St. Lucia
Lady Stardust Faro-Portugal to Barcelona - 2010
Paul Collister
Tue 19 Dec 2006 22:28
Our first day here has been marvellous. After
all the euphoria of arriving and the fantastic welcoming reception, we met up
with some of the people we'd befriended in Gran Canaria and swapped our
experiences of the journey. We've done really well to get here so quickly
in a small boat because some of the bigger ones are still out there, but we
won't know our final position until the closing
date, the 21st December when the winners are announced at a
prize-giving ceremony in the evening. Last night we went to a
welcoming party hosted by one of the local dignitaries. It was in his
garden and too dark to see much but the house looked impressive with three
storeys and some fine balconies. I would have loved to look inside, but we
had a good time - all the rum punches were free and samples
of traditional Caribbean fare were on offer (nothing vegetarian
unfortunately). We were both extremely tired and the drinks were going
down far too easily so that at one point I fell asleep in a chair as we were
talking to one of the other participants - very embarrassing. We got a
taxi not long after and came back to the boat, by which time the rum punch
really hit me and I can't remember much after that. For some bizarre
reason I must have sat on the fridge because that's where I woke up! Paul
was fast asleep in the cockpit, brandy glass still in his hand and I have no
idea what time it was. Needless to say we've nursed hangovers for most of
the day but we did sleep well and when we felt up to it we went for a lovely
cooked breakfast at a cafe opposite. The marina is lovely and the
atmosphere is great here - a bit like Glastonbury without the crowds.
It's going to be impossible to describe how beautiful it is so I've taken lots
of photos and included some here. Today we did a few light jobs, had a bit
of a walk, sorted our laundry out and went to a Caribbean cookery
demonstration. I'm planning to try out a few Caribbean recipes while I'm
here - the tropical veg, fruit and spices looked lovely. A local band is
playing some Cajun folk music outside at the moment and last night's steel band
was good too. Tonight we are off to a party on the boat of one of the guys
we made friends with in Las Palmas and hopefully we won't end up in
the same state as last night : ).
All is absolutely great and I feel so lucky to be
here experiencing all this,
Love Kathy
The view on our way in to the marina
Fruit and veg delivery Caribbean style
The bar opposite our
boat