Hey guys, this blog was written last Spring, but somehow never posted on the site. So here she is a blast from our recent past…

With friends, Rick and Mimi, aboard we make a quick morning trip into the sleepy little village of St Anne on the Southern tip of Martinique.

We are headed for St Lucia today and need baguettes and customs clearance. ( Need is the operative word, we won’t see these precious bakery goods for several month when we return in the winter…there is nothing like them , except for in France I guess) It’s crazy, but again we arrive after 8 am and find the first round of baguettes and pastries are scarcely available. We are not the only connoisseurs. We scramble from shop to shop get lucky on a warm crispy baguette, and spend a few moments looking at local art and craft. Oh and just a couple more bottles of French red wine, as well, to get us to Grenada!

Once the anchor was up we had sails out and with a 190 degree heading for our 20 nm sail to Rodney Bay. The seas are 4-6 ft and wind 15-17 knots from the East, so we have a nice reach with all the sails, as we cross the Martinique-St Lucia channel. We always hope for comfortable sailing for our friends and are kindly rewarded this day. The water is that deep blue as the gentle swells and waves ride up under Lost Loon, taking us on what we used to call ‘whoopsie hills’ in the car as kids. The air is warm and comfortable at sail. The hours pass quickly as we discuss weather, life and the dreaded subject of politics! We manage to make St Lucia in just under 4 hours and find a good anchorage spot off Reduit Beach. There’s a good showing here and the resorts seem active along the water. By late afternoon we managed to get into customs, the hardware store, and the huge Massey grocery for some of the foods we’ve missed over the few months, and back to the boat for sunset. We are rewarded for our efforts with a lovely evening seascape…hues of pink and orange set the sky afire as late coming ships make anchor for the night.

The following day we would move along south a few miles to Marigot Bay for hiking, swimming, snorkeling and happy hour with a couple games of pool at Doolittles Bar. We have found this great hike from Mango Inn to the ridge that overlooks Marigot. As instructed, we close the gate (to keep the dogs in) and gather whatever walking sticks are available to assist our morning adventure. The trail manages to gain elevation quickly as you walk up the steepness, stepping up onto the rocks, holding on the roots, and finally near the top there is a rope that runs laterally to pull oneself up huge boulders. The blue sky quickly comes into view above head as we take the last giant steps. We are appreciative of the folks at the Inn who maintain this trail. The ridge trail now take us to what is known as the meditation platform, a beautiful overlook of Marigot Bay.

We can see the sailboats moored and at anchor, along with the enormous motor yachts docked in the marina. As we walk westerly on the trail,it takes us on a gentle downslope back to the bay where we are anxious to get back to the boat for a swim. This afternoon we make our plans for heading to new anchorages in the south of St Lucia near the Pitons.

We count 5 trips north and south we have come past this island in the last 3 years and sailed right by the huge Pitons that stand guard off the southwest coast of the island.As in other locations, we have heard of some unsafe locations for anchoring and probably been overly cautious. But, we have recently talked to other cruisers who have been here and said it was completely safe we pick up anchor the next morning for one of 2 anchorages..between the Pitons or one north of Soufrier. The weather is overcast with a few scattered showers. This doesn’t change the beauty of the land and sea, but gives it a unique ethereal appearance.

The clouds holding onto the rainforest moisture hang over the high mountains and slowly sink dreamily to the sea. We try to locate the moorings just north of Soufrier, but the ones we can find are too close to a huge jetty, so we head for the mooring between the Pitons. Here we have to take a mooring because the water death is well over 50 ft. Since we need to have at least 5:1 ratio of chain to depth, our adequate 250 ft of chain in the locker is not quite enough. Like entering the Land of Oz our tiny sailboat glides between these huge mountainous structures.

From the bow and the stern we crane our necks skyward to get the full view and its pretty awesome. There are truly no photo that can really capture this.

We explore the ocean depths by skin diving and snorkeling along the Gros Piton, go ashore to check out the Sugar Beach Resort nestled here. The following morning Mike and I and Rick and Mimi have plans to walk to the hot springs. We get directions from trip advisor and also stop at the resort office to verify the plan. It is naturally a steep walk out of the resort with roads switching back and forth as well as straight up. To our surprise, once past the resort gate the road takes a turn left and steep downhill about 1/4 mile to the entrance to the hot Springs. It’s $5 dollars to enter and we can stay as long as we wish….and we do. The water coming out of the waterfall is nearly 95 degrees! The lush greenery surrounds us as the breeze comes and goes in this little tropical paradise. For several minutes we have this place to ourselves, relaxing. We are reluctant to leave because we have a huge uphill trek for at least 20 min in the midday sun. Our return is not as difficult as anticipated, as we take it 100ft at a time. We arrive back at the Sugar Beach and the ever present sea breeze. We walk through a cool, quiet, forested trail and then back across the sand where we beached the dinghy. Back to the boat for a great swim and late lunch on this the last day of Rick and Mimi’s visit.

The sun sets again beautifully on the calm ocean as we settle for a night tucked in between one of nature’s incredible scenes.

We leave the Pitons and head just a bit north to Soufrier Bay where we catch a mooring. Our first stop is customs where we must officially check our guests off the boat, then arrange for their ride to the airport. We survey the city, grab some cool drinks and then say our goodbyes!

Mike and I return to the boat for a quick swim, and leave for waters south, St Vincent!