The Round the Island Race

I never race my boat – but this was St Lucia, and the crew were good, Liat and Assaf, from Israel, Matt from Bristol, and me. We, just happened to have been sat in the bar when the skippers briefing took place. Well it would have been churlish to have said no……..

A down wind start; no flag signals; questionable sound signals; and we were away. Avocette made a good start, and powered down towards Pidgeon Island at a none too shabby 6kts in the 18kt tradewind. The beat around the top of the island saw us in 4th place with 22 miles to the days finish at Vieux Fort.

Then the wind died. No-one made the finish. Those who motored all the way were rewarded with a Roti dinner.

The next day, those who had made Vieux Fort started Leg 2 in little or no wind. Two boats finally crossed the line to finish. Liat and Assaf, having left Avocette after we “retired”, caught a bus the length of the island, hopped on another boat and came in second. So we had a party anyway. Thanks St Lucia Yacht Club.

Erupting Volcanoes to Roti Lunch

We were a mixed bunch from Finland, The Faeroes, Iceland, Spain, and England, with Charlie Brown, our driver from St Lucia. Playing grockles was the plan….

The muddy pools by my feet bubbled and spat. Steam rose, and the stench of rotten eggs, Hydrogen Sulphide, filled my nostrils as we surveyed the scene around us. We were walking through the volcano above the town of Soufriere, St Lucia.

The barren earth, stained yellow with sulphur, is only a thin crust. Beneath it, the hot mud and boiling water continually rise from the molten magma just a mile below; a reminder to all, that this volcano is waiting to erupt. Just a couple of miles away, under the sea, lies another. It too, is smouldering away, rising each year ever closer to the surface, soon to become another island in Caribbean.

St Lucia’s most famous landmarks are the Pitons. These great volcanic blocks rising spectacularly from the sea 2619ft, remnants of earlier eruptions, are even more awesome to sail past.

Marigot Bay, the classic Island anchorage, and hurricane hole, is set deep within a steep sided valley, protected from the sea by a sandy palm-tree covered spit. Changed forever, it is now full of moorings, and a marina - complete with hotels. The waterside bars are still there, but it’s changing.

Rodney Bay, a small marina in a mud-hole of a lagoon when I first arrived in 2004, is now a bustling and vibrant place, offering all the facilities and services, and is surrounded by luxury homes, hotels, and restaurants. Deep in the lagoon there is still room to anchor. Fish, hundreds of fish, even sharks, swim around the boat, and it’s not just the mangrove roots that stretch into the water here; if I don’t move on soon ……..