It’s grey again in the morning and has rained overnight again. Joel arrives promptly to untie us and brings us some pumpkin and some wax apples as a gift. The wax apples are strange but in a nice way. They don’t have a lot of flavour but do have lots of juice and are really crispy, sort of a cross between a pear and an apple.
We leave at 8 am with Chessie just behind. We have rain showers but the wind allows us to roughly sail the course we want until we leave the lee of the land and a squall hits us in the open sea between St Vincent and St Lucia. Moe and Mike reef in the genoa quickly and get soaked in seconds.
I put on a loaf of bread and get the last of the sausages and bacon that Stuart brought out from the UK. It’s butties for lunch then and we manage to eat the whole loaf.
The pitons, the twin peaks at the south of the island come into view, just visible in the gloom and as we start to sail up the west coast of yet another island, the sun starts to come out.
It’s so good to see the sun again after all the gloom of the last 5 days although it very quickly turns steamy and hot. Sigh. It never quite gets it right! For me anyway!
Marigot Bay is a beautiful place to enter St Lucia. It’s very different from when we were first here 32 years ago (no big hotels and condos then) but they have managed to retain the backdrop from the original ‘Dr Dolittle’ film although the row of hobie cats with their bright sails weren’t in the film!
There’s a bit of confusion at first about where we are to be berthed and Mike goes right into the back of the marina before having to turn around in a very tight spot and go back to a much better spot on the fuel dock. I’m off the boat immediately in search of people to hug and kiss. There’s so little time left now to be with our ‘WARC family’. I quickly find the usual suspects, everyone excited to be back together again.
There was an impromptu cocktail party last night hosted by the Discovery Hotel and there are quite a few quiet faces around but most have perked up by the time the evening function starts. It’s drinks on the dock right by our boat. Unfortunately the choice is rum and coconut water or beer so I have to drink rum and even though I ask the barman to make mine weak, it’s strength is not to be sneezed at (as I find out later). I chatter away so much that I fail to notice how quickly the buffet is clearing and by the time I arrive at the table with a plate, all the hot, savoury food is gone and I just eat a few bits of pudding.
Emilio invites everyone back to his boat for further drinks and after about an hour on board, some drift off to bed (the sensible ones including my husband) and others get on the ferry over to Doolittles, the bar and restaurant on the other side of the bay. We have a great time, some of which I can remember and some of which I can’t.
We get the last ferry back and amazingly some want to carry on the party on the dock but thank goodness, I eventually realise that my bed is the safest place for me, and take my leave. Moe makes sure I get back on the boat without mishap!
Our position is: 13 deg 57 min N, 61 deg 01 min W
Distance so far: 24696 nautical miles
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