Time with friends and back to our family groove

Sugar Beach between the Pitons “around the corner” from Suffries is different. A tasteful resort with stunning backdrop of iconic peaks, dark volcanic water and only a few local hustlers. Definitely a more relaxed night on the mooring. Still locked down but no real worries of safety. Wendy gave Kelly and I a pass to go to shore for a date night while she fed the kids ramen noodles and played a movie. We were happy to take her up on it. They get enough proper nutrition the rest of the time…

We had drinks at the resort and were reminded about American politics and inequities while chatting up our neighbors. You don’t hear too much complaining or rage living this lifestyle. It was an eye opener and sobering (literally and figuratively). “Reentry” is always tough. We’ll see how it goes this time.

Next morning we dinghied into the resort to tie up to their exclusive dock. They were most gracious and treated us as hotel guests simply advising us not to tie to the broken board at the end of the dock because the 3 men in coveralls with tool boxes were there to remove the board that day. In true island style when we returned the board had been removed and, presumably, the team would reassemble another day to screw the new one down.

Our group of 6 (Wendy’s onshore adventure day just beginning) met up with Thomas our taxi tour man. Thomas was a lifetime local and had us all planned and on our way. First was the botanical gardens where he matched us with St Lucia’s “walking internet” Alexander to guide us through while educating and entertaining us. Alex knows the name of every plant, leaf, tree and critter here and for the suggested fee of $20 US (we paid him more) it was a bargain. Humming birds everywhere, all the fruit and nut trees were there as well as the first old growth mahogany forest I’ve ever seen. Absolutely fantastic. Wendy got to see her first waterfall here. Diamond falls is a wonder that changes colors depending on which elements the volcanic waters are cooking that day. It’s said that it has glowed all of the colors of a diamond in its time. This day it was a vivid orange pumping iron into the stream.

From there we went to another unexpected spot. A steaming wasted valley with a hot grey river sluicing its way into various pools with frighteningly giddy natives smeared in mud apparently rallying in preparation for a violent takeover of the various vans and busses in the parking lot. Their aim looked to be establishing a new mud kingdom ruled by whomever is the most sunburned, wearing ill fitting swimwear with the most elaborate mud designs smeared across their face. Terrifying.

Ok, they were all tourists covered in grey and black mud…..we joined them. The air reeked of sulfur, the water reeked of sulfur, as did we. They said we would all be 10 years younger after our mud baths which would make Che 6 months old and Quinn and Gherty merely panic inducing thoughts!   Thomas claimed to be 150 years old though I suspect he wasn’t a day past 100.

Our stinking muddy crew piled into the van on towels Thomas provided and made our way to a clean, cold, powerful waterfall to properly wash off though the children’s ears still bore the proof of our muddy envelopment and we smelled faintly of Beelzebub for at least another day. 

The ridge between the Pitons hosts an architecturally spectacular restaurant and hotel called Ladero. We treated ourselves to excellent local cuisine (not creole, no chicken feet here) and tested a few cocktails. These views are hard to top as was the food and the staff. We weren’t roughing it that day. Wendy needed to be properly toured.

We’re third from the right

An afternoon snorkel at the Pitons and dinner onboard made for an easy sleep in the subtly rolling anchorage.

First thing next morning we headed 10 miles back north to Marigot Bay so we could spend Easter at the marina. The bay is snug and clean surrounded by mangroves. Looked like a pretty fine hurricane hole were you to need one. We Med moored stern-to at the dock and lost the kids in the trees. Mangroves are strong and fun to climb!

Plus, as a fun bonus we met up with our dear Charleston sailing friend Sterling and his 9 year old daughter Lily who we’ve known her whole life. They had joined Sterling’s friend Jed who chartered a cat for the week and sailed down to the Grenadines and were headed north to Rodney bay to return the boat and fly home. We have photos of Lily, Che and Gherty as toddlers (pre Quinn, PQ) playing together and Sterling holding baby Che right after he arrived. What a treat to spend a minute so far flung with old family friends. Lily, like our kids, is growing up so fast and has a great wit and energy about her. As we say down here “the breadfruit never falls far from the tree”.

The Easter bunny found us!!! We had Easter  some years ago in Florida on a mooring in a full fledged gale so we know all too well the finding power of our dear bunny. This was easy, he hid plastic eggs with EC coins all over the deck and bags of goodies under their pillows. Their hats were stuffed with bunny swag on the salon table when they awoke. It was a good day.

Kelly, as per usual, offered up a “nature stroll” (she’s done this before) so we dinghied across the bay to a 700 foot nearly vertical hike up loose rock and fallen leaves using ropes and saplings to steady ourselves in flip flops. Wendy, clutching her designer handbag and big floppy “don’t hassle me I’m on vacation” hat hung in there strong and made it to the top. Che was a bit irritated at having been conned into this bit of unnecessary exercise but we all felt proud of our efforts and treated ourselves (after we begged help from some guests at the Oasis hotel to open the back gate and let us in) to a few games of pool, cocktails and pizza beachfront.

Easter Monday is not a holiday in my book but a great excuse to close everything in the Caribbean which is fine unless the boat is out of beer! We hung with Wendy in the morning and saw her to a taxi at noon. I think she had a great time. It was great to have her.

We took a couple days at the marina to homeschool, work on the boat and business and generally regroup. An early departure in a steady rain sent us south for 50 odd miles to our next island, St Vincent. Some breeze aft of the beam and rather sizable following seas sent us down island rapidly. St Vincent glowed vibrant green as we sailed the full length of her heading to the southernmost harbor, Blue Lagoon, for customs clearance and a mooring. The opening to the lagoon is just over 5 feet deep at times…..so here we are anchored in a steady but underwhelming roll outside the reef on our own. Plenty of swinging room and what I estimate to be a foot of rain over 2 consecutive nights and mornings. Kelly has been knocking out the work with the strong wifi we’re “borrowing” as have the kids with their homeschooling. For a break I took Che, Gherty and Quinn dinghy surfing on the long left hand curling reef break just past our anchor spot. We didn’t get barreled in the dinghy but had some really fun rides.

I’ve bailed the dinghy, again, this morning and the rain has let up as the TROF that has graciously washed our boat and crew for the past 2 days moves south. We’re headed to Bequia this morning. I’m looking very much forward to it. Still on the lookout for whales. One thing I’ve been most impressed by on this trip is how different culturally and naturally these islands can be while so close to one another. Hopefully there won’t be an army of hostile mud tourists waving spears and throwing bread fruits when we’re trying to get ourselves anchored.
Stay tuned. 

Much love.