Trip to Soufriere Town

We took a dinghy ride into town to get some more supplies from the supermarket. Pat seemed to love the dinghy and Ian surprised her with a donut on the way back to Faraway. The scenery was amazing and we even got up close to a Royal Clipper that had come into the bay with tourists on board. It was pretty hot out in the midday sun and I couldn't wait to get back to Faraway for a swim and a snorkel.

The Pitons

This anchorage was one of the most beautiful that we had stayed in next to Petit Piton. The water was aquamarine blue and the snorkelling was excellent all the way along the coast under the coconut palms that swayed in the light breeze. It was so beautiful that we decided to stay for 2 nights and relax a while. Ian and I also went snorkelling in the marine park on the other side of the bay and saw a turtle and a variety of other unusual marine life.

Boat Boys

The boat boys seemed to come in all shapes and sizes and the average time from sighting before appearing at your yacht was about 2 minutes. Some of the items being sold were very clever and aimed at catching a tourist not cruising market. Even the boats were cleverly designed to attract attention from yachtsmen. We came across a boat boy without a boat who managed to swim out to our yacht with a coconut and a rock. Obviously the coconut was for sale but we didn't buy it as Ian was really mad when he managed to get on the back of our boat and insist that we give him a beer for his efforts!

Marigot Bay

On Friday, March 4 we sailed down to Marigot Bay. It was an anchorage in a narrow inlet described as one of the most beautiful in St. Lucia. When we arrived it was pretty crowded and the beauty was unfortunately over commercialised but we managed to find a nice mooring ball for the night. We also started to get the barrage of boat boys selling everything from fruit and vege, crafts, fish and lobsters. They were pleasant enough but we rarely found the need to buy anything except for a tuna as we were well stocked. Pat seemed to be a natural for the sailing life so while in Marigot Bay I went into customs and bought a permit to moor in the bay next to the Pitons.

Rodney Bay

On Thursday, March 3 we took Pat for a test sail down the west coast of St Lucia. She really seemed to enjoy the sailing and the weather was beautiful and calm. After a few hours we sailed back to Rodney Bay and anchored off Pigeon Island for the night. When we returned to the bay we had a visit from a boat decorated with many flags from different countries and a nice boat boy who sold us a fruit and vegetable bowl at prices higher than the supermarket but I guess it was worth it for the tourist experience.

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.

Sail to St Lucia

On Saturday, February 26 we set sail for the 180 mile trip to St. Lucia to meet Ian's mum. Our exit from Nelson's Dockyard was less than glamorous as our anchor chain was fouled on another yachts anchor as we set off around 9am. It took a lot of work mainly from Ian and 2 boat boys to untangle the 40 kg anchor from the other yacht in front of a large dock side audience. Luckily we had no plans to return to Antigua any time soon. The sail to Guadeloupe was very pleasant and we had good wind and favourable swells. We arrived in Guadeloupe just before sunset and on entering the anchorage in Deshaies we saw 2 humpback whales making their way towards us along the coast. Unfortunately on the way into the bay we lost engine power and noticed a lot of white smoke billowing out. This was a problem that we needed to get resolved on arrival in St Lucia. At the same time we heard a distress call from a yacht trying to enter the bay with no engine power at all. They were under sail and couldn't enter the bay without assistance. We were unable to help out due to our own engine problems but we flagged a fishing boat down and they towed the yacht into the anchorage which must have been a relief to the couple on board. The next day we were up early for the sail to Dominica. We had good weather and managed to sail all the way. Unfortunately we came to our anchorage on the southern end of Dominica in the darkness but luckily a boat boy guided us to a mooring ball. We nearly hit a power boat that was moored in the darkness. We were up at 4:00am for a long sail to St. Lucia. The sea state was very rough and we had a bumpy ride all the way down. We both got pretty well saturated by waves and rain. We did however manage to arrive at Rodney Bay before sunset on Monday, February 28 just in time for Ian's mum's arrival the next day. Ian fired up the BBQ in the bay and we had steak, salad and well deserved beverages.