Position           13:42.83N 60:57.41W

Date                2200 UTC - 22 December 2010

(All times in this entry refer to local time, UTC -4 unless stated as UTC)

The chase is onto get to Bequia for 23 December so today we set off bright and reasonably early, well reasonably bright come to think of it, for Marigot Bay in St Lucia. 

Marigot Bay is one of the places that you can clear in and out of St Lucia.  Clearing in and out is quite a game and it is most necessary to keep the right side of the bureaucracy in case something goes wrong even though in this case we had no requirement to go ashore.

The sail back to St Lucia was very different from the trip two days earlier other than the fact that we were hit by a number of vigorous squalls with a great deal of heavy rain; this time we had the wind aft the beam which makes for very different sailing than beating to windward.

As we came into the lee of St Lucia the wind dropped and with the motor on we entered Marigot Bay at 1330 where we found our Swedish ARC sailing friends Goran and Helen on their Najad Ellen on a mooring.  They very kindly allowed us to lie alongside them and their son Erik taxied us ashore to visit customs and immigration and jump through the hoops.

We were off again shortly after 1430 and motored south in little wind.  Bunting’s bacon still appears from the freezer so there were bacon and egg sandwiches all round for a late lunch.

If all this appears hurried it is because when darkness falls at 1800 it does so very quickly and it is very advisable to be anchored or moored before dark falls, if only to be able to avoid the numerous very poorly marked fishing floats.

On past Soufriere and the Pitons, we eventually made our destination anchorage of Vieux Fort at 1745 with 15 minutes in hand, to join at least two other ARC boats we assume doing the same as us and passaging on to Bequia.