" A Lady " trip the A.R.C. St Lucia . Avoiding the recession in style

A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Thu 10 Dec 2009 15:15
7th MONDAY
Ohhhhhh   , The weather is JUST WONDERFULL,  blue sky's warm breeze , beautifull beaches, bars, restaurants, etc.
Just the job to relax ofter the long crossing, and let our wounds heal in comfort.
 
We got " A Lady ship shape again, and sorted out laundry things and then went for a long slow rumpunch lunch.
We were all pritty tired but we had to now get ready for a party , organised by A.R C. We travelled by shuttle bus to and from
the venue. Lots of showers, and showers out here are very different to Ireland,, very very heavy,  and usually last only a few minutes,
The skipper got a touch of food poison , and got very sick later on in the night.
 
 
TUESDAY 8th December 2009
11.00    we got up after a great night catching up on the sleep.
There is nothing much to report, other than we did some tidy up stuff on the ship. and basically lazed around for the day.
 
19.00  We had a drinks party on "A Lady"  and invited our neighbours and friends from " Victory Too "  and  " Akarana"  to join us.
          It was a G&T  only party and was very successfull, Mark did most of the serving and impressed everyone .
Another bloody late night , but very enjoyable
 
 
 
 
WEDNESDAY 9th December 2009
Another lazy day , the lads did a bit of scouting around and Dermot and the Skipper got their hair done.
We got  " A Lady" cleaned and polished by locals, so once more she looks beautifull.
Later  , we sorted out the spares on board and opened a book ,where all ships spare's are logged and where they are stored.
 
18.00 We went again by shuttle bus to a beech party , again part of the event and included in the entry fee.
OHHHHH  SO NICE  the heat, the breeze, the starry night, the grub, the steel band,   just wonderfull
We met lots of other sailors from all over, and Sally ,who does a local free paper on yachts and yachting  with her husband called "COMPASS"
 
We met the Lupton's again, they are from Galway and had a tough crossing as they broke their boom, but did repair it and complete the journey with a much shorter boom.  Another boat was abandoned later in the night as she lost her rig and suffered major damage,
 
Looking at the overall event now, it seems that we were very lucky to escape with only a few broken toe's  , damaged feet, skinned finger's and other minor things.  Other people lost gear, spinniker's , sails, propellors. spinniker poles, etc etc not to mention loosing boats or abandoning them..
 
11.00 back to the marina bar for moore rumpunch. there we met lots more sailors, including Marie O'Sullivan from england, skippering the all woman boat
called " GIRLS FOR SALE"  Marie's father was from cork . gas tickets.
 
Another late night.