Back in St Lucia

We arrived in St Lucia on Nov 1 after a perfect flight. We were greeted by our friend and taxi driver Trevor who took us to his place to stay for three nights. The next morning we arrived at the boat to find everything in good order. There was no mould most importantly and all systems seem to be fine. The diesel engine started on the first try. We were launched on Wed am as all work was done as we had laid out. Our worse problem was our debit card would not work! We tried three banks and no money. We contacted our home branch and were assured there were no problems at their end and while at the debit machine I called the 800 number on the back of the card and she assured me they had no problems. The only one with the problem was me the person without money. Fortunately we had brought some U.S. cash with us and we were fine. The fourth bank we tried worked! But it was the one in the marina, the one that had trouble with their machine being compromised last year. But it is scary to think this could happen at other places along the way. In St Lucia there are several places to try but smaller islands might not be so easy. Time will tell. 

We have been working away on the many jobs related to launching and getting started but all seems good so far. We have a new auto pilot to install and that hasn't been started yet. We have had some wild weather. The island had a very dry summer and water was short. But since we arrived it hasn't stopped raining. Some of my family will be laughing by now as it is a joke when Brian goes on vacation in NB it always rains. I have told them here he is for hire. On Friday it rained 3.66 inches and on and off on Sat and Sun. Open the hatches close the hatches and then swelter. We went up to the marina to find everything closed and flooded and sand bags in front of the stores. The power was off for several hours. Unfortunately there were some casualties on the island. I collected 3x 5 gallon water jugs with a funnel off the canvas in no time at all. I did laundry and hung it out for a rinse. The basin water was thick with run off debris and will be for days. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse and not a good day forecasted until Friday. We will stay on the dock and try to complete the auto pilot install. Really sad for those coming for a week on a charter boat or at a resort. 

We are excited to be having Doug and Vicki MacDonald from London on Nov 19 for two weeks. At that time we will head off to Martinique for a few days. Weather will dictate! They are sailors so weather won't matter so much to them. 

We had a very busy summer at home as probably most who are also Facebook friends will know. We had two new grandsons. Dylan in Airdrie Alberta in March and Hayden in June in London. We went west in May, east in July, North to Algonquin Park in Oct. We bought a mobile home in April and finally moved in to it at the end of Sept. Buying an American made product and getting CSA approval didn't prove to be as easy as we were told. We moved out of our apartment in July and into our 21 foot travel trailer for the summer. When Heather and her boys came to visit in Aug. the trailer got pretty cramped. But being the good campers they are,we managed. When Kendra and her children came to stay our new good friends Dan and Fran in the park took us into their place. Sterilizing bottles and boiling water for formula takes up a lot of room. But a wonderful two weeks were spent by the playgrounds and the pool in our new park Silver Dove Estates. We have met so many nice people there. We have so many people to thank for so much help with deck and shed building and the skirting etc. In the midst of the last month at home Brian had cataracts removed on both eyes. The surgeries were in Windsor two hours from home. But he is so happy with the results. 

We will try to have more pictures and less wordy blogs this year as requested! But not this one.