We’ve been back in St. Lucia since Saturday. We sailed in blustery winds all the way, with seas building, lowering, and building again. Most of the time, the seas were just a large swell, and the wind was 23 knots, almost on the beam. It was not a bad sail, but I reefed too late and not enough. I have to learn that this boat goes just as well with a double reef most times, and the extra sail just causes anxiety and a rougher ride. As well, a reefing line hit the windmill and the tips of two of the three blades blasted off into the wild blue sea. Still, we arrived at about 2:30 in the afternoon, and John and I went in to clear Customs and Immigration. John got an extension of 6 months on his stay, which pleased him greatly.
Laurie and John enjoying a meal on the waterfront in Martinique. The server, Monique seemed to enjoy the boys attempts at speaking to her in French!
Saturday night, John and his Aussie friend Edgar (who captained Loose Cannon in the Bequia races last year) came out to our boat for a feed of barracuda. I’m unsure if we told you that we caught a big old 2 foot barracuda on Friday when we motored into Fort de France. It is a big thing for us, as we have done so poorly fishing this year. We have lost about $50 dollars worth of lures to these monsters, with nothing to show for it until now. The evening was lots of fun, but Dawn and I retired early, and slept soundly.
Since back in Rodney Bay, we have done the usual boat maintenance, including: replacing the blades on the windmill, gluing down some flooring on a step, engine checks and cleanup, freezer defrosting, and the like. We’ve also checked in with friends from Silver Seas and Nahanni River.
Also, we’ve been on a hike to a bay on the east side with two girls from some other boats: Selinda from the German 37’ Privilege catamaran Mupful, and Mary from a Swiss 39’ Nautitech catamaran who’s boat name we don’t yet know. Delightful girls with whom to spend the morning. Mary and her husband are from Switzerland and bought their boat on eBay!!
Here is Selinda while out for our walk over the island to a bay called Cas en Bas. She is standing in front of a runaway rocket booster!
An earlier walk to Cas en Bas.
Here is Arlene from "Tiger Lily II", along with Kristin and Terry from "Silk Pajamas", and Jenny from "Hidden Falls" is on the far right.
We are now committed to staying here until a watermaker membrane arrives from Trinidad. We’re hopeful it will arrive before week’s end. (One definition of cruising: waiting for boat parts in exotic locations) At that time, we’ll take the first weather window north. We are not sure about our schedule yet beyond that we shall spend a week with Ron and Judy Roy in Antigua at March Break. There is so much up at that end of the chain that we have not explored fully, so it will work out great. We have been thinking about going to the BVIs and the surrounding area, but that is way downwind from this island chain. We’ll see, I guess.
In the meantime, Dawn has a date for lunch and drinks and a swim at a local resort tomorrow at noon with the cruising ladies who tend to stay here the most. It may be a crowd of well over 20 people. She is looking forward to it. I’ll likely renew some wiring at the base of the mast while she is gone – although there is a chance that a large crowd of men, just set free, might congregate at the Boardwalk Bar, in the Marina, so that’s an option as well.
Dawn said she will decorate this entry with some pictures.
Although this is an old shot, it is a nice picture of John Fallon and Arlene Webster from Tiger Lily II enjoying New Year's Eve at the Yacht Club here in Rodney Bay
Oh, I’d like to comment on a controversy in home town Fredericton of which I read on the Internet today. People seem to be blistering City Council regarding the refusal to pay an unbudgeted amount to the cost of restoring the Bobby Burns statue. The poor Council is forever being asked or told to give money to special interest groups, money that came from the general public. Can you imagine the other ethnic groups reacting if the Scots got some of this money? Fredericton is a small city, underfunded by the province. They cannot and should not play a role that should be filled by philanthropists like the Irvings or McCains.
