Thursday 8th December
Nowcrew
Fri 9 Dec 2005 17:11
ARRIVAL
NIGHT!
Position : Rodney
Bay St Lucia
Thursday started
with the boat flying at 9 knots towards St Lucia. We had continued on the same
tack as the previous night and with a good run we felt we could make the finish
line just before night fall. The wind built during the morning and the boat
speed gradually increased as we surged forwards riding down the
rollers.
With the end in
sight we were all looking forward to a few beers and a meal on dry land. Things
were going well with the fine tuned boat and our speed increased to hit a
maximum of 15.2 knots with the biggest wave surge. It was clear we were going to
do a lot of miles today and in the end we were very pleased to hit our maximum
mileage in one day of 220 miles.
Hot beef curry was
on the menu for lunch, at the request of Tom, and then we all settled down to
see who could spot land first. Martinique came into view off the the starboard
bow, Charlie being the first to see it. We started to feel the finish line was
close.
We passed the lower
tip of Martinique and suddenly the wind had dropped. If we were going to get in
before dark we needed to do something to increase the speed. The skipper shouted
for the spinnaker and soon we had the big blue sail flying again.
The outline of St
Lucia formed on the horizon and then we suddenly saw our first competitor coming
in from the southern route. Let's race them to the finish line shouted the
skipper. Before long there was another sail and then another with five boats
coming into view one after the next. It was soon clear that these boats
were going to finish before us and our attention was back onto trying to
get in before dark. Unfortunately we were still 3 miles out when the sky went
black and so we ended up navigating ourselves over the finish line in the dark
which was a difficult experience.
There were four
large tankers anchored up off Rodney Bay. They were lit up like Christmas trees
but we were not able to tell if they were at anchor or motoring towards us.
There were a few rocks to avoid as we rounded Pigeon Point and then with
some slow and careful navigation of the boat we approached the finish
line.
Tom piped us
over the line in traditional style.
A photographer
in a rib came out to meet us and take some team shots and then it was into
the marina. The entrance to the marina was very tight and on the way in we
almost came nose to nose with a party Cat on it's way out for an evening of
fun with reggae music blaring out. The skipper took his time and
we found our way through the marina and finally tied up at the
berth at 18.30.
There was a
welcome team from the ARC office waiting for us with rum punches for the
crew and a basket of fresh local fruits. All of the marinas facilities were
explained to us and we were invited to a welcome party at the Yacht Club
that night. We tidied up the boat at record pace and then headed for
the bar.
To get to Yacht Club
we needed to take a water taxi to the other side of the marina and we met Del
Boy one of the water taxi drivers. He turned out to be a great character who for
a few dollars was going to organize everything we needed during our stay here!
The welcome event was sponsored by Heineken so it was free beer all night! What
a shame!!
Nowcrew
out.