St Lucia Day 3 – New Year’s Eve

Mike has his list organised so after breakfast we go over to the hardware store in an attempt to find some of the things we need at more competitive prices than at Island Water World, but they don’t have much of what he needs so that plan falls through.

Back at the marina, I book a massage for New Year’s Day – one and a half hours’ worth of deep tissue massage.  I probably won’t be able to move afterwards.

The day passes in a flurry of activity, mostly from Mike, as he gradually gets through the mountain of things on his list.  I have to drag him away from his tasks to get ready to go out to the yacht club, and in fact we leave the boat so late we miss all the WCC shuttle buses there and have to pay for a private taxi.

We have a couple of the free drinks then I notice that it is now the New Year in the UK and make some calls, then get back to socialising with our sailing companions and organisers.

Photo:  Mike with Susan and David from S/Y Voyageur

  Photo:  Judith and Joe from S/Y Brown Eyed Girl

Photo:  Mike (getting merrier by the minute) and I

Photo:  Three motley crews!

Over the last couple of nights, I have discovered that many of the wives/girlfriends are not actually doing all the sailing but are flying out to various places and meeting up.  What a pity.

Having been awake early (normal boat life) lots of people start to look distinctly tired by eleven but the promise of a bottle of bubbly for each boat keeps everyone going until midnight.  The bubbly arrives and fireworks start to go off all around the bay.

  Photo:  Celebrating the arrival of a New Year, and a very different one at that!

Trying to get a taxi back to the marina is impossible.  A group of us hang around by the roadside but there are now literally hundreds of people out on the streets in party mode and not a taxi in sight.  Mike and I decide to walk back as we can’t see the point in just standing there.  Walking up Rodney Bay Village strip we see an awful lot of flesh on show – I have never seen such short dresses and skirts since mine were that high in the early 70’s!  The road is just teaming with bodies and music thumps and screams from every club and bar on the way.  It feels like the pavement is vibrating.  By the way, Mike by this time is unable to walk straight, and is very happy.  My husband is quite amusing when merry.

Suddenly out of a side turning, emerging very slowly is a vacant taxi and Mike quickly nabs him for a ride back.  The music is so loud all around us that it feels like the taxi itself is throbbing, then I realise the taxi IS throbbing.  The driver has his music turned up so loud you can’t hear it so much as feel it, and all the time he has his mobile phone clamped to one ear and an arm hanging out of the window.  This along with the furry dice and the carpet on the dashboard probably makes him very cool but he’s a sweet guy and only charges what the guy charged us who took us there in the first place.  I expected a higher charge because of the time of night.

Mike gives him an enormous tip and we stagger back to the boat.  Well he staggers, and I keep him from falling off the pontoon into the water.  We are almost back at the boat when we meet Carol and John from S/Y Eowyn, a boat that was at Grenada Marine for some of the time we were there.  In fact, the other two members of their crew stayed at La Sagesse for a couple of nights.

They come back to our boat for a look around and are impressed by all the storage space and the freezer, the things their boat lacks.  Unfortunately Carol won’t be doing all the sailing but will join the boat in a few places along the way.

When they leave, John steps on the gangplank and there is an almighty crack - the end breaks apart, having eventually rotted through.  Is this the end of Johanne’s tottering torture?  Has the ‘gangplank of death’ gone to meet it’s maker?  We’ll find out in the morning!