Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
So, we finally arrived in Rodney Bay, St Lucia just after 9am on 11th December. Last year it took Lancelot 15 days to make the crossing so at 20 days this was longer than everyone expected. In fact, at one stage, our ETA was showing as 14th January!! Every boat struggled due to the lack of wind - this year the trade winds just didn't seem to appear! The first boats arrived in early December but most of them used their engines. Some of the racers even retired from the race due to pressure from their passengers and turned on their engines to get there quicker. We lost out on 1st place in the racing division by just over an hour - to a boat called EH01. Debs' neighbour Bev was on this boat so it wasn't all bad as we could do some joint celebrating!
It was a very emotional experience crossing the finishing line and knowing we had made it and the welcome was fantastic. A load of locals were standing on the river banks clapping and cheering and welcoming us to St Lucia. Every boat we passed clapped and shouted their congratulations and as we entered the marina, boats were sounding their horns - it was a very proud moment. As we parked up in our berth, we were met by a tray of rum punches and beers which we promptly downed. Then it was time to step on terra firma. It all felt a bit weird and putting on flip flops and trying to walk normally after 3 weeks of bare feet and staggering around the boat (no, I didn't get my sea legs throughout!) was funny. I was walking with giant pronounced steps and kept swaying from side to side.
Debs, Lia, Rob, Bev (from the winning boat!) and myself all went for breakfast and a good old debrief (read moan and giggle!) before heading off to our respective accommodation. Sadly, Paul couldn't wait to get rid of us quickly enough and didn't even say goodbye to anyone and Jacko, Mick and Prue seemed wrapped up in their own yachtie world and glad to see the back of us all off the boat!
I was staying in the same hotel as Debs and Bev and was so glad to be able to have a proper shower and a bit of normality (and a double bed all to myself to starfish in!). Despite the water shortage in St Lucia (they were hit quite badly by Hurricane Thomas a month or so earlier), I stood under the shower for a good 20 minutes, just watching the dirt run off - yuk!!! Feeling vaguely human the 3 of us met later at Spinnakers (which was to become our regular haunt!) for delicious and well-deserved cocktails and some finger food that we just inhaled - we must have looked as though we hadn't seen food or eaten for months!
We then headed to an official ARC reception (free food and drink - yay!) and met up with the rest of our crew and the other boats that had arrived. It ended up being a fairly drunken night, mainly because we had only had a weekly inch of wine on Lancelot! We ended up in a pretty dodgy 'nightclub' of sorts and then back on the marina.
I spent 4 great nights in St Lucia and had a great time with Debs, Bev, Justin and Perry (Debs' sons). Justin had flown out on holiday whilst Perry was on our sister boat, Coyote 2, and came in a few days later - we went out in a water taxi to greet the boat with some beers and Debs' holiday was complete.
During the 4 days we went out to Pigeon Island for the afternoon to chill out and swim, spent some time on the beach and a LOT of time in Spinnakers drinking strawberry and banana daiquiris. I also went back onto Lady Bou Bou (the huge luxury catamaran I had briefly seen in Las Palmas) and had a proper look around - what an amazing boat. Each cabin had an ensuite bathroom with a proper shower and a flush toilet (pure luxury!), flat-screen TVs, aircon, goose down duvets and Egyptian cotton bedlinen - nice! The galley was actually a real kitchen with a big silver American style fridge (ice maker and everything!), washing machine, dishwasher and 4 slot toaster. Added to that there was a treadmill and copious amount of deck space. If you had seen what we coped with for 3 weeks, you'd soon realise why I seem so excited about this boat! Unfortunately I didn't meet my own millionaire with a yacht on this trip!
The day before I left, Debs, Bev and I went on a road trip around the island as Debs had hired a car and was planning to drop Bev off at the airport. It started off well as we headed to Marigot Bay which is a beautiful little inlet surrounded on 3 sides by lush green hills. It's actually famous for being the setting for the original Doctor Dolittle film and there's a marina full of super yachts and a pretty little beach where we had an ice cream. Our next stop was Jalousie Plantation which is a luxury resort in a fantastic setting, nestled on the coast between the Pitons (big volcanic plugs). Debs had been there last year so we were looking forward to a gourmet lunch and ad dip in the infinity pool. After a fairly tough drive along broken roads that had been damaged by the hurricane and hills that the hire car struggled to get up, we arrived there to find that it was closed as it had been destroyed by the storm - booo! We asked someone where else to have lunch and he pointed us in the direction of another resort. And so our wild goose chase for some food started! The next resort was also closed so they told us to head to Debbie's. At this point we were also running out of fuel and not only were there no petrol stations, there weren't even any shops to buy crisps! We finally found some fuel and then reached Debbie's - there were loads of people there but the gates were locked. Not funny. By now we were all starving and getting grouchy. Debs started yelling out of the car window to random people "Food? Any food?" and then started driving Dukes of Hazzard style - the locals didn't know what had hit their villages! We then drove into another village and stopped at what looked like a restaurant. The people outside shook their heads and said they were closed but we should try Debbie's. Grrrrr - I thought Debs was going to run them over! Then one old woman brandishing a machete told us there were several places in the village. Hurrah! We were a little too optimistic though and found everywhere there closed too. We ended up at the police station who directed us across the road to a place but they only sold chicken and fries - perfect. Nope - no chicken and no fries. Finally found a supermarket and bought bread, huge doorstops of cheese, crisps, nuts and apples and we huddled in a row on the beach and stuffed our faces! We then had to get Bev to the airport and Debs and I drove back just in time for more cocktails and partying!
So, that was my time in St Lucia - it's a beautiful island - the people on the streets are great and friendly; those in the service industry are a bit miserable and the service itself is pretty crap but that's island life for you I guess. 'Yeah man.'
I met some great people on this adventure(and of course, a few idiots too!) and thanks to Debs for keeping me sane on the boat and for letting me hang around with her, her lovely boys and Bev in St Lucia. I'm looking forward to catching up with them all the next time I'm passing through Blighty.
There are loads of pics from the trip on picasa (http://www.picasaweb.google.com/lindylou73); some of them courtesy of the rest of the crew. Enjoy!!
- comments