Because we started from Le Marin on the southeastern end of Martinique, the winds were abaft the beam somewhat giving us a broader reach to St. Lucia. It was another glorious sail. India was giving us a maximum speed of 10.5 KTS and we made 34 Nautical Miles in 3 Hours 17 Minutes. That was exhilarating enough but to top it off we saw two Pilot Whales! At first we thought they were dolphins but they were brownish in colour and way too big and they moved too slowly. We only caught a glimpse of them for a minute or two, but I know they are found in this region and I compared our sighting with online photos for positive identification later. Nice, right? And they were very close to the boat swimming towards us!!
Our first stop was Rodney Bay on the Northwest Corner of the island. I was looking forward to seeing the new Marina Complex which conveniently has a customs/immigration office and an Island Water World, a marine store with origins in SXM. When I was here before (yeah, yeah, 30 yrs ago) I had heard of plans for this Marina and had seen the photos once it was built so now was our chance to visit. The last time I was in St. Lucia, we rented a car and set off for the airport following roads that were actually on a map given to us by the agency but didn't exist. Well, they weren't yet paved anyway. We eventually found our way on other roads but ended up running out of gas and were rescued by a nice local gentleman...good samaritan and long story... but fond, fond memories of the island and its people. The Marina is big, well organised with shops, services and restaurants and bars plus a very large fuel dock which allows one to fuel up post exit clearance duty free. That would have been nice but we were headed south and had just cleared in. We bought some fuel anyway. Our first impressions were good. Customs officials were very pleasant and helpful and it took no more than ten minutes. The whole area has really grown. Now there are malls, restaurants, banks, grocery stores, bakeries, health food stores, SPAS (thank goodness!) nearby with docks for the dingy and we took advantage of them all including a lovely meal at an upscale Indian Cuisine Restaurant where we dined alongside the Prime Minister and his family! Well, at the same time, anyway. And that is where we finally bought our Dometic portable cooler! Yippee! We even took some time to hike up to the historic Fort Rodney on the hilltop at Pigeon Point for the 360 Degree View and had a beer later at the Jambe de Bois, a quaint local spot at the sea side with great WiFi and comfortable couches to sink into.
We then moved on to Castries, the capital of the island, which is tucked into a narrow inlet. We timed our entrance perfectly to meet an outbound cargo ship and needed to pull over to the side of the inlet to allow for its passage as the anchorage is located at the very back of the turning basin for the cargo and cruise ships. I love watching the big ships up close. When we were in Mumbai, we took a ferry to Elephant Island and I loved passing through all the workboats and commercial vessels. I was so apparently enthralled that David said it was like porn to me, which I thought was hilarious, but who's he kidding? He loves it too! We were the only private yacht anchored there and it was like being in a fish bowl with the whole city looking in on us. We were so close to everything, cars and pedestrians on walkways not 100 feet away. We watched a cruise ship depart and another ship come into port. They have a great fresh market, but can you believe we didn't even leave the boat? We were content enough to watch the city from the deck for the evening and decided to just move on the following morning.
Our next anchorage was Marigot Bay, another smaller inlet carved into the cliffs. This has always been a scenic spot as the sun sets behind a spit of white sand, splayed coconut trees and calm turquoise waters. The anchorage is all around that sand spit only now there is a resort, restaurant/bars and mooring balls. We spent a couple of days here and an afternoon at a bar in pouring rain. We eventually had dinner at a popular restaurant that same evening but unfortunately it went downhill from there as everything but the Chicken Roti was mediocre especially the service. Marigot Bay is a magical place still and all it would take is some upgrades in hospitality, training and attitude and it would be an absolute paradise. For us it was a bit disappointing because of the sheer indifference we were shocked to find there at the bar, the restaurant, even the grocery store and believe me, we are totally relaxed and far from demanding. All we can say is wow and not take it personally and go somewhere else to feel wanted.
At last we arrived at the most notable landmark in St. Lucia, the Pitons! The luscious green landscape of two famous mountain peaks- Le Petit Piton and Le Gros Piton- is as majestic as ever. Now that this area is part of the National Park and there are proper mooring balls we were able to put the boat in Jalousie Bay overnight. The anchorage is deep, over 100 feet, so it was the first time ever for us both to sleep under the stars at the foot of the Pitons. THE PITONS! It is so lovely here, truly a highlight and the snorkeling is great fun. It was incredibly dark at night and so enchanting we stayed two nights! But our time was running out. We had stayed in the Windward and Leeward Islands as long as we were comfortable and now we needed push further south for the critical last two weeks of August and first two weeks of September which are historically the most active days for hurricanes spinning off the African Coast and the Cape Verdes. We chose to skip St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada and travel all the way down to Tobago. It is a new place for both of us to explore and a bit off the beaten track. We have read many enticing reviews on Tobago indicating that it is very much like the Caribbean of 30/40 years ago which makes it a very desirable destination for us. We look forward to our next blog where we can tell you what our impressions are but I will give you a bit of a tease preview....it IS different and we are starting to like it very much, very much indeed!
Our first stop was Rodney Bay on the Northwest Corner of the island. I was looking forward to seeing the new Marina Complex which conveniently has a customs/immigration office and an Island Water World, a marine store with origins in SXM. When I was here before (yeah, yeah, 30 yrs ago) I had heard of plans for this Marina and had seen the photos once it was built so now was our chance to visit. The last time I was in St. Lucia, we rented a car and set off for the airport following roads that were actually on a map given to us by the agency but didn't exist. Well, they weren't yet paved anyway. We eventually found our way on other roads but ended up running out of gas and were rescued by a nice local gentleman...good samaritan and long story... but fond, fond memories of the island and its people. The Marina is big, well organised with shops, services and restaurants and bars plus a very large fuel dock which allows one to fuel up post exit clearance duty free. That would have been nice but we were headed south and had just cleared in. We bought some fuel anyway. Our first impressions were good. Customs officials were very pleasant and helpful and it took no more than ten minutes. The whole area has really grown. Now there are malls, restaurants, banks, grocery stores, bakeries, health food stores, SPAS (thank goodness!) nearby with docks for the dingy and we took advantage of them all including a lovely meal at an upscale Indian Cuisine Restaurant where we dined alongside the Prime Minister and his family! Well, at the same time, anyway. And that is where we finally bought our Dometic portable cooler! Yippee! We even took some time to hike up to the historic Fort Rodney on the hilltop at Pigeon Point for the 360 Degree View and had a beer later at the Jambe de Bois, a quaint local spot at the sea side with great WiFi and comfortable couches to sink into.
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| Ruins at Fort Rodney |
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| Barracks at Fort Rodney |
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| Grounds at Pigeon Point |
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| View of Rodney Bay from the Fort |
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| The other side from the Fort |
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| View from Jambe de Bois |
We then moved on to Castries, the capital of the island, which is tucked into a narrow inlet. We timed our entrance perfectly to meet an outbound cargo ship and needed to pull over to the side of the inlet to allow for its passage as the anchorage is located at the very back of the turning basin for the cargo and cruise ships. I love watching the big ships up close. When we were in Mumbai, we took a ferry to Elephant Island and I loved passing through all the workboats and commercial vessels. I was so apparently enthralled that David said it was like porn to me, which I thought was hilarious, but who's he kidding? He loves it too! We were the only private yacht anchored there and it was like being in a fish bowl with the whole city looking in on us. We were so close to everything, cars and pedestrians on walkways not 100 feet away. We watched a cruise ship depart and another ship come into port. They have a great fresh market, but can you believe we didn't even leave the boat? We were content enough to watch the city from the deck for the evening and decided to just move on the following morning.
Our next anchorage was Marigot Bay, another smaller inlet carved into the cliffs. This has always been a scenic spot as the sun sets behind a spit of white sand, splayed coconut trees and calm turquoise waters. The anchorage is all around that sand spit only now there is a resort, restaurant/bars and mooring balls. We spent a couple of days here and an afternoon at a bar in pouring rain. We eventually had dinner at a popular restaurant that same evening but unfortunately it went downhill from there as everything but the Chicken Roti was mediocre especially the service. Marigot Bay is a magical place still and all it would take is some upgrades in hospitality, training and attitude and it would be an absolute paradise. For us it was a bit disappointing because of the sheer indifference we were shocked to find there at the bar, the restaurant, even the grocery store and believe me, we are totally relaxed and far from demanding. All we can say is wow and not take it personally and go somewhere else to feel wanted.
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| Marigot Bay |
At last we arrived at the most notable landmark in St. Lucia, the Pitons! The luscious green landscape of two famous mountain peaks- Le Petit Piton and Le Gros Piton- is as majestic as ever. Now that this area is part of the National Park and there are proper mooring balls we were able to put the boat in Jalousie Bay overnight. The anchorage is deep, over 100 feet, so it was the first time ever for us both to sleep under the stars at the foot of the Pitons. THE PITONS! It is so lovely here, truly a highlight and the snorkeling is great fun. It was incredibly dark at night and so enchanting we stayed two nights! But our time was running out. We had stayed in the Windward and Leeward Islands as long as we were comfortable and now we needed push further south for the critical last two weeks of August and first two weeks of September which are historically the most active days for hurricanes spinning off the African Coast and the Cape Verdes. We chose to skip St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada and travel all the way down to Tobago. It is a new place for both of us to explore and a bit off the beaten track. We have read many enticing reviews on Tobago indicating that it is very much like the Caribbean of 30/40 years ago which makes it a very desirable destination for us. We look forward to our next blog where we can tell you what our impressions are but I will give you a bit of a tease preview....it IS different and we are starting to like it very much, very much indeed!
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| Petit Piton |
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| Gros Piton |
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| Opposite View of Petit Piton near Soufriere |
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| Village of Soufriere where we spent the last night to clear customs |
These fort ruins you find are brilliant. How did they cut the giant slabs of rock and move them to build this fort? I think this is so amazing and love daydreaming about them. I mean, I love Fort Moultrie here in SC and have spent many hours daydreaming about the life and how the fort was built and it isn't nearly as old nor as isolated as these ruins. The Pitons were beautiful. I'm so glad you had great sailing weather before this damned hurricane. I'm thankful it happened here and not out at sea with you guys. As usual, the pics are beautiful and the history and narrative exciting and interesting. Awaiting the next blog (hurry, hurry). Safe sailing and fun, fun, fun.
ReplyDeleteAnother amazing post!! I love the pictures of the ruins and the beautiful seascapes!! It has to be so exciting to be able to view all these things right there!! So happy you guys were away from the hurricane, of course I did get a few more grey hairs from not only worrying about you guys but also not knowing how close it would get to Don and Judy. When I talked to Judy, she said a trip to London and possibly S.C. might be coming up before too long. I know you have to be excited to see the babies (and the grownup kids too, lol). You can give them my love since they are still my family. Stay safe and keep enjoying your trip. Xoxo
ReplyDeleteSusie has such excellent taste in loved ones. She is (almost) as proud of you guys as I am. Jude
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