St. Lucia

May 18, 2009 – St. Lucia

St. Lucia is paradise island. What a contrast after the cosmopolitan feel of Marin. We came down in two stages – not sure why, but it was very leisurely. And quite frankly the open water portion of the trip was hellish, so by the time we were in the lee of the land again I was so grateful to stop. Next crossing – I’m back on the bonine. During our first crossing Ryan told me to be grateful that the roly polies were front to back and not side to side. The meaning of this was completely lost on me until this crossing. Side to side roly polies are a whole new adventure in queasiness.

We spent the first night in Rodney Bay. There’s a large marina there and a bunch of resorts. Again, I did not find it very interesting. Yesterday (Sunday) we sailed down to the Pitons – just about to the south of the island. Thus far every crossing has been motor sailing. Yesterday, for whatever reason, the mood was striking Warren that we should just sail. So we did and it was lovely and peaceful.

Until we hit some gale force wind that pushed the boat sideways so the rails were in the water and everything’s leaning so much that you’re just about standing on the walls. Then it’s a mad dash to get into the boat into the wind, then get some of the sails down – those sails hold so much wind. It happened to me once when I was alone on watch and everyone was sleeping and THANK GOD Mickey was just napping upstairs and it woke her up (probably the being thrown against the back of the seat she was napping on). Suddenly the gale just laid into us and we were on the rails. It probably wouldn’t scare me so much if I really understood the mechanics of this boat – especially the biggy – how much leaning is too much leaning? At which point does the keel not counter?

We are moored between the two Pitons – Gros Piton and Petit Piton and it is heaven. The Pitons are two large hills, mountains – to give you a reference point – Petit Piton makes me think of Half Dome. And Ryan made the comparison to El Capitan. But all of it is lush. We took a walk yesterday and I complained that Ryan was trying to get me all the way to the top of Petit Piton, but it was good to get off the boat and get some exercise. After getting pulled over by the Marine Ranger who wanted to make sure we weren’t trying to avoid him, we tied up dinghy at the dock of a resort built by Hilton. The beach is manmade with pretty palm umbrellas over cushy deck chairs. The rooms are colorful villas snaking up the side of the hill that we walked up.