Woes of Becoming Part of The Reef!!

We have been walking in the park on Pidgeon Island and on Sunday the poui trees were magnificent. From the boat you can see about fifteen splotches of brilliant yellow as the trees start to bloom. Here are a couple of great shots. They don't last long but are a wonderful show.

We have been playing dominoes on Sunday afternoons on Bay Pelican a trawler that has lots of room for three couples. Tonight we are meeting with two new boats(and some old friends) for a FOD (Friends of Denis) meeting for drinks. Really just some people who listen to Denis Webster on the SSB radio for weather updates. Always fun to meet new people. 

We brought down a pressure cooker in the barrel and it has been fun learning to use it. I made Dawns split pea soup today and it was delish and so quick and easy. Last week I took it loaded to our friend Johns boat and cooked for his company. He finds it hard getting on and off our boat with the sloped transom. He enjoyed it so much the next day he went out and bought one. 

Each morning we have cruisers net on the VHF radio....gives weather forecasts, happenings in the area, a buy and sell segment...etc. On Sat am there is a quiz and we won this week. Our prize is a sunset sail on a pirate ship in the bay......rum punch and snacks. It was our second time to win. The first time we won a bucket of beer....five beers that we shared with the runners up. 

Revenge of The Parrot Fish!!

Brian with his fins and snorkel was cleaning the underside of the hull the other day. There are a lot of fish who have taken up residence under the boat. As the debris grows on the boat the fish love it. There are a large school of jacks,a school of Sargent majors that were very tiny in Nov and are now much larger and one medium sized parrot fish with attitude. The parrot fish was right in his face as he was scraping. He waved it away with the scraper but he would come right back. As Brian was getting out of the water and coming up the ladder the parrot fish was right at his feet and nipped him on two toes. Enough of a nip to break the skin. No stitches required. Not even a bandaid. But we have had quite a laugh at the attitude of the little guy. Brian was disturbing his buffet for sure. 

We have had word our rigging should be on the island yesterday and clearing customs today. Now the fun begins as it gets attached and the mast gets reinstalled. Will take lots of pictures of that. Hopefully off to actually sail by the first of Feb. 

Quiet times in the bay.

It is hard to post a blog when so little is happening in our little world. We are still sitting waiting for the rigging. We have had word it will be shipped this week but have not had confirmation on that. The end of next week could be delivery date but again no confirmation it's been shipped. We are in the we will believe it when we see mode. So just sitting in the bay without a mast sure draws lots of stares and an occasional dinghy stops by to ask what happened to us. 

Monday we were sitting in a cafe doing some Internet and a couple we know stopped by for a chat and then another single lady stopped by to talk to them. They were discussing her single handed sailing adventures. I thought she looked familiar and asked if she was Mina from London and Port Stanley. Sure enough she was. I had seen a picture of her in a magazine article on her abilities as a single hander a couple years ago. It's a small world for sure. 

And onto more fun things that are happening in our world. We have busy socially and as more people arrive after Christmas it's getting busier. We are at other peoples boats for a game night or here a couple times a week and the Domino tournament has begun. Last week I was at a silver jewellery making class for a day. Alcina Nolley is a local artist and she held a class for five ladies. We took a taxi to her place and packed a lunch and spent the day learning to make our creations. It is 95% pure silver in a soft clay base that can be moulded, shaped, rolled, etc into a design. Then dried and sanded lightly before kiln dried for an hour. Each of us came up with very different designs. Unfortunately I tried to make something too structured and was not as pleased with my jewellery as some of the other more abstract designs. But it was a lot of fun for a day. My pieces are the necklace and earrings on the second picture. 

Happy New Year from St.Lucia

Another year is gone and we hope it was a memorable one for all!

We endured another New Year's Eve anchored off the beaches of Rodney Bay. We say endure because in past there was a beach party that blared music non-stop from 8 PM - 8 AM and then the two resorts competed with them for a clacaphony of noise only interrupted briefly by fireworks at midnight. This year during a delightful BBQ dinner of steak, shrimp and vegetables we played our own music loud enough to neutralize the beach racket. After which we played some cards and headed for bed around 9:30 (1/2 past midnight "cruiser's time). We were roused by the cannonading concusions of fireworks and got up to enjoy the display. They went on for more than twenty minutes coming from a panorama of locations. Quite spectacular and far more extravagant than previous years. Ships horns blasted approval then the music(?) started again. Whilst up to answer the call of nature around 3 AM it was blissfully quiet and as this is written, 1 PM, the jet skis have only just woken up. What a great start to the New Year! Now if we could just get our rigging!!!!

Hear are a couple of vessels we've had the pleasure of sharing the anchorage with:

This is TALITHA, she was built in 1929 and launched in 1930. When we first saw her we thought some rich person had a new classic style yacht built for himself it is in emaculate condition! She carries 12 passengers in 6 cabins and can be chartered for just $365,000.00 US/wk! Google her it's an interesting story. 

This boat was anchored behind us last night and decked out for the season:

Here she is this morning: Contance about 65 feet. 

All for now, be Blessed! Brian