Moored Up Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia 14:04.665N 60:57.877W
Tioram 4
Tina & Tony
Sun 13 Dec 2009 21:20
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Sunday 13th December, Rodney Bay St
Lucia.
Well as you may have guessed we have now arrived in
St Lucia after finally crossing the finish line at 10:20 on Friday morning. The
final mornings sail was spectacular as it began with the landfall of
Martinique being sighted on the horizon around 3am, but the trip was not yet
over as the Atlantic still had some surprises for us. Mighty Atlantic rollers
(upto 10m) and 30 knots of wind kept the helms occupied as we swept into the St
Lucian Channel and we were certainly glad that we'd reefed down the day before
to run solely on the gennie as we were still hitting 7-8 knots.
The first we saw of St Lucia was after first light
and had initially thought it was a cloud, but on further inspection we could
make out the distinct terrain of the Atlantic coast and the "mountains" further
south. As we drew closer and the sun came up over the eastern horizon the
colours of the island exploded, going from a black, white and grey to vivid
greens and blues and our first sight of habitation!! The light also allowed
us to see our fellow competitors on final approach to the finish, as previously
we had only seen nav lights throughout the night and gradually as we came within
vhf range started to hear the calls into the finish line with respective
etas.....we were almost there.
About a mile from the finish line, we were joined
by the photographer in his rib. All credit to him as this rib cannot have been
more than 2m long and in such big seas, he was able to control the rib and take
some excellent photos. As the claxon sounded on the finish line, the
celebrations began and was certainly an emotional time for us all, what an
achievement, we'd spent the last 19 days and 20 hours unassisted at sea covering
over 3000 miles in the end. I cannot explain the emotions that you feel as you
cross the line; there are highs and lows - elation at the scale of the
achievement, sadness that the voyage is over and having to return to "normal"
life, tiredness as the adrenaline that you've been running on for days starts to
run out. Personally, having crossed the Pond twice before this trip, I still got
the same feelings, but it is only whilst writing this blog that I'm really
appreciating the finish as it did turn into a blur.
Anyway, after crossing the line and coming through
the narrows into the Rodney Bay marina we were directed into our pontoon on the
vhf, but not really necessary as we could hear horns going from the shore team
and the sight of Jane waving!. We were in great company, in front of a 150ft
motor yacht and to the side of a similarly sized mega yacht, Mystere, and
Tioram. We had to think who'd had the most eventful crossing, would the owners
of either have actually felt the 30-40 knot
winds, the corkscrew motion as one of the big berthas kicks the stern out and
sends you into a vicious rocking motion or even experience trying to cook
pasta in a pan of boiling water during a squall....we think not, but which crew
have got more out of the trip, no question, us.
As Mike (and to be honest all the crew) hoped Jane
was on the pontoon and along with several other neighbouring yacht crews, took
our lines and then each one of took the almighty step onto solid land. The ARC
staff certainly have this down to a tee now, a welcome from the world cruising
club and the st lucian tourist board with a mighty jug of refreshing iced rum
punch, followed swiftly by our own champagne toast. Tina and Tony kindly
departed to sort out the immigration formalities which we were all so grateful
for, especially as it took forever and I doubt we would have had the patience
for such the inefficiency (sorry, normal work practice!) of caribbean
bureaucracy!. The rest of us found a table and began "rehydrating" in the local
hostelry, and once Skipper and Tina arrived, the party really started and can
honestly say that the much talked about cheese and bacon burger with fries lived
up to expectations. Our neighbours from the Swedish yacht, Thindra, were sitting
next to us in the bar and despite having arrived earlier in the week, needed no
encouragement to join in with our own celebrations and as the afternoon went on
the amount of singing increased, surely nothing to do with the the quantity of
the local brew, rum punch and pina coladas that the bar staff insisted on
bringing to our table (and I certainly don't remember ordering it, ha ha ha!!).
I have to admit that after this the memories of the day seem to be fairly hazy
for yours truly and from the stories the next morning, it wasn't just me who
crashed out by 10pm, Tina on the other hand got a second wind and went out and
met friends in H20 - how she managed I'm not sure.
Well two days in and we're slowly recovering, some
are still waking up in the middle of the night thinking they've got to go on
watch, aching muscles are easing, bruising is subsiding and thoughts now
turning to how we can explore this lucious island as apart from last night
we haven't managed to leave the marina. All are hoping that we'll leave
Rodney Bay later in the week and go down south for a couple of days
and anchor up under the Pitons (the spectacular "mountains" that the island
is famous for), there is a picture on the front of our caribbean guidebook of
that area and we just need to have our own photo of the same location with
Tioram anchored!
Before I end this as it will probably be the last
blog that I write for this trip, I want to thank both Tina and Tony for the
chance to sail with them on this trip as it was not just another Atlantic
crossing, it was a long held dream of theirs, so has been extra special to be
part of this. Also every member of the crew deserves a mention as we came
together during the good and bad times of the trip to bring the good ship Tioram
into St Lucia; Tony with his calm and collected manner that gave us all
confidence no matter what the conditions were that allowed us to sail her
in the best and safest way, Mike for his banter during our watch to keep me
going whilst on the helm and to wake up for those most hated of 4am watches,
Tina for her diligent provisioning and random comments during the trip that
still have us all laughing, Moira for her care of the crew and making sure we
were all clipped on and Pat (yes, he has subsequently lived up to his beer
monster reputation, ha ha ha!) for this constant enthusiasm despite making the
leap into the unknown and joining us on his longest sailing passage! Thanks to
you all......
Now that we have internet access, we'll start
sorting out all our photos for the whole trip, so you can share some of our
experiences over the past 3 weeks.
Love to all back at home.
Al, Mike, Tina, Moira, Pat and Tony
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