First news of our day was cancellation of our flights due to snow. We’d had enough of rip off Soufriere anyway so decided to move Brindabella to Vieux Fort on the south of the island by the airport. The earliest flights BA could offer were Tuesday when I was due to fly back to St. Lucia. A visit to the airport was suggested. The initial fresh breeze died after a while forcing us to motor dead into wind, but the stunning scenery more than compensated for the lack of sailing with the much photographed Pitons slipping past us. What a shame that this jaw dropping ‘must see before you die’ view was not of interest to CJ. We played ‘Eye Spy’ to make things a little less boring in these times where fast and furious thrills and action are at the press of a button.

   Vieux Fort was a delight after Soufriere and we weren’t hassled once while anchored off the breakwater in the swell that had been with us all along the coast today. We had lunch watching blue waves breaking on the shallows not far away then Si took the dinghy ashore then walked to the airport to check things out. Between checking the anchor every few minutes I packed my holdall with an assortment of items. In case there would be no time to collect winter clothes from Si’s flat I packed warm sailing clothes to wear in snow covered England. I took Christmas decorations and presents not needed on the boat and anything we hadn’t used since leaving England. Si returned with good news. They managed to book the last two seats to Heathrow from Miami Friday evening and an American Airlines flight from St. Lucia to Miami. We just had to wait for confirmation by email but unfortunately we couldn’t pick up any networks on the boat. Si checked emails via the satphone or iPhone periodically.

   We moved Brindabella to a more sheltered anchorage off the beach then with flights hopefully sorted I turned my attention to dinner which I thought we’d be eating somewhere over the Atlantic while Si was food shopping in Rodney Bay. Out with the store items then! I made meatballs from a packet of vegetarian burger mix, a sauce with additions to a can of ratatouille and served it on spaghetti with chocolate mousse for dessert: Not my most healthy offering! The boys then watched a movie but I wasn’t feeling too good. I counted thirty mozi bites from my knee to ankle on just one leg which were now all lumpy and I was feeling somewhat dizzy not to mention tired from the lack of sleep they caused last night. I took piriton and had an early night under the Brindabella cinema.