Our last days in Martinique were spent at St. Anne, a pretty coastal community with a large, lovely anchorage just inside a substantial reef. After being at the dock for a few days, the kids were quite ready to stretch their legs. Lucky them, just down the shore by dinghy was a rather exciting series of inflatable and floating climbing walls, slides, and trampolines. Consider their legs stretched. The town itself offered a nice assortment of restaurants and cafes, a lovely church and a good rounding of spirited people. We practiced our French and were provided English and patience. At the last possible minute, we left Martinique to head to St. Lucia where we would meet up with Wendy, our friend and former nanny. 
The sail between the islands was simply idyllic. We sailed trailing a pack of ten boats, close reaching between seven and nine knots, three to five feet waves with a long period. We arrived at Rodney Bay and initially had designs with grabbing a mooring well within the harbor. “This isn’t what I pictured,” I said to Justin. My notion had been an easy, settled mooring just outside the marina (with wifi) so we could get in and out (of customs, provisioning, picking up Wendy) easily. As we maneuvered our way further into the bay, we found the depth rather skinny. As we approached seven feet in the mooring field (our draft is six and a half feet), and we noted only dilapidated or charter boats, we decided on an exit strategy and instead anchored in the bay, with all the other cruisers. We don’t know more than others although it is sometimes tempting to think that!
Rodney Bay appeared and in fact was quite tourist centric. Having waited until the morning of Wendy’s arrival to secure a rental car (or even to determine where the airport was!), we found ourselves in a bit of a predicament. Neither of the two rental agencies had an available car and the airport was an hour and a half away (which meant for a rather expensive taxi ride). Undeterred and diligent, Justin called around. At last, he found the answer he wanted…or perhaps the answer closest to what he wanted. For $150 EC ($55.56) and $500 EC deposit cash, we had a car. It only occurred to us after we were in said car, and noticed the broken windshield, the old registration, the check engine light and the lack of paperwork, that it was a very real possibility that we were driving a stolen car.
What we wouldn’t do for Wendy?!
The trip through St. Lucia was remarkable and worth, in theory, the stolen car. Through the congestion of Castries, the quick turns of the mountains, the lushness of the rainforest, and the stark impressive steep cliffs to the sea on the windward side, we went. We are so fortunate to experience these islands by sea and by coast, but it is also rather wild to explore in a more traditional way. And guess what, the kids fight equally as well in the car as in the boat! Ahhh, minutes from Wendy. The air strip ended literally yards from the beach (and conveniently a bar for while we waited).
We drove back much along the same way and stopped at a tremendous lookout with several stands selling quick bites and powerful punch. Quite friendly, the vendors were happy to provide their wares and one even climbed a tree to grab a papaya for the kids to eat. Welcome to St. Lucia!
We opted for a sail down to the Pitons the next morning. Sharp and stretching from sea to sky, these mountains create a drastic demonstration of the beauty and evolution of nature. The rock faces appear like canvas, etched in variable color and tale. And true to the fantastic voyage we are on, as we made our way along the coast, the accumulation of cloud and moisture around the sun created a perfect sunbow. Magic.
Soufriere was a bit aggressive for our tastes. Boats were constantly approaching and hawking. Mangy children floated up on various floats offering to take our trash (they throw it to the sea). We locked up the boat, fended off various and excessive demands to ‘help’ us, and went into town. The hour was later than we had initially hoped so our plans shifted to lunch and a quick provisioning trip. It is a shame that with all the pushers, we lost our thrill of Suffrieres. I hope that they will perhaps get a group together, much like PAYS in Dominica, to work out a system for security and overall trust. We know there are some reliable, good guides and vendors but unfortunately the sketchiness factor outwore our enthusiasm.
So now, we are moving moorings to tuck in between the Pitons. Our plan is to go ashore and explore…so stay tuned and much love.