Picture says it all!
Liza (Ken’s youngest daughter) and Richie Robbins had a spectacular wedding in Key West. Family and friends gathered for a long-weekend and celebrated with them. It was picture perfect and Liza and Richie were beaming the entire weekend. After a week of Key West and wedding events, Ken and I flew back to the boat in St. Lucia to continue our journey through the Caribbean to the Leeward Islands
Rodney Bays Harbor entrance.
Monday we woke early, and finished Ken’s packing to go back to Wisconsin. We made our initial contacts with Fiber and Vincent to set up some electrical and fiberglass work while Ken was gone. My plan is to polish all the chrome and clean the hull and bottom of the boat. Had a nice dinner at Café Ole along the dock side that evening.
Tuesday, Ken finished his packing and last minute lists before he left. Found his way to the airport utilizing a taxi to the Castries bus station and then a one-hour bus to Fort Vieux. This mode of transportation saved us about $70 USD that we were quoted for a taxi.
Full Moon in Rodney Bay
Wednesday morning, I worked on cleaning the boat, “Kristine” style and had a boat-neighbor, Susan stop by to ask if I was going to the ladies luncheon. Not hearing about it I asked for details. Apparently, each Wednesday, in Rodney Bay, the cruiser ladies gather at the Bay Resort across from the marina for lunch and chatter. I found it refreshing and the information unlimited regarding ladies and sailing. Many had been cruisers for many years in the area and had many stories to tell. A few were new to the Caribbean like me and we were all ears. The restaurant offered a bottle of wine to use for a raffle as a thank you for using their restaurant and wouldn’t you know, I won it! I met some very lovely ladies that I am sure I will bump into from time to time here. One great lady, Pat and her husband Peter have a C & C that they were selling after 22 years. I can only imagine how that would feel. After the luncheon, Pat and several other ladies and I took the local bus back to the marina for 1.50 EC Great deal.
Thursday, again I was asked to join several couples to enjoy happy hour at Razmataz across from the marina. Ken now thinks he is missing out when he leaves as I have found so many new friends in just 2 days! The rest of the week while Ken was gone, I spent doing some paint touch-up, chrome cleaning, filters, washing the hull and scrubbing the growth off the waters edge of the boat. On Monday and Tuesday, I pulled down the awning and took the motor off the dingy to prepare the boat for my leaving. I will meet Ken in Miami, along with his Mother, Jayne, to continue to Key West for Liza and Richies wedding.
Mustiques local fishing boats (taking pictures FROM the boat)
Sure, we relax sometimes!
Leaving Mustique, we headed for St. Lucia. Passing St. Vincent, a 10 hours motor sail. Wet and very bumpy. I don’t get sea-sick often, but I would say this was a close to getting sick as I want to experience. Plus, being wet at a moments notice is not fun for 10 hours! Thank goodness for the sun being out (most of the time)
This time on our long sail, we did not have anything go wrong, however, due to the wind direction and the dark cloud that hovered over the Northeast edge of St. Vincent, our trip was quite dreary, and occasionally wet! Again we truly appreciate Autopilot on days like these. We tried to “sail” at one point, but the wind direction was not constant and proved to be a mess! Better to head straight to Soufriere Bay.
We called on channel 16 as we approached the moorings on the south end of the bay, and asked for the local listed in our Windward Island book, we were approached by another local that
said they would help us tie up. The five moorings along shore were stern tied to shore and bow on the mooring. We decided we did not have a line long enough for the shore tie-up and so we were redirected to a single mooring a bit away that was reserved for very large boats or Catamarans. This was a great spot for us. No neighbors and close to shore. SMMT (their marine management) arrived to get their fee of 40 EC’s (about $18 US dollars). You are required to use the moorings and not to anchor because of the restoration projects for the reefs in the area. We are beginning to appreciate the moorings, however have heard stories of mooring balls not holding. There is always something to worry about.
Doesn’t look like much, but pictures don’t always paint the true picture!
The Piton’s as we left Soufriere
We took showers on the boat again, not worrying about our water supply knowing we would be in Rodney Bay the next day. We actually washed our day clothes in the shower which we thought was a good re-use of the water! Today’s sail tossed our cabin around a bit so I spent some time re-establishing the domestic bliss as it was! Tonight we bought a tuna from a passing local, and with some
fresh green beans I had, dined in style. We drank the last of the Gran Canaries Red wine that Jack and crew picked out as the “house” wine, and will now have to drink some of the “lesser”
preferred wine on board. On Sunday, We woke early due to the mild “roll” of the boat. When we were preparing to leave, we realized that our two mooring lines were tangled into knots and impossible for us to release. We called the marine management boat and asked for assistance. When he arrived, he suggested after several attempts to release us, that we untie from the boat and just stay in the area while he took our lines, now off the boat, and unknotted them. With no tension on the mooring ball, it was still a battle, but he was able to get then undone and motored them over to us.
Again, we were faced with a straight into the wind motor to Rodney Bay. I know I watched the winds gust over 30 knots. No boats were sailing today. After a 4-hour motor sail, we tied up, washed down the boat, and ate the rest of our tuna for dinner. Tomorrow, Ken would plan his departure and make contact with our local marina contacts for any work that wewould have done in the next 2 weeks.
Entering Rodney Bay Harbor
See you on the Water
