fast tacks that we don’t usually get to do going from one place to the other. Once there Mandy and I spent some time exploring around, going to the Library designed by Gustav Eiffel (of Tower fame) and met up with Pete who had been on anchor watch for a few hours. Had a last night meal at Hasta La Pizza and waited to see the biggest, closest moon for some time but unfortunately it was a bit cloudy.

Mandy left the next day after a wonderful relaxing week for all of us.  We went in the taxi to the airport with her to say a sad goodbye, eat some more baguettes and buy more chocolate.  She’s going to make plans to come back at Easter if she can.

Back in the water.....

Finally back in the water last Friday! By the time the travel lift had run late and the riggers had messed up the mainsail it was too late to go anywhere so we stayed on their dock – and get this – Grenada Marine, the world’s worst money grabbers, charged us for the night! ($27EC) And even sent someone over on Saturday morning to read the power when no one here ever ever works Saturdays. This is after us paying for days and days on the hard with no workers showing up and spending huge sums of money with them over 2 hauls. Extremely bad PR and poor management. They even tried to charge us for the full month of October. We have been invited to help with the finish line for 350 ARC boats arriving in early December and will make sure not to recommend Grenada Marine. Most of the jobs we authorised were not done despite having 10 ½ weeks to do them in

We used the time to do many, many outstanding jobs but it was so hot during the day we only had from 6 to 9 am then 4 to 6 pm. Renting a car one day was an experience. You need a Grenadian licence – which you buy at the police station! No test or anything. Locally so long as you have your seat belt done up nothing else really matters, drinking, illegal parking, overtaking on blind corners, going crazy fast on the wrong side of the road….. We however drove nice and soberly and very carefully to the shops and to have dinner with friends at Secret Harbour staying the night on Ali and Steve's boat.

But at least we are now back cruising and are in Mt Hartmans, Secret Harbour. Very nice fresh fruit and veg market this morning, buses to the shops etc. We caught up with our friends and had drinks at Roger’s on Hogg Island – very much the casual beach bar! We plan to make our way to St Lucia via a few island stops to pick up my sister Mandy who flies in from the States on election eve to sail with us for a week.

New Tracker Link

Here is the updated link to the tracker

Still out of the water!

Oh, God – we’re still on the hard! None of the jobs that the marina people were supposed to organise had taken place, just the work by the independent contractors. So some ae happening now and we’ve cancelled others. It’s very hot during the day and plenty of mozzies. We have made a seating drinks ara under the boat which is a nice breeze way between the hulls so we camp out there in between jobs. The nights are not so bad so we’ve been sleeping OK. There is a creature here that makes a noise like one of our alarms going off (bilge pump, battery power etc) which has us jumping around looking for blinking lights – a night time thing of course. Pete and I have been getting lots of silly little jobs done that we’ve been putting off for ages so that’s a silver lining I suppose. We hope to be back in the water by Friday, hmmmm. We are having a small dispute about the last anti foul that was done here. Only lasted 3 months before becoming quite barnacled. It was the same product that got us from Australia to here with next to none over 12 months. We have caught up with Steve and Ali – they cycled over from St Georges to see us last week. An impressive feat given the roads and other drivers!

Last of Australia and back to Grenada

Melbourne was definitely cold! It was fantastic catching up with my brother and his family and having a crew reunion with Oscar. He has grown a lot taller but otherwise is the same super crew member and nephew from the trip Darwin to Cape Town. We were there for his 16th birthday which was great as his 15th had been on the boat with us in the Indian Ocean! We mostly just hung around the house interspersed with trips to markets via pubs and meals out – and it was just what we wanted. My niece, lovely Ella, had just arrived from Europe to take up life in Melbourne so luckily we got to see the whole family – not so usual with my lot.  Mark is busy back and forth between Melbourne and Luxembourg where he has a new beer brewing company and Annabelle is working on her photography, specialising in classic cars and their owners.

After Melbourne was three days in Brisbane to get organised to leave. Dinner with the Dockside larrikins: Cath and Mike from Black Magic and the marina managers Bob and Shona. Lucky we saw Gordon and Lyn last time as they couldn’t make it this time. My old family friends Veronica and Jock invited us for dinner the last night so we were able to pack everything up and not worry about leftovers.

The flights back to LA and Miami went well. Our two days in Miami turned in to 5 thanks to Hurricane Matthew! This hurricane had been threatening The Windward Islands while we were in Australia and we had been a bit concerned for the boat. But it only formed up in the Caribbean Sea then headed towards Miami the day after we arrived! All the hotels were heavily booked with stranded travellers and rescue type people and we ended up moving 5 hotels in 6 nights! A bit exhausting after a bout of jet lag. ANYWAY we arrived here safely and are now getting the boat ready to go back in the water.

Australia - continued

We’ve been back ages now. Sorted out lots of jobs and caught up with just about everyone. We spent a week in Moore Park Beach where I used to have my businesses and had a great time seeingfriends and old work mates – catching up on all the small town gossip! One week we spent at the house on Morton Island that we had renovated a few years ago just before we left sailing. It is looking fantastic and the agents have the lawns looking magic -  used to be just a sandy mess. Gina and Rod who did the reno came over as did Pete’s old air force mate Terry and his wife Liz. The weather everywhere has been nearly always clear and sunny – (but we did manage to find a few cool nights for the fire pit). Melbourne next week for 7 days will sort us out on that- cold and raining. We are staying with my brother and seeing Oscar who sailed with us from Darwin to Cape Town.

Back in Australia

Here we are back in Australia and it’s HOT. A heat wave from the minute we arrived back – 28C each day. I had only packed a few light weight clothes for when we get stuck in Miami on the way back so have had to pick up a few T shirts, annoyingly, as I have so many on the boat! We’re staying at the apartment in Kangaroo Point in the city. It’s odd being up here looking down to where we had the boat when we lived on it getting ready for the trip. My son Rupert is with us for a bit just before he heads off to live in Sydney. We’re getting lots of our planned bits and pieces done in amongst catching up with people. The worst is yet to come when we look in our storage shed later today!

Grenada to Australia

St David’s Bay to Australia

We motor sailed to the southern end of Grenada (St David’s Bay) and took up a buoy in order to prepare the boat for the haul out. We had a great last week in Carriacou meeting lots of other cruisers and playing Mexican Train dominoes, and I even joined in a noodle water aerobics exercise class that one of the other boats organised. Quite surprisingly challenging! Spenta bit of a lost afternoon after lunch with Marie and the guys from Platina waiting for the rain to stop in La Playa restaurant. We’ve been trying to get more exercise now that we’re not sailing so much – walking and kayaking. We saw the ruins of a 17th century hospital right next door up a hill to where a local guy was building a terrific house out of old timber and local stone with sea viewing platforms and an ingenious water catchment system. He invited us to visit next time we are there as his wife spent many years in Australia.

We had an email from the ARC people asking us if we’d like to help with the finish of a huge joint ARC (300 boats) arriving from Europe at the end of November early December. They need people to man the finish line and welcome the boats on 24 hour rosters. So we’ll travel back down from Martinique for that – it should be fun.

A few last minute little problems to deal with – a fish n our generator filter!

We are now in St David’s Bay. The boat is out of the water and we have everything packed away ready to leave tomorrow. Lots of last minute drinks with people we have met along the way and will catch up with upon our return. Looking forward to our time back home and seeing lots of people and family….

Heading south - 18th June to 2 July

We’re heading south now for Grenada ready to get hauled mid July.  It is now very much off season here and the islands are quiet with mostly only places the locals use open. We stayed at Clifton Beach for 5 days. There is an island in the bay called Happy Island made entirely out of conch shells. It seems that there was a guy who had a café at the next beach round and had two problems: one was not enough customers and the other was where to get rid of his empty conch shells from the lambi meals (the snail inside the shell). He began putting them on a bit of sand that came out at low tide at Clifton and eventually had enough ground to build a café, and with the addition of some concrete, a whole construction with it’s own water collection and wind and solar generation. We first went there for a drink but Misha (the original guy’s nephew) did not have change for a $EC100 so we had to return the next day to use up the balance! Lots of rum punches and G and Ts. We had asked to come for dinner so Misha made us a really nice mahi mahi meal with local extras. A really cute and interesting place. In the season it really gets going but was lovely and quiet, with us the only people there the first day. The next day a couple of time share boats called in. We imagined trying to do something like that in Australia!!!!!!

We had a great 3 hours sail to Cariacou Island and are now in Tyrell Bay where we found Gary and Marie from Mai Tai. We went to drinks and dinner at Lambi Queen with two other people from yachts but got driven back to our boats when they started up some steel drums. The other boats both English gave us a hard time about the rugby but we said “Well at least were still speaking to Europe!”

The weather has become rainy and unreliable – typical for this time of year. We caught a gap in the rain to go and explore some mangroves where boats can go in an emergency as a hurricane hole but otherwise is a protected area. Would make a top marina!

We hosted drinks on board for Mai Tai, Apollo and Manx Goose (from the Lambi Queen night). It was a big night but lots of fun. We’re all heading south in the next few days. Dave and Anna from Apollo are being hauled the same day as us.

Last night was Canada's national day and there were drinks and hot dogs on shore. The Canadians weren't much in evidence the next day. Carriacou Island has a Fisherman's birthday day where the fishing history of the Island is recognised by free drinks and food all day and night. We went to the one around at Paradise Beach then found out that there was one at Tyrell Bay too.  The internet on the boat has been pretty patchy so we've been going ashore to get news of the Australian elections.  Sounds like a shambles!

St Lucia to Union Island 8 to 18 June

June 8 to 18

 St Lucia to Union Is

We left Rodney Bay with  our new generator all serviced and happy. Stayed overnight at the Pitons art thesouthern end of St Lucia and took off early next day to Bequia where we checked in to St Vincent. Had a great fast sail there and anchored at Princess Margaret Beach just off the town. Stayed there for 5 days doing odd jobs and snorkelling etc etc. met an Australian couple from Perth who have been cruising around here for 6 years! We had drinks with them on their Lagoon, Mai Tai, then dinner on board CEB another night. They are heading south for the hurricane season too.

Left Bequia for Tobago Cays. (still in St Vincent) A beautiful spot that is a marine park. Quite a few boats there but nothing like I imagine it would be in the season! We snorkelled on 3 little islands and saw loads of fish and turtles – all very unafraid of people and grown to large sizes. A kite boarder went flying by and yelled hallo – it turned out to be Luke from Makena (ARC boat). They are at Clifton on Union Island where we go next. Will be good the catch up.

Caught up with Luc, Sarah and Kai and had lunch on board Makena. They have one of Sarah's brothers and wife with them. Kai has grown up quite a bit since we last saw them in April. really great to find out other ARC boat news.

Cruising Martinique

We continued around the coast in the general direction of Fort de France (the capitol). Past Diamond Rock, that during the French and English scrapping here was actually commissioned as a ship by the British who were getting a bit lean on ships. In a, to us, seemingly impossible task they hauled cannons and provisions to the top and annoyed the French right on the door step of Martinique. (also the birthplace of Empress Josephine) Napoleon was incensed and sent Villaneuve to capture it for France. He achieved the impossible and went back to France expecting to be considered a hero but Napoleon held him in disgrace for only carrying out that one feat and still leaving Britain in control of the seas in general so he suicidally offered to take on Nelson at Trafalgar rather than die in disgrace. Ironically he survived and Nelson didn’t. C’est la guerre!

Anse d’Arlet is a lovely little town just a few hours around from Marin to the north. We pulled up to a government buoy and snorkelled right off the back of the boat! Tons of fish, the most we have seen so far and great clear water with white sand.  We really like the French part of the world here – beautifully maintained government build jetties with stainless steel ladders and tying up rings. Very different from some of the broken down, filthy old splintery things we have experienced on some of the other islands. Apparently Martinique has a very healthy economy geared to cruising and general tourism. There are none of the tout boats that come out and pester you as in St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenada. Whilst these add a bit of local colour and you’ve got to appreciate the fact that they are actually trying to make a living, it can get annoying and tiring.

We sailed and stopped all the way around.  . Anse Defour – where we and a few other yachts got moved on at dusk by fishermen who wanted to put nets out in the bay! Anse Noire – black sand beach and lots of coral, fish, caves and grottoes to explore and a lovely anchorage. It was mother’s Day on day we were there and got very busy with all the Mum’s out on the boat for the day. We met a lady from Perth with her Martinique partner. They met on a cruise in Singapore! We will catch up with them in Fort de France where they live on their boat in a marina. Anse Mitan and Anse D’Ane are nearer to the city and more built up but still very attractive with little hidden, not too touristy creole villages and lagoons.

We anchored off Fort de France. It (capital of Martinique) is actually still a commissioned fort. The city is quite large with a very nice mall area with lots of specialty food and bits and pieces stalls. Pete made friends with an American, John (while we were having lunch at Hasta la Pizza) from a visiting cruise ship and we had a few drinks with him on board before dropping him back to his big boat. The library here was designed by Gustav Eiffel (as of Eiffel Tower) and built in France and shipped out. We had a look through – sadly it is in bad repair on the outside but still is a functioning library inside. We’re now back in Rodney Bay, St Lucia for the generators first service.  The trip is only about 4 slow hours but took longer as we managed to pick a thunderstorm to do it in!

Martinique

We sailed for 4 hours from Rodney Bay and arrived in France!! Sainte Anne (south Martinique) is a pretty little town – quite French with patisseries etc. The wine is French and quite cheap, around Euro 5 or 6 for a reasonable bottle. Immigration and customs was done in a café called Boubou on a computer that then printed out our arrival papers. Very easy. Most of the Caribbean islands now are a party to an online system where you have saved forms in your computer with the ship/crew details and you log your movements on there for arrivals and departures. At the moment Martinique is not part of it.

We motored just further into the bay to Marin. There is a huge marina here – 750 boats and a massive anchorage. On the way in we passed about 20 catamarans (flagged from all over the world) all heading out covered in theme decorations, sparkly balloons and semi naked people, one boat had about a dozen blow up dolls on the bows! Then one of the last boats came out (no pun intended) with the gay rainbow flag flying! We spent one day indoors with the first wet day that we can remember, tidying up paperwork and playing backgammon. The next day we spent going around 4 very good chandleries getting bits and pieces for the boat and spares. One of them was at the end of a mangrovey little dinghy passage that seemed to be going nowhere and turned into a big shopping area. Lucky we read about it in our book as you’d never know it was there. We’ve been running the generator each day to get it read for it’s first 50 hour service next week. All good so far!

One year!

It is 12 months exactly since we left Brisbane! What a lot has happened. We spent this evening having a bottle of champs on the front deck then joined a French party on the boat in front of us. They had come over from Martinique with a few other boats full of kids taking part in a Laser competition. We are going to watch the races tomorrow.

Jazz Festival

Jazz Festival

We got driven away from Castries by a “Pirate Ship” that moored up in the harbour and put on a disco from 10.30 pm till after dawn!! Playing that awful doof doof music with a base that we could feel all the way through the keels. So we went to Pigeon Island where we waited till Sunday for the Jazz Festival final night that we had booked.

Pigeon Island is a National Trust property as it has remnants of the British fort and garrison buildings here. Back in the day it was a favourite spot for the Brits as you can actually see Martinique from here and they could keep an eye on the French comings and goings. We’re going to explore that later when the Festival has finished.

The concert was great. The crowd very well dressed and behaved. Standing room only. The women mainly favour the very tight spayed on looking dresses with lots of cleavage and splits. They are strapping lasses but look terrific – everyone very affectionate and fun and music loving – at least the ones at the concert were. We went early and got a good spot to put our folding chairs. Very hot so we had lots of water and umbrellas. A couple of enormous ladies came and laid out a rug in front of us and I thought “Oh no, if they stand up we’ll never see a thing!” but they left all their hand bags there and we didn’t see them again… George Benson was great. Air Supply were next and we had taken our spare Australian flag and held it up and got a nod and thumbs up and kisses blown from the guys - the first Australians we have seen for 8 months! May possibly be getting on a bit or had a few (or both) as there were one or two missed choruses which left a rather confused guitarist a couple of times. Didn't detract from the show though.... Kool and the Gang we OK – very loud - and we decamped to a restaurant for dinner and a drink during most of Marc Anthony (who had a massive following here from Trinidad and Tobago). The bay was chock full of boats as many came for the weekend on Saturday from Martinique and Dominica for a big local French band. Our dingy managed to get pushed under the dock but we took turns to keep an eye on it. Lucky we took it rather than a water taxi as there were big queues after the concert. We watched the fireworks from the boat – all in all a super day. Quite different from what we normally do. Quite took me back to the Auckland Western Springs Stadium days going to see the Stones, Led Zep, Joe Cocker, Elton John etc.

More St Lucian west coast

Anse Chastenet

We arrived here straight from Capella Marina and stayed for 3 nights. We had been told that the snorkelling was outstanding as the black sand made the fish jump out visually. We were a bit underwhelmed though. Been completely spoiled by the Whitsundays, Barrier Reef, Cocos keelingand Lombok I think! Lots of soft coral and some fish – easy to get to though just off the back of the boat. There is a nice resort here but no village or private housing. We were on an Marine Park buoy but the guy only comes round to get the fee on weekdays so we had 2 night no charge – good thing to remember!

Motored against the wind and tide to Laborie, an authentic little non touristy fishing village. Lots of little hole in the wall eating and drinking places that we didn’t really want to go into. Can’t get enough of the local tomatoes – not the supermarket ones but the street market ones. So juicy and real tasting, they are even real funny shapes! The other thing we have discovered is banana ketchup – MM mmm – sounds weird but is delicious. We will try to bring some little bottles home for everyone if it doesn’t get to weigh too much. We are finding that once we get a bit off the beaten track, that unless they follow the cricket (which most do naturally – the Windies) no one really has any idea of where or what Australia is. Some of these little places don’t have TV or satellite. So far in the whole trip we have seen one other Australian flagged boat and it was full of Poms! I suppose we are rather a long way away!

Thursday 5 May

Anchored right in town in Castries. Very good market here – rated by National Geographic as one of the best in the world. I can see why – apart from being very extensive food and merchandise it is CLEAN AND SAFE AND FRIENDLY! But still very local and colourful. Not always a combination that we have experienced. We heard today that the generator is arriving on the 10th and will be installed shortly after that.  Then we will move on to some of the other islands.

West coast of St Lucia

22 April

We left Rodney Bay around lunchtime after saying goodbye to the last ARC boats Exody and Starblazer and sailed to Anse La Raye a little bay (Anse) just a little to the south.( We’re finally doing what we set out to do nearly 12 months ago – to cruise the Caribbean! ) There was supposed to be Fish Friday where all the local fishermen and vendors set up tables in the main waterfront street and cook their fresh catch. We went ashore and because it is still Lent it wasn’t on till next week. We’ll come back as Pete wants to try fling fish stuffed with potato. We had a couple of meat skewers instead and had an early night. Just as well as it turned out!

Next day we cooked a quiche to take on a 2 mile walk to the River Rock Falls for a picnic. A faded sign in the Village promised a bar, café, viewing deck and gardens. The directional sign post on the road was swinging around on it’s pole and it was hard to tell where is was pointing so we asked a local walking by who pointed us up the hilly street. It seemed OK to go up a hill to see a waterfall but 2 miles later we asked someone else and they said there was definitely no waterfall in this direction! So 2 miles back we took the other road – I don’t know why it took me so long to think of looking at maps in my phone! Anyway we walked 2 miles more and found a rather uninspiring concrete assisted waterfall with a derelict shelter the remains of a bar and not much else. We had our picnic and a very refreshing swim then trudged back rather tired and a bit dispirited. Lesson – be a bit suspicious of faded signs….My relatively new Reebok walking shoes delaminated both soles just to make things harder. Luckily at the exact moment one fell off altogether Pete saw a bit of wire on the ground and wired me up for the next mile back to the boat. Having not walked much being on the boat for so long the 8 miles (12k) rather took it out of us!

24th April

Upped anchor and moved around the corner to Anse Cochon where we were last weekend. Went for a long staircase walk to a happy hour with a view. Just what the legs needed. From here we sailed the next day to Soufriere, a fishing village a bit further south. Quite cute but with an intermittent awful smell that we took for sewerage but later found out is sulphur from the crater. You can have mud baths and do hot spring bathing. Somehow we didn’t make the connection with the smell. I should have, at least, having been around Rotorua often enough!

26 to 28 April

Now at Sugar Beach, a lovely spot between the two Pitons that are all that is left of a massive eruption. Very impressive landscape but one which sent wind bullets down on to the bay with wind speeds up to 32k! We only stayed one rather wild night on one of the Marine Park moorings. Sugar Beach Resort is very nice, full of honeymooners and expensive cocktails.

We decided to go back to Capella Marina in Marigot Bay for a few days as there is some big wind forecast. As we are generator-less at the moment it is a good opportunity to do laundry and top up with water – we need the generator to power the washing machine and water maker. Pete has someone who will dive to see if they can find his phone. Neither Apple or Nomad Travel will cover it unless we have the actual phone! as it is covered for theft, damage or lost luggage – not dropped irretrievably into the water. I would have thought that constituted damage? More on that later…..

Rodney Bay on...

All the ARC boats have progressively left now. The last activity was Bluebell’s birthday just before she left to fly out to England to stay with her grandparents whilst the rest of the family carries on to Panama. We went out on a day sail to Anse Cochon with Peta from the Rally organisation and her two boys and John and Joyce from Starblazer. We had a great day drinking fresh fruit daquiries, snorkelling and the boys on the kayaks.

The St Lucia Jazz Festival starts soon so there will be lots of café and restaurant based performances as well as some big days at Pidgeon Island. We discovered that George Benson, Air Supply, Kool and the Gang and Mac Anthony were all playing on the last night so we have booked to go. It coincides with when we have to be back in Rodney Bay for the new generator to be installed. It’s the 40th anniversary of Air Supply. I have to admit I didn’t know that they we still out there

Last World ARC function

We had a really great dinner and speeches at the St Lucia Royal Hotel on the night of the 9th. Everyone pulled up well after the welcome drinks! Victor who has been with us as the ARC representative at each port gave a very clever and well thought out speech and invented an award for each of the boats and a funny talk about each one. Andrew Bishop from WARC head office also spoke. We also all received a picture book of many photos taken along the way - very much appreciated by all.

Here are photos of all the people we have been sailing with for the past 8 months. Of course lots of different crew members (family and friends) have come and gone in that time. We're really sad it's over and hope to meet up and sail again with some in the Med when we eventually get there. Most of the boats are making their way home in the next few days. San Fransisco, Iceland, Sweden, Portugal, France, England, Germany and France so really their sailing is far from over! We are going to relax around here for a long while.

Pete has dropped his phone in the water and couldn’t find it so we are now in Rodney Bay trying to buy a replacement – surprisingly difficult as they mostly sell android here. I wonder if Apple realises that this is one area where they clearly don’t sell one a minute or whatever that statistic is.

Marigot Bay to Rodney Bay, St Lucia

April 8.

Been in Capella Marina in Marigot Bay now for few days. The port engine failed just out of the bay and we had an interesting time getting med moored between two other boats with one engine! It was the same dirty fuel problem we have had on and off since Salvador, so we got both tanks pumped out and the fuel cleaned and put back in. New filters all round at the same time. Tomorrow is the Parade of Sail day round to Rodney Bay and the official finish. We will have John and Joyce on board with us as they are already in Rodney Bay as their engine broke down and they had to get partly towed by Allegro and then limp in early, but they want to join the finish.

April 9.

The “Parade of Sail” up to Rodney Bay. All the Rally boats in a line with flags and sails up. It was in length order and we had Garlix behind us, it was funny watching them try to sail slowly! They are usually the fastest of us all and struggled to stay in line! Luc and Sarah from Makena sent up their drone camera (what toys don’t they have on that boat!) and got some great shots. We had a great welcome at the marina, boats all sounding horns and a steel drum band. Lots of rum punches to greet us all.

St Lucia!

Change of plans re Tobago Cays as the weather was overcast and not the best for snorkelling. Headed on to Bequia which is a lovely little island with a good anchorage at Admiralty Bay. The boats get met by one of any number of locals wanting to get you on their mooring. The little boats all have cute names like Blue Sky, Blessings, Daffodil, Why Worry, Phat Shagetc. They also come by selling bread, beer, lobsters and take away your laundry and rubbish – you do get your laundry back! Some of the moorings are a bit dodgy so Pete snorkelled on ours each day and it did move one night in high winds. It was two anchors that have since dug themselves in and are OK now. There are millions of tiny neon fish that get around in balls and attach themselves around you when you swim. Very pretty. Shore side it is a nice little town with beachfront stores, bars and cafes. We took at taxi tour of the island with a man who owns a model ship shop and he builds all the models himself, then shuts up and takes tours when anyone is interested. There are 4 other ARC boats here with us all planning on one last sail to get to St Lucia for the ARC finalities.