OFF COURSE to St. Lucia

St. Lucia was not listed on our ES Float Plan 2012 for a few reasons:

ü  We had vacationed there before. 

ü  We were concerned about reported safety issues.
ü  We had read about arrogant boat vendors.

ü  SKIPPING St. Lucia and sailing southeasterly toward BARBADOS (on our float plan) from Martinique would give us a better angle on the wind.  (We’ve wanted to go to Barbados for years and jokingly call it “BAH-BAH-dose.”)

However, when it was time to leave Martinique, the winds were largely coming FROM the EAST-SOUTHEAST, so we decided to set sail in a southwesterly direction to join our friends on s/v Tiger Lilly in St. Lucia for some more fun.

Resting at the pond up on Mt. Pinard with Lilly (s/v Tiger Lilly) and Joanne (s/v Out of Africa).

The winds were brisk with intermittent gusts measuring up to 25 knots as we sailed away from Martinique.  When we reached the northwestern tip of St. Lucia they became even more erratic, so the captain reefed both the main and the foresail.  Alas, it was too little too late- the hard winds had ripped our tired genoa once again.  Luckily, one can get just about anything you need for your yacht in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, our first anchorage. 




Rodney Bay, St. Lucia as seen from the peaks of pigeon Island National Park.

Rodney Bay has a large modern marina with  homes resembling those along the US Intercoastal Waterway lining the harbor. It has all sorts of yacht services and two large shopping malls, yet the malls were small-no, MINUSCULE by US standards.  I finally found two grocery items I’d been searching for since we were in Puerto Rico: Dream Whip and TWIZZLERS!!!!!  I also could not find brown sugar since we left the USVI/BVI and there it was on the shelf (but only LIGHT brown sugar). Provisioning in Rodney Bay was a dream! We topped up our groceries often because we seemed to do a lot of on board socializing with friends, as Tiger Lilly had introduced us to another wonderful cruising couple from South Africa- John & Joanne of s/v Out of Africa.  For some reason, I was always delegated to bring the dessert.  I suppose I earned the reputation after sharing some Caribbean Banana Bread, followed by Pineapple Flambé over cream cheese, Fudgy Brownies, Coconut Custard Pie, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars.

Gregory said HE was the ORIGINAL fruit boat vendor and came by often to our delight.

To work off the desserts, we took hikes through the northern tip of the island where there is a golf course with neighboring posh developments.  We climbed the peaks on Pigeon Island where we stopped to chat with a honeymooning couple from the Chicago area.  On other days, we were happy to power walk the rolling terrain around Rodney Bay.  We snorkeled the point at Pigeon Island and Cuti Cove in hopes of spotting a seahorse in the reef, but none were found.

The women always seem to take the lead when hiking through the bush.

One day, a group of us hired a bus driver to tour around the southern 2/3 of the island, thanks to John of s/v Out of Africa for negotiating a fair and affordable price.  Tom of s/v Tiger Lilly kept advising our driver, Darren, “We’re SAILORS!  We’re not nimbi pimbi cruise ship tourists.  Take us to see places in St. Lucia that are not tourist hotspots.”  Darren obliged and took us to a lunch spot frequented by locals and we each devoured a plateful of BBQ (chicken or pork) surrounded by mounds of local veggies, rice, provisions for 15 EC ($6 US).  We were impressed with how colorful and clean St. Lucia was and how beautiful and welcoming its people were.

Our tour group in front of Petit Piton: (L to R) Joanne and me, with Gosia & Chris (s/v Aldebaran),
Tom & Lilly and our bus driver, Darren.               

Soufriere; Gros Piton (2,619') & Petit Piton (2,460') in background

 Captain Dan & I moved on to our second anchorage alone, knowing that we would surely meet up with our friends "down the road.” We took a mooring along the coast just south of Soufriere near Harmony Beach.  There we walked the shore and the mountainous roads just north of Petit Piton.  One paved road turned into a footpath as we neared town. We learned from a dreadlocked man along the way that Hurricane Tomas caused landslides that covered the road.  On another bright morning we hiked in the opposite direction to the Hot Springs Baths & Waterfall and lounged there for a spell.  We dinghied over to snorkel the rich reef between the Petit and Gros Pitons, venturing beyond the marked area far enough to realize that the buoyed spot keeps one safely out of the strong current that cuts around Petit Piton. (Boy, did we get a work out swimming back…I grabbed onto large boulders three times to catch my breath!)

Captain Dan at the Hot Springs Waterfall