Holidays 2008
HO HO HO - A Jolly Christmas in St. Lucia and Happy New Year in Martinque
The problem with cruising guides is that they are rarely right up to date. This we discovered again as early morning dawned and we made our way to the entrance to Rodney Bay having sailed all night from Bequia…only to find a huge sign at the mouth of the harbor announcing that anchoring is no longer permitted inside the bay. Well drat. We know that the marina is not taking reservations as they are “firmly committed to the ARC”. The outside anchorage is rough this morning and not at all what we intended, so we decide to go on inside for a look see anyway. We are looking for the customs office as on the chart it looks like there might be temporary dock space, but there is a huge new marina section being built for mega yachts and we can’t quite figure it out.
So, as we are winding our way through this shallow but lovely harbor we see an outside slip open, no tell tale leavings of it being an owned slip, so figure it must be transient and decide to slip in and wait for someone to wake up and give us suggestions…well that was my idea, Ade’s was, “a-hah, we’re in, harder to turn us out”! So with that attitude, we start shopping answers to our query, “can we stay”? The angle that worked for us was to find one of the many boat boys offering cleaning services to help us get permission to stay. With that and a sincere promise to the office to vacate the slip should any ARC boat need it we were set for the week. Yippee. Now we can dig in and get ready for the kids to arrive.
The ARC, the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers is a big deal, over 200 boats sail from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands at the end of November and make their way to St Lucia for winter cruising in the Caribbean. It usually takes about 3+ weeks and they are beat, but joyous, as they make their way in. We were there to see many arrive and it’s a big celebration, with family that did not cross with them waiting with champagne and the committee there making announcements, mini steel drums playing, etc. Lots of fun, we were lucky to be able to join in.
Rodney Bay is the perfect cruisers harbor with great supermarkets, laundries, marine stores, restaurants, and lovely beaches. There was a masseuse who came by the boat to advertise, and we quickly signed up. Sigh. I even found a pretty good hairdresser. The only hope I have for finding a good salon is to find a local woman whose hair I like and ask for her hairdresser’s name. In the Caribbean, where the majority of people are of African descent and frankly do not know how to deal with my baby fine very straight hair, it’s been more of a challenge! For me, the drama comes up every five or six weeks. I’ve had everything from snow white fried hair to various shades of rust!! And this was with recommendations. We had a mutt called Patty when we were growing up; my hair currently looks like her fur in the later part of her life! Lovely.
We moved right in and got ready to welcome Heather and Ted for the holidays. They arrived, but their luggage did not. It of course included all those supplies and parts that we’ve been ordering for months, plus mail, gifts…and oh by the way, their clothes and essentials. They made do and the inconvenience didn’t bother them at all, so we lost no time making plans and seeing the island.
St Lucia is just fantastically beautiful. One of the Lesser Antilles, she was formed from ancient volcanoes millions of years ago. She is lush, green and mountainous with steep river valleys, rainforests, waterfalls and fertile land. Quite a contrast to desert islands like the ABC’s. We hired a guide from the many who wait just outside the marina and belong to the professional association. Prices are pretty much set, but you can negotiate a little. The vans are in good shape and the guides speak perfect English and are very knowledgeable and accommodating.
Our first day’s journey took us to downtown Castries and the fresh markets, up and down the mountainous roads of the west coast through all the little villages and beaches and down to Soufriere and the spectacular Pitons. We went to the exclusive Ladera Resort for lunch at the Dasheen Restaurant and were able to take a tour of the property and rooms - the suites each have their own pool inside the unit extending out onto decks that look out to the Pitons and the ocean…really a slice of heaven! We hiked back to see the Diamond Waterfalls, toured the Botanical Gardens, and saw the last trace of volcanic activity at the Sulphur Springs. Regrettably, we did not have time to climb the Pitons…we will do that the next time…when we stay at the resort!!
We moved the boat over to Vigie Cove in Castries, a little used anchorage that we really enjoyed. The cruise ships dock near here, so there are lots of touristy things to do. It is also near the domestic airport, so when the last piece of the kids luggage finally arrived, mysteriously at this airport (the international airport is at Vieux Fort, at the southern end of the island) they just walked over and retrieved it. There is a duty free center right there so people watching was great, as was the opportunity to do a little last minute Christmas shopping. Two of the islands best restaurants are in this cove, but darn it, neither open on Sunday…and it was Sunday. We decided to stay long enough to make it in for Monday lunch at the famed Coal Pot Restaurant. It was worth it. Fantastic. Michele Elliott is an artist who creates wonderful plates and dishes and this is owned by her family and her studio is on the property.
We made our way to the Marina at Marigot Bay where we had reservations for the holidays. The marina is lovely, and Voyager was there with Les’ sister and brother in law, who we knew from the FUBAR. Dottie and Ken joined us all a day later. Heather and Ted did an all day inland Zip Line and Challenge Course that they said was incredible fun, we’d done one in PV last year and decided to let them go on their own. We all went scuba diving though. It was a riot. Ted is not yet certified, but they have a program where non-Padi divers can go along with an instructor. Ted is all long lean arms and legs and to watch him maneuver and work at buoyancy and not be able to ask questions (he is a most inquisitive fellow) as we dove 30 feet on our first dive was hilarious. Trouble with laughing underwater is that water leaks up into your mask and floods it over and over again. It was worth it. He of course figured it all out and had a blast. We all did.
St Lucia has really great restaurants and we lucked out and found ourselves across from another amazing one… the Rainforest Hideaway at Marigot. The ambiance was brilliant, and everything we ordered was delicious, the kids said it was the best meal they have ever had!
The gang (there were ten now) all got together for a festive Christmas Eve of music and food. Rose and Ade got out our big-ass drums from Cartagena, as well as all of the other instruments we’ve been gathering and we danced and sang well into the night. By request, I think they requested it, we girls again sang “I Must Follow Him” and the boys “My Girl” - if we didn’t have video to prove otherwise, I’d think we were actually getting quite good.
Christmas was lovely, the boat was decorated with our 2 foot tree, lots of lights and stockings hung on the carved dolphins with care…we opened gifts, made a few Skype calls to family at home, brunched at the resort, and that afternoon Dottie and Ken joined us for dinner, while Les & Rose and Tom & Babe dined next door. We just wish Kevin and Jenn could have been with us!
The kids flight out was the next day, so we sadly said goodbye to them, and to Dottie a day later as she had to fly home to take care of some family business. We decided to take advantage of a weather window and move up island, back to Rodney and be in position for a run to Martinique for New Years. Coming back into the Bay felt like going home. It is a great marina and very well run, we really like St Lucia and encourage anyone who gets a chance to spend time here, it was the perfect island for visitors. Easy to get in and out, so much to do on land and sea, and the restaurants are all different, and those we tried, all good! Our New Year’s Resolutions will have to include dieting!
The weather window didn’t appear until New Year’s Eve Day, so we intrepid souls set a course for Fort de France and the promise of a fabulous French Fête for the evening. Alas, said fête was actually the night before, we were told they had a huge fireworks display, music, etc…darn. But, the market was open and we topped up on what we needed to celebrate on board. I found a lovely looking piece of beef, called, oddly enough, faux boeuf. OK. My year of French is a bit rusty, but I think it means, phony beef. It didn’t look like phony beef, so I bought it, along with a lovely baguette and fresh veggies. Les and Rose brought out the lobsters they’d saved, we made lots of yummy nibblies, BBQ’d the lobster and steak (which tasted great) and voila…a four star meal to compete with anything they could have served onshore. Les had French café music on, so the boys decided they needed little moustaches drawn on to complete the ambiance…and we girls donned wigs and a cancan attitude! There were lots of individuals along the beaches who put on their own fireworks displays, so the show was complete. We toasted the New Year in several time zones, amazingly even made it to our own Midnight! Vive la Martinique!
We realized that this was a major holiday weekend and that nothing was going to be open in town, so we scooted over to the resort area of Trois-Inlets and Pointe du Bout where there was a prospect of more things being open. Wrong. Not much open at all. But we went ashore for nice long walks, found a place for café and tried to get the internet, seems it is off all over the island for a few days. We still had the buoy-weather report from St Lucia and we knew that we needed to keep going to take advantage of this short period of mild weather. We needed to as we had to get to Antigua in time for our rendezvous with Don and Audrey and Dottie. So, it was a one day stop at Trois-Inlets and then up to St. Pierre for WS and Dreamweaver. Les and Rose had a few more days with Tom & Babe, so they were able to stay and see a bit more of the island.
St. Pierre was a good stop, not only is it a nice anchorage, there is lots to see. This town had been a major city in the 1800’s with grand theatre’s and buildings, but it was completely destroyed in just ten minutes in 1902 when Mt. Pelee erupted. All but two of the 30,000 residents were killed in the blast. The blackened ruins are still evident, and many building incorporate these stone walls into their newer buildings. The Museum, the Musee Vulcanologique is well worth the effort and the few Euro entrance fees. Did I mention that Martinique is actually part of France? We were told that citizens here enjoy the same rights and privileges of all French citizens. The language is French and the currency the Euro…and consequently, it is more expensive, but the standard of living for the citizens is way beyond that of any other Caribbean nation. I am sorry that these three stops were all that we were able to make in this lovely island country. It’s on the “we’ll be back list” for sure.
And just like that, we are out of the fabled Windward Islands, and onto the Leeward’s.
