St Lucia

If we had low expectations for Martinique, we had somewhat higher expectations for St Lucia. After all when you're sitting at home having shovelled the driveway for the eighth time that day, you would do almost anything to take your coworker's place on the flight to St Lucia in the morning, right?

When we arrived at Rodney Bay we realized why you hear so much about St Lucia - the giant bay is home to several high-end resorts with all the perks. And the anchorage is a jetski playground for drunken adults that like to use anchored boats as pylons in an obstacle course.

Normally this wouldn't have been our kind of place, except for an exciting bit of news. My mum was flying in to St Lucia in a few days to sail south with us! We were very excited to see her and to have a new guest on board. The Rodney Bay anchorage would be the perfect place for her to get adjusted to being on the boat before we sailed off.

When the big day arrived we rented a car to drive to the airport which is on the south side of the island. Unfortunately the closest anchorage would have been a bit rolly, but the rental let us see the island and get mum back to the boat in style. When we arrived in Vieux-Fort, we discovered that Carnival would soon be in full swing! Everyone was getting ready with crazy costumes, lots of paint, music, and dancing. And then of course came the trucks. Massive flat-bed trucks half-filled with speakers and sub-woofers and the other half with dancers. Some trucks were even outfitted with a full bar to serve dancers and people lining the streets. Soon it was time to pick up mum from the airport but, even though she'd had a long day, she was a good sport and wanted to go back to see a bit of the festivities. Before long we were making the long and windy journey back to Rodney Bay with our new passenger.

Floats making their way into town where they all converge for Carnival

While my mum got adjusted to boat life (ie. riding in the dinghy, keeping her balance on board, and the utter lack of any kind of privacy) we waited for some decent weather to continue along the coast of St Lucia.

Trying to convince my mum to jump off the side of the boat!

The next stop was at the Pitons.

The Pitons are a national symbol of St Lucia (depicted on the flag and also the name of their national beer) and recognizable from a long distance. Grand Piton and Petit Piton are two very tall, conical peaks that fall directly down into the sea - and you can take a mooring ball right between them! This was a beautiful spot with amazing views and we were almost the only boat there. We all went for a swim but didn't stray too far from the boat as the current was very strong and it was a fight to get back to the boat. The next morning we set off for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

One of my all time favorite photos of the two os us! 

Swimming at the Pitons

SVG bound