ARC 2009-Week 2 in St Lucia
Tucanon
Dick and Irene Craig
Sun 20 Dec 2009 11:38
if we must have been here for at least a month.
If the time was based on the amount of alcohol being consumed, not
necessarily by the folk on this boat, though I had my fingers crossed as I
wrote that, a lot of livers must feel as if they have been here even longer
than that.
Everyone is having a great time. There are so many activities arranged for
the revellers, as well as the independence of being able to go off to do
one's own thing, should that be preferred. A number of boats have already
departed and many of the boats have been going out for the day or a few
days, some around the island, some to another bay and others to a different
island.
Today, Thursday, I am trying to clean the boat in the rain. It is helpful
when the rain is not heavy but when it starts to pour heavily, I do have to
come inside and wait until it subsides.
It has rained at some juncture, most days or nights that we have been here.
Sometimes very light and just a few drops it makes no difference, other
times a short shower and sometimes a downpour. We had heavy rain, on and off
all last night.
There is a white board on display in the boat so that if one or more of the
crew is not planning to be in for lunch or supper, they can make their mark
on the white board. It helps cook to plan the meals though it has been known
for an almost last minute change of plans as well as not actually putting
the "X" in the box at all.
The boat is dressed over all, as are many of the other ARC boats here,
though not all of them.
Chris has converted our laptop from Vista to Windows 7 so we are now getting
to discover the vagaries of Windows 7. As it has only just been done and a
few things still need to be finalised, it is too early to decide which
system we prefer. If we don't like it, then we can still revert back to
Vista though I expect that will be unlikely.
Austin arranged for us to hire a car and driver and all four of us toured
the island accompanied by Bongo Lite, a Rastafarian pan player and two of
his children, a 14 year old girl named Menin and her 16 year old brother
Nephseli. I can't vouch for the spelling of his name. Both are on holiday
from school at present. Menin wants to go on to further education and study
music, Nephseli is keen to study technical drawing. He was fascinated by
Chris's camera and played with it, quite skilfully, all day long, taking
some excellent photographs, one of which is below.
We visited the drive in volcano with its many fumoroles and bubbling, hot
pools. After walking around the volcano we then made our way to the mineral
baths where Chris soaked away his aches and pains, then felt mega sleepy for
the rest of the day.
We lunched in Castries and then went on to the Botanical gardens which were
amazing, with gigantic tropical trees, a fountain, mineral baths and a
waterfall. Although I knew that it was there, I was not prepared for the
vista, as I walked around a bend and saw the waterfall. Stunning!
A parcel, sent by Victron, using UPS arrived, so Dick and I got a bus from
the marina to Castries to pick it up. Being on the bus was an entertainment.
It reminded me very much of being on the boat, although it didn't effect us
as we were in a window seat. However, anyone that sat on the fold-down seats
was up and down like a yoyo, not only getting up from the seat but having to
move outside the bus, until everyone was off, before climbing back on again.
We purchased a few items while in Castries and found the assistants
incredibly helpful. If they hadn't got what we wanted they not only told us
where we might find it but took us to the shop, so that we wouldn't get
lost.
I made some jerk chicken which was so delicious I walked to the supermarket
the next morning, to ensure I had adequate provisions on board to repeat the
process.
Last night there was a fancy dress party on Pidgeon island, the theme being
"all
I want for Christmas", which is currently the marketing phrase for Digicel,
the mobil phone people in the Caribbean. Austin and Chris, along with the
folks from Ghost and from Raylah, dressed in white tops and dark
shorts/skirts etc, wearing the logo "YOU", made from silver foil. Bob, who
will be joining us for the WARC, wore a flamingo dancer style apron and very
little else.
