 |
| Sailing from Bequia, St. Vincent to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia |
Last report had us enjoying Bequia with our friends Linda and Garry Graham. With them in tow, we joined Louise and Joseph of Tangaroa II for another hike in a crowd of near 30 people. It was one we had done many times, a hike along the northwest ridge to a place called Cinnamon Park, with a steep road back down to the Springhill shore, and a walk back to town. For Laurie, this turned a bit brutal, as his right knee started to revolt from the steep descend. We’re both a little concerned. Should we enjoy such hikes while we can, or should he lay off some of the worst so we can do the things we like?
Almost to the top of Cinnamon Hill 
Check out the contour lines! NOT a flat walk!! 
Mount Pleasant hike, Dawn was taking the photo!
Two days later, we were off to walk the loop on the back side of Mount Pleasant, with another large crowd. The knee was calmer, and we’re calming down as well. The second crowd included a lot of our previous friends and acquaintances: Steve, Maria and Fred; Mike and Nancy of ‘Lost Loon’, Garry and Linda; Jane and Ken from ‘Genesis II’; and new friends Rachel and Susan, the new owners of ‘Aspen’. Again, the hikes involved numerous enjoyable portable conversations. Both hikes involved lovely lunches at the Porthole – still the winner for quality, price and service in our books.
Maria sprung a Christmas Eve party on us, in their new boat Savannah Sky; hosting their Atlantic crossing delivery crew: Fred, Anina, and Charlie, and including us as well. It was the usual Maria feast, with lots of everything! We heard a few more mid-Atlantic stories and tasted some good rums from the far side.
For Christmas Day Dinner, we had a fantastic treat. Instead of all of us joining a very large crowd at a potluck like last year, Linda and Garry hosted us for a potluck at their airy, elevated, open villa in Lower Bay. It was about as much enjoyment as could occur. We were joined by Steve and Maria, Rachel and Susan, and Charlie and Anina. It was a lovely crowd in the prettiest of surroundings.
Dawn and I were suffering wanderlust, however; realizing that we had not got so far north last year and had not seen some islands for many years. We got up at 03:00 hours on the 27th and used the full moon to guide us around to the northwest side of the St. Vincent volcano. The weather window was marketed well, and we got the promised wind strength and direction in the dark, providing low seas, romantic views, and full sails. However, when the sun came up, the wind died to below 5 knots. We motored on one engine until arriving in Rodney Bay at 16:00 hours.
The Pitons of St. Lucia!
Since here, we’ve had two hikes: one with Joseph and Louise, as well as Johanna of ‘Cloud Street’ and new friends’ over to Cas en Bas, and another with them and Steve and Jennie of ‘Tanglewood’ exploring the roads of Gros Ilet and the bay shore. Both of these ended up in the best open restaurant at the marina: “Elana’s”. We have also enjoyed some time with John Fallon of ‘StoppKnot’ and his senior bachelor gang around the marina.
 |
| It was surprising to see a brand new golf course all set to go on the Cas en Bas side of St. Lucia. Goodbye ‘rustic’ hello progress…? |
 |
| Cas en Bas, St. Lucia |
 |
| Day one in St. Lucia get-together with old friends! |
 |
| Second half of the table |
We’re waiting here for a spare part. More on that below. After it arrives, we’ll join Savannah Sky and others who are heading direct to Ste. Anne, Martinique. Dawn has a list of supplies she needs, including cheese and wine.
I second that remark!
TECHNICAL
The boat is working well. The new batteries and solar panels have solved the minor irritation we had last year, and the new mainsail performs better – I’m even getting better at storing it in the sailbag. Minor maintenance has taken up some time: loose alternator belts, replacing some tattered lines, placing some dark laminates on some of the hatches to stop the UV damage, etc. Never enough to tarnish the enjoyment of the sunset and evening breezes.
One bit of nuisance was the loss of a spare starter. Last year, I rotated out a starter that was not working, replacing it with the spare. I sent the starter to get rebuilt to our friend in Gouyave, Grenada, along with three alternators I wanted checked over. The three alternators came back, but he held the starter for the summer to get parts for it. Sadly, when we checked with him before our return, he did not remember the issue, and could not find the starter. The problem, we’re sure, is age, not greed. We told him to have a nice Christmas and not to worry about it. Anyway, Ian, the manager of Island Water World, says he can get a rebuilt starter here this week, and we are waiting for it. To sweeten the deal and amortize the cost of shipping and importation, we added some other Yanmar items. Now we wait – but it is still a lovely place.
