Recovering from ARC two weeks later! 14:11.9N 60:47.5W

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Thu 24 Dec 2015 14:31
It is Christmas Eve. I am still recovering from the ARC in one way, and just adjusting to the way of life on land in another.
We have been slowly getting the boat cleaned up and put away properly after the crossing. Back to home schooling and reading for my sabbatical. The St. Lucian's have been really wonderful and welcoming. This is a country covered in a lush rainforest. Banana grow well here, and they sell most of their crop to the UK. They are a different variety than the ones at home and the taste is excellent. Catherine seems to delight in informing everyone that banana plants are not a tree but an "overgrown herb". How does she know this? " I read it in a book." is the consistent reply. The sun is intense so we have to be very careful not to get sunburned. I got a touch too much sun while simply sitting in the shade. Pavel is looking very healthy and tan. The kids had a blast on family day at the St Lucian Yacht Club and loved playing on their inflatable water park and just swimming and playing in the waves.

I went on a tree planting expedition with the ARC and the Rotary Club and saw this beautiful country and its rainforest up close. We planted trees on a fairly steep hill/mountain in an area that is a watershed, and the country is reclaiming it from planted banana fields by inserting young indigenous trees on the hillsides. I had a good time hauling trees to the location and digging holes. Papaya and melons were growing wild, lemons, limes, oranges, passionfruit grow in abundance, and the tomatoes are unreal. Waiting to see how a ripe local avocado tastes. There are beautiful green hummingbirds here and various other bird species that I have never seen before.

Vlad has finished fixing most of the boat issues that happened as a result of 17 days straight sailing in 15-25 knots of wind, and the aftermath of being hauled out to fix the prop. The attachment of the jib sheet to the sail; fixed. The wonky fresh water pump; switched out to the spare:fixed. The Victron panel that was fine until haulout; replaced and fixed! The main cabin air-conditioning: installed!!!!! The aft cabin door handle screws that had loosened; fixed:) Boat already cleaned inside and out once including wall and ceilings, and despite daily vacuuming, routine cleaning and tidying now needs a refresher. A few more laundry items for me to do before guests arrive. And will need to refill boat with drinks and a few food items, but I'll wait for Bianca to arrive to get a bit of help, so that won't take too long.

The Rodney Bay Marina is clean and safe, with various restaurants and shops. I love taking the kids on the local public transportation to get around. The village of Rodney Bay is the tourist capital of the island, with prices to match, but superb food. We had great meals at the Blue Olive and the Tapas restaurant with Jirina. She is here visiting for Christmas, and staying in a modest hotel with a pool, which is great in that we can sit in the shaded patio and supervise the kids while they swim. However, she broke her right arm a week before she arrived while "running for a bus", so getting on the boat is a real issue. We were hoping that she would stay on the boat with us on Christmas Eve, but just getting her into the cockpit is a challenge, so she really can't go below at all.

We are also hoping that Santa will be able to find us, but not sure if he is arriving in the evening or in the middle of the night. We shall have to just wait and see what will happen:)

The boat needs to be cleaned, I need to decorate and wrap the presents, and I am having people over for "Kleblichki", the Czech open faced sandwiches at 4 pm. Got to get going! Will update with a few photos before I get onto the real work of the day.