St. Lucia and the End of our 2017 Fall Cruise

We slipped our mooring in Admiralty Bay, Bequia early on Sunday November 5 and headed north in light rain.   There had been heavy rains and storms the night before, but the seas were flat and winds were low as we left.  Our spotty autopilot quit again after about 30 minutes, requiring tiresome hand steering for the rest of the long day, covering 64 miles to our planned destination in St. Lucia.  We hoisted our mainsail to help steady the boat, but once again we had to primarily rely on our diesel engine to keep up our speed on this trip.

The 9 miles to St. Vincent were easy.  The west coast of the island was pretty and green in the morning light, but the overnight storms had flushed trash, coconuts, brush and logs out of the rivers and into the waters we were traversing.  Many times we diverted around clumps of brush and we gave wide berth to coconuts because it is so hard to distinguish them from the floats on lobster and crab traps.

On the north end of St. Vincent, the winds increased and the seas kicked up a bit, but the ride on Avventura remained comfortable for the 24 miles of open Atlantic over to St. Lucia.  Near the most photogenic features of St. Lucia, the two sharp coastal mountains called the Pitons, a strong squall came tumbling down the mountains and dumped on us.  The wind picked up quickly, accompanied by strong rain and much reduced visibility.  At times like this I really appreciate my moving map GPS system at the helm, which helps me stay off the rocks and reefs when I can't see much in front of the boat.  The storm ended abruptly after 20 minutes.  While the sky continued to threaten, the rest of our day was dry.

In the late afternoon we found the small entrance to Marigot Bay, a lovely spot that we had visited 10 years earlier on a bareboat charter trip.  Marigot is ringed by steep hills and is lined with mangrove and coconuts, giving the place a "South Pacific" feel.  This picturesque bay was featured prominently in the 1960s version of "Dr. Doolittle" with Rex Harrison.  There is a luxury hotel with a marina and restaurants and other businesses.  We checked into the marina, which does not have finger piers like most US marinas, rather you back into a wall, where you tie off and then they tie your bow to a buoy out in the water.  For the first time in more than 3 weeks we had water and shore electricity available to us and we could just walk off the boat to go places, without having to load onto the dinghy, fire up the outboard, etc.

Avventura in Marigot Bay Marina

Customs and the marina office were both directly behind and just a few steps from Avventura.  In the late day light I gathered our papers and trotted into the Customs office to check into the country.  I was very surprised to learn that the customs office had already closed!    I was embarrassed to realize that it was actually later in the day than I thought.  Daylight savings time had changed in the US over night and on our watches, but because the Caribbean never adopted daylight savings time, they had not "fallen back" overnight.  This could have been a very bad mistake for me if we had run into any delays in our travels that day, as we might not have reached our destination during daylight hours.  It is dangerous to enter many of these harbors at night, as there are few buoys and lighted aids to navigation in the southern Caribbean.  We always want to be settled well before dark.

I became familiar with the Customs guy at Marigot, a friendly chap. I checked the boat into the country the next day in his office, but he admitted to me that the Immigration officer had not shown up to work.  I continued to check back in the office several times a day, but the Immigration guy did not show up until late morning on the third day in Marigot.  So officially our boat has been in the country several days longer than our passports say we have been there.  The Customs officials are always in tidy uniforms, complete with a tie.  They have let the cruisers know that there are minimum attire standards for visiting their offices, including shorts or pants, shirt and shoes - no swimsuits!    Like customs officers everywhere, it pays to be respectful, friendly and cooperative and not to be too pushy.  I was chatting with the Customs officer one morning when a somewhat demanding Russian cruiser entered barefoot in his skimpy little "Speedo"-type swimsuit.  My friendly Customs guy suddenly became very officious and in a raised voice asked the Russian whether he had entered this government office in his underwear?  The Russian stammered and the customs officer hotly told him that if he was in his underwear or swimsuit he would have to leave immediately.  However, the officer explained if those are his pants then he could stay and do his business.  The Russian, quite alarmed, affirmed that the skimpy Speedo trunks were in fact his pants, and apologized.  The Customs officer gave me a little wink.

The marina at Marigot is lovely, but was relatively empty as our visit was several weeks before the high season opens there.  Residence in the marina gave us access to the stylish pools, complete with swim-up bar, and excellent restaurants in the hotel complex.  We had a top-notch meal one night in their fancy restaurant, with the best lobster bisque I have ever tasted.  I was very impressed that the marina worked hard to regulate our electricity in the first few hours of our stay on a Sunday night so that we could run our shipboard systems, particularly the air conditioning.  We like this place and hope we can return!

Lunch at Cafe Mygo, Marigot Bay

On Wednesday November 8 we left Marigot for a short mid-day 9 mile hop up to Rodney Bay, where we checked into the marina after topping off our diesel tanks with fresh fuel.  As mentioned previously, Rodney Bay is the biggest and best marina in the southern Caribbean, with well-built and roomy docks, mostly dependable US power, good water and friendly and knowledgeable staff.  There is a pool and multiple good restaurants and services right in the marina.  The laundry lady will pick up your bag of laundry in the morning and have it back to you warm and folded before noon.  St. Lucia is close to twice the population of St. Vincent and Grenada, so there are better hardware stores, pharmacies and especially nice supermarkets.  Life just seems to be a bit easier there.

Life is easy for this little finch, who entertains
for crumbs at a tapas bar in Rodney Bay

Our week at Rodney Bay was busy.  We made supermarket and hardware store runs and met with several workmen who will be doing work on the boat while we are away for the holidays.  In particular we made a decision to purchase a new generator and arranged for it to be installed with a local marine equipment dealer.  We also hired local workman "Vision" to do varnishing jobs on the boat, which of course took multiple days for all the required coats and sandings.

One day we took our dinghy 2 miles to Pigeon Island at the NW end of Rodney Bay, where they have a national park.  We enjoyed a vigorous hike up to the old English fortress on the Pigeon Island peak, where the Brits guarded Rodney Bay and kept a watchful eye on the French forces just 20 miles N at Martinique.  We also enjoyed a time on the beach there as staff prepared for a late afternoon wedding on the sand.

Rodney Bay from the Pigeon Island fortress

Steep trail up to Pigeon Island fortress

Later in the week we arranged for a trip to the mountainous interior of the island to visit another national park.  In this park a private company runs the "Rainforest Adventure", which includes a tram ride up through the rainforest to a mountain peak, and then a zip lining course down through the trees. The zip lining course included 8 stages of different lengths, the longest of which was almost 600 feet.  All of the lines were 50- 80 feet off the ground.The experience was unique and great fun!  We were very impressed by the professionalism and extreme attention to safety details exhibited by the staff.  We sat in comfortable harnesses and were clipped into the lines with three different attachment points.  We also enjoyed the company of the other folks who did the course with us, including 2 American women and a couple from Aberdeen, Scotland.  We would recommend this adventure to anyone who visits St. Lucia.

On the tram ride through the rainforest.  Love those hairnets!

Cindy zips through the forest

After cleaning out the refrigerator, freezer and everything in the boat, we flew home on November 16,leaving our 82 degree island paradise and returning to a dreary 30 degrees in Kansas City.  Avventura is safe in a slip at the Rodney Bay Marina until we return to her in January.

In retrospect, we had a very successful Fall cruise.  We met interesting folks, we slowed it WAY down and learned to dig in and really enjoy the places we visited.  Weather was not perfect, as it was the last of the rainy season in the Caribbean, but the rains were usually quick and parts of every day were fair and sunny.  Most of our crossings were easy.  Anchorages were relatively empty as there are few cruisers in these waters in October and November.  We managed to have a good mix of pampered times in marinas and more "roughing it" at anchor or on moorings.  We settled into our cruising chores and routines quickly, and everything seemed easier than last year.  Aside from the generator and autopilot failures, the boat systems and machinery worked well.   Avventura is a sound ocean cruiser.  We look forward to our next adventure, although we are still undecided as to whether we will stay in the southern Caribbean or visit some of the hurricane-damaged spots in the northern islands, including the Virgins and Puerto Rico.