(Blog No.46) Land Ho!
Catou
Paul and Sylvie Tucker
Sun 19 Dec 2010 04:20
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Thursday 16th December
(Day 25)
Really sorry, sorry, sorry that it has taken so long to
report on the arrival day - but, boy, it has been so frantic!
Thursday morning dawned with Sylvie coming down below to
wake Ben and I - to tell us that she had sighted LAND! LAND
HO! After 25 days, it was a very welcome sight. We had a good
view of St. Lucia to port and Martinique to starboard as we started to close the
'St. Lucia Channel' between the two islands. The wind picked up a little,
so we were able to sail and stop the engine that had been running for much of
the night. Two or three other yachts were also closing on the finish
line. As we approached the northern tip of the island (our waypoint for
the last 1500 miles), we called the ARC to advise them that we were 5 miles
from the finish line (a requirement), and continued to sail around the northern
point at about 1215 hrs. It was a short sail to Rodney Bay, and at 2 miles
we called ARC on the VHF again to confirm position with 2 miles to
finish. As we closed Pigeon island, just to the north of Rodney
Bay, we saw the boat belonging to my old St. Lucian pal, Mike Medar, coming
out to meet us. He had on board Ben's wife and his two young children +
our friends (Ben's parents-in-law) Nigel & Helen, and their other daughter
Caroline and her boyfriend, Doug + a few others on board. They circled us,
with much waving, photo taking and then - came close alongside to throw
over some bottles of beer! (I had mentioned in a recent blog that
'Catou's' beer supplies had been running low!) Ben caught a few
and they were distributed accordingly.
We soon identified the finish line, and with
a perfectly timed gust of wind and a close reach, 'Catou' surged
towards the line and crossed it at about 1315 hrs on Thursday 16th
December. As we were approaching the finish, a photographer appeared
in a dinghy - to get some photos (1) go to www.photoaction.com (2) Then click
on 'Regatta archive, (3) then click on ARC 2010 - St. Lucia finish line (4)
then on year 2010 and up will come the boat names - (5) click on
'Catou'. Lots of pictures there.
Once we crossed the line, we dropped the sails and
motored into the marina. Our friends on 'Maymio' had put in a special
request for us to berth alongside them, so we were directed to their pontoon,
and soon spotted them waving us in. We tied up alongside, and soon
had a wonderful crowd greet us on the pontoon. Mike had moored his boat
along the pontoon, and was down to greet us with Ben's wife and children and all
the family (Ben's two-year-old daughter Emily was not too sure about Dad's
3 1/2 week old beard though!). We had a wonderful re-union, and there
was Robin, Jenny and Tony off Maymio, Norman Johnson, a customer of ours,
whose main store was just behind the marina, several people from other ARC
yachts, and St. Lucians who were bringing us welcome arrival gifts.
Some cold beers arrived, + 2 bottle of the very smooth local rum - and a
big party in the cockpit started!. I had to disappear to check in with
immigration and customs at the marina offices, + an ARC report had to be handed
in (together with the 'yellowbrick' - that's the thing that had
been transmitting our position every 6 hours since we had left Las
Palmas). Camilla and her father (who own and run the Auberge Seraphine
hotel - that I always stay in here) came down later with a lovely
bottle of champagne + bottle rum + sausage rolls, and then Richard Johnson
and one or two others. And so it went on into the evening - when we then
moved on to an ARC party hosted by the St. Lucian Tourist Board. At about
10pm, (in a state that I am sure we shouldn't have done!) we drove back to the
Auberge Seraphine hotel and checked in and collapsed!
After a treat of a cooked breakfast on Friday
morning, I left Sylvie at the hotel - for a further sleep, a pedicure and
beautician, and drove to the marina, to sort a few things out on the boat ,and
to meet Ben + family. Later, I had to drive to the southern end of
the island to collect Brian & Pam Sharp, who were arriving at 2.30pm from
Gatwick. However, some other friends (he was in the ARC as well,
and his wife had come out to meet him) were going back on the same flight that
the Sharps were arriving on, so I was able to take them down to the airport at
the same time. The Sharps arrived on time, and we drove back, collected
Sylvie on the way, and went up to check in Brian & Pam. Within 3/4
hour, we were off out for drinks and a meal in a local steak
house. That was another late night.
Today (Saturday), we drove to Rodney Bay, moved Catou
across to Mike's house, and then took Nigel & Helen out for a day's sail
down the west coast. A lovely sail southwards, but somewhat gusty coming
back up the coast this afternoon! 2 reefs in the main and the genoa.
Anyway, we were back at 4.15pm, tidied up 'Catou', collected the Sharps from
their hotel (they were moving to our hotel). A quick change, and we drove
off to the final ARC presentations in the evening. ..................And
that's how it's been since we arrived. So very sorry I haven't
reported in for two days!
We have some repairs and jobs to do on Catou, and we
need to remove the mainsail, as well as repair the broken sliders
+ several other jobs to be carried out. There is
a 'straightening' job to do on the cockpit windscreen (after our
'knockdown'), so there's enough to keep the boys busy anyway.
A few photos from Sylvie's camera (since mine is a
gonner - sadly!)
Thanks to everyone for following the blog - and sorry it
was so late coming!
Paul, Sylvie and Ben.
Message pour les gens du Quebec:
Nous sommes enfin arrives jeudi dernier/ Les evenements
suivant notre arrivee nous ons empeche d'ecrire: reception accueil,
rencontre avec les autes bateaux, etc...
Apres 25 jours en mer nous avons atteint notre
destination.
Merci de nous avoir suivit tout au long de ce magnifique
voyage. Nous prenons quelques jours de repos avant de repartir pour les
Grenadines et Grenada.
Nous aurons la chance de vous ecrire a
nouveau.
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