Rodney Bay Xmas
Chantelle
Fri 28 Dec 2007 22:08
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Hello Everyone
Hope you all had a great Xmas, are well fed and
watered and looking forward to New Years.
The week before Xmas we busied ourselves with
anti-fouling - Chantelle now has a blue bottom! Fortunately we only had one
night out the water at the boat yard, as the place was infested with mosquitos.
Xmas came early for them as they feasted on John and myself. Oh the temptation
to scratch - but managed to resist!!(Stopped counting at 70 plus bites). As one
of the locals explained they have a taste for foreign blood! Practically bathe
in mossy repellent now and always listening for that "buzz"!
We had a day off and went for "canopy zip tour" in
the rain forest. It was across the other side of the Island so got see some
interior on our way there. Lots of banana plantations and a Sainsbury's banner
advertising their effort in "Fair Trade" bananas! The zip tour was terrifying
(the crossing paled into insignificance by comparison). I certainly don't
have much of a head for heights - but glad I did it. The walk
thru the rain forest after was more my cup of tea! JH went for a wade in
the river just to pep up an otherwise fairly sedate walk!
The Arc organised lots of social events culminating
in the award giving ceremony on Friday before xmas. They didn't give any cups
for the "most vegetables on board" so we came away empty handed. Surprisingly
there was an award for the best kept basil plant?! One of the best evenings was
a party thrown by Cuthbert Didier, the Marina's manager, at his
home. Wonderful food, rum punch and all night calypso and fire eating (not
us)! His pad is on the water front opposite our mooring - we saw the "die hards"
staggering away when we woke the following morning!
Feeling less like interlopers now, getting local
bus to do shopping. Have to say bus service puts ours back home to shame (mind
you that's not difficult). You can pick up and set down virtually where you
want! Something we've found quite amusing is the amount of odd Waitrose produce
that sits on local super market shelves. Things like toilet roll and squeezy
brown sauce. Also that lovely muesli "Dorset Cereals" which is quite expensive
back home and a fraction of the cost over here. Today we had our last egg which
travelled across the Atlantic with us - there is a national shortage in St
Lucia! Plenty of hens roaming around but no eggs!
Saturday saw a lot of people leaving to go Island
hopping or home for Xmas. As we are still waiting for replacement parts for main
sail we couldn't venture far but decided to go further south on St Lucia. On
Sunday we cruised down to Marigot Bay. We were met by a boat boy who showed us
to a mooring buoy and left us to marvel at the scenery. No retouching needed on
piccies - truly is Paradise!
The dinghy had its first outing across to the
Marina village. I've discovered that I have two left feet when it comes to
getting in and out of dinghy - found myself at 45 degrees on more than one
occassion! I do however now know how to start engine, drive, plane and
stop! The local fashion boutique called Nautique had a fashion show in
the afternoon - so with nothing else to do we went. It worked as JH bought me my
Xmas pressie! In the evening we went to a newly revamped (Hurricane Dean damage
earlier in year) bar on the waters edge - still very clumsy getting in and out
of dinghy but redeemed myself with a quick boogie (we had the place to
ourselves). We then popped next door to Doolitlles restaurant. (The film Dr
Doolitlle was filmed here). Had my first taste of Mahi Mahi (fish) gorgeous! We
made sure our mossy nets were firmly in place tonight, so hopefully we wont be
the main course on the menu for the little critters! The moon was incredibly
bright - unfortunately as the boat is on mooring buoy there is quite a lot of
movement so trying to take pictures at night is not possible, nowhere to
stabilise camera with those extended shutter speeds - I've posted one up
anyway to give you an idea anyway! If anyone has any ideas let me
know!
From Marigot bay we went to Soufriere Bay where the
Pitons form a dramatic back drop. Not as pretty as Marigot but still very
magical! Captain Bob (boat boy)tracked us down before we'd even entered Bay
and took us to a mooring buoy. We then arranged with him to do tour for xmas
day, consisting of a volcano and waterfall. Our mooring was situated on top
of a mini aquarium. We plopped in the water straight away and had a snorkel
around. Wonderfully cooling. The only disadavntage with this spot it
was quite rolly. JH rigged up "floppy" which was meant to help kill the rolling
motion. Not so successful needs some refinement but worth pursuing. For those of
you interested, it consists of a triange (fibre glass) with a weight fixed in
one corner. This was then lowered into the water off the spinaker pole.The
correct depth and weight are difficult to determine so need to experiment some
more. Plenty of opportunties to try and get it to work.
Xmas day and Bob collected us for our tour - once
on dry land we were promptly handed over to Gabriel in his "hippy bus" who gave
us a quick tour of Soufriere town (we'd been in the day before so no surprises).
Paradise stops abruptly as soon as you walk away from the water front. It's
quite a melting pot with the wealthier St Lucians living side by side with the
shanty existence of those less fortunate. Not a place to linger longer than
you really need to, although we did find a smart shop where JH bought
himself some linen trousers! (Could it be he's smartening up in his advancing
years?!) Also if you know where to go there are some good local eateries. The
roads are falling apart, huge pot holes and belive it or not full
of SUVs and people all milling in together. Health and safety would have a
field day.
Our tour was short! It was kind of the ASDA
version as opposed to Harrods! Nevertheless interesting and being Xmas day
was just nice to be doing something. We had a great view of Chantelle
sitting in the bay from a viewpoint stop! The sulphur springs were smelly as
you'd expect and the waterfall had some heavy weather damage, but the water was
amazing. The one pool was just too hot but the others perfect! Also got chatting
to the local maintenance chap (working on xmas day) who told us some of the
history of the place. Interetsing!
Once back on boat we decided to stay put and cook
our xmas lunch on board. Yummy roasted veggies and a Frey Bentos pie! Spent the
night star gazing and marvelling at magical ship that came by lit up like a xmas
tree - we thought it might be the nautical version of santas sledge. Again I've
posted piccie but very blurred - you'll have to use your imagination. The
following morning we'd arranged to go diving but there was some confusion over
timings so we ended up just snorkelling. Just as good! We then decided to head
back to Rodney Bay.
We've actually had a few days of doing nothing much
at all - which is nice for a change. It's Friday today and I collected my
first piece of mail to arrive. It was posted on 5th December - so not bad only
23 days! Thank you Mum!
It's been much cooler today, a welcome change. We
had quite a rain storm last night that came straight down the wind shute!
Judging by the amount of cushions etc drying out on coach roofs quite a few
people were caught out!
Well folks that's all for now. Hope you enjoy the
pictures.
Best wishes and Happy New Years to
all.
Kim and John
xx
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