Portside Banter from St Lucia....
Mikado
Sat 13 Dec 2008 23:09
Well we made it man!! Chillin out now at da island of St Lucia at Rodney
Bay. And yeh man, da rum is da good eh....
Mikado was the 55th yacht over the line (out of 225) and is in very fine
company indeed. She looks very proud moored along the sporty racers and
larger and significantly more expensive Oysters....She was also the first
Beneteau 473 over the line and what's more : we beat the Irish (on
Mollihawks Shadow) in.....I am eagerly awaiting a bottle of Ireland's finest
liquor to appear on the back deck.
On the voyage across the Atlantic, I was wondering what hidden talent Julz
may have. Well, all was revealed last night at the Caribbean BBQ at the
marina last night that was hosted by the ARC. Yes Ingrid, I can report that
your son may yet appear on the next series of "Australia's Got
Talent"...After only 2 rum punches he was up on stage in the final male
dance-off to the hypnotic tunes of the Reggae band against one of the
locals. In fact, I think his style is a mix of Rap, Chill and Salsa. He had
the crowd of around 500 cheering for Australia and made his new found
Swedish friend smile...There were quite a few Oi Oi Oi's shouting from the
crowd; or something similar from one of the many Bob Marley lookalikes.
Anyway after his final backflip and "moon walk" he was rewarded with both a
"Digicell" Cap (the local telecom provider and sponsor) and accepting smiles
from the Swedish parents who were walzing in front of the stage....I think
he appreciated the latter a bit more.
Mikado is now back into "cruise" mode and I have stowed away the wet weather
gear, safety harnesses and lee cloths etc.. The topsides have been washed
down and Nick has inflated the dinghy and fired up the outboard - he's in
his element again and with a mate from the 66 foot Oyster next to us, was
zooming around to the beach late yesterday.
The old farts are back into a routine and are attending to errant Emails and
other domestic chores....and well, I'm doing much the same.
From what we have seen so far, the island of St Lucia is really beautiful.
Lush scenery and pretty houses of an eclectic Mediteranean and Spanish
design, infused with a bit of local colonial architecture (Sorry Watty -
that is a beginners attempt at "archispeak")....Ok - it looks a bit like
Cairns, only the mountains are bigger and it is a bit more relaxed...I am
getting to understand what "Caribbean" time means....If they say something
happens at say 1pm; well that means that at 1pm they will start to think
about what they may have needed to do at 1pm....anytime in the afternoon may
be possible that day or the next. The laundryman (with dreadlocks and a
Captain Sparrow hat in the bright red timber dinghy) was due to bring the
washing back yesterday...."Yeah Man, I'll get it back to you this afternoon
man...Just relax and it'll all be OK skipper..." It is now afternoon on the
next day....At least the jocks would have got a good soaking.
We'll probably stay here another week and then get going down the east coast
of the island. there are heapsof little bays and coves to explore. Will also
need to see where some of cruising friends are going for Christmas after
that....We'll all be "orphans" in a foreign land for this Christmas...After
that, well who knows...North or South?? Where the wind takes us
probably....Need to be in Panama by late March/early April...
By the way, thanks to all of you who sent us encouraging EMails on the way
across....it was much appreciated by myself and the crew. Enjoy the
Christmas champagnes and hams without us....we will be thinking of you.
Must go...Julz and Nick have just brought back some hamburgers for lunch...
Cheers
Ian