St Lucia and Pat

On Tuesday, March 1 we entered the marina in Rodney Bay to get the engine repairs done and meet Ian's mum. I went to clear our yacht in with immigration and discovered that Australians need a visa for St Lucia which costs US$50. I paid the money and gave the immigration officer my passport so that it could be sent to the airport for a visa stamp. When I told Ian Ian about the visa he said that they must have made a mistake as Commonwealth countries do not require a visa. We went to the customs office after lunch to get some information but nobody was available to help us so we left. Later that afternoon a customs official, immigration officer and security officer came to the dock and accused us of going back to the office and stealing my passport and the customs officer boarded our yacht! We argued that it wasn't even possible or logical for us to steal the passport and that the immigration officer had safely put the passport in her drawer. They told us to go to the police station and make a report as the passport was missing presumed stolen. The next day we went back to the office and a supervisor had found the passport at the back of the drawer. I ended up getting a visa for free and an official apology from the immigration department but it wasn't a real good start to our visit. That evening with engine problem resolved and my passport safely back we had drinks on board with Ian's mum. We then got a surprise visit from Wayne and Jean off an Island Packet 485 yacht called Jalan Jalan. We compared notes about our yachts and they shared a lot of useful information from their sailing experiences.