Weeks 32 to 33

Tuesday 4 March to Tuesday 11 March

Firstly a big thank you to Kerry for getting up at silly o'clock on her week off to give us a lift to Gatwick, you are a star!

Arrived in St Lucia to 28 degrees and sunshine with a great view of the Pitons as we flew in. The taxi ride from the very south of the island to the marina in the very north at Rodney Bay was good as we got to see most of the island with some great views out to sea. Moored in the marina is the ship which was used in the film Pirates of the Caribbean. There is a lovely man at the marina who sits on the quayside all day making hats, fruit bowls and animals from the leaves of coconut trees.

On arrival at the boat Steve and Di were very disappointed to find that the work they had paid to be done whilst they were away had not been done. The next few days were spent doing jobs around the boat to get it ready for the big trip.

We went snorkeling off Pigeon Island on the Caribbean Sea side of St Lucia and saw lots of lovely fish. Friday evening we ventured into Gros Islet, the next village along where the locals close off a street and have a big street party with music, BBQs and dancing, there was a great atmosphere. Sunday 9 March was Steve's 65th Birthday so we went out for the day over to the Atlantic side of the island to a place called Cotton Bay where we swam in the lovely clear, blue, warm water. Darryl and I took the long route along the coast back to the boat which had beautiful views over the Atlantic .. but boy was it hot!

Tuesday we got a local bus (which is like a people carrier which you just flag down at the side of the road) to Castries, the capital of St Lucia. On arrival we saw two of the most enormous cruise ships in the harbour. We wandered through the local market and bought some beautiful fresh veg and a local chap selling lettuce insisted on giving Christine one for free, how kind. We had a bite to eat at a local street cafe, stewed lamb with rice, pasta, lentils and salad...very tasty.

The weather so far has been very hot with the odd tropical rain shower which tends to last about 10 minutes and then soon dries up. There is a swimming pool at the marina which has been great for jumping in when it gets a little hot and sticky. Tomorrow we are sailing to Martinique, which will be our first day out at sea.

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