Position: 13:58:00N 61:01:4W

After leaving Rodney Bay, we sailed the short distance down the coast, past the St Lucian capital of Castries, to Marigot Bay.  We passed close in front of a very shiny-looking Queen Mary 2.  Luckily they were anchored.

“Power gives way to sail!  I said… POWER GIVES… – oh forget it”

Marigot Bay is a tiny little place that you can’t see until you’re almost past it (the legend goes that the British fleet hid from the French in Marigot Bay and tied palm fronds to the rigging to disguise the ships whilst the French sailed right past)

Marigot Bay

It is idyllic-looking but the reality is a little tarnished.  We took a mooring in the inner lagoon for 80 EC$ (£20) and “Wanderer IV” our Dutch friends rafted alongside.  Unfortunately there appears to be two sets of moorings – the “official” ones and the “unofficial” ones.  The difference is that the unofficial ones cost 10EC$ less.  However, having two sets of moorings in a confined space = lots of boats bumping into each other, and we spent a lot of our evening fending off as Nutmeg got all amorous with a neighbouring Dufour.

However the highlight of Marigot Bay was seeing lots of turtles swimming around the boat.  They were about 50cm in diameter and quite agile as they surfaced and dived.  We weren’t expecting this – are turtles common here?  The girls were thrilled.