Having spent one night in Soufriere, St Lucia where we experienced the very pushy tactics of the local 'Boat Boys' we were keen to move on the Rodney Bay anchorage on the north west tip of St Lucia. The bay is over a mile across, with much of it shallow enough to anchor and is therefore a magnet for cruising yachts.
Rodney Bay, seen from Pigeon Island.
Back in the days when Pigeon Island was actually an island, This fort used to be a British Naval Base and was ideally located for keeping an eye on what the French were up to on Martinique. The island is now connected to the mainland by a causeway which serves to protect the bay from the North Easterly swell and is the site of a large Sandals holiday complex.
One of the other Rodney Bay Hotels, on a day when the swell was not from the north east! The swimming area was not getting much use on this day.
Although there are plenty of shopping opportunities ashore, you can provision from the comfort of your yacht from the local vendors
Soufriere Boat Boys could learn a lot here - this man supplied quality fresh fruit and veg at a reasonable price with and no pressure tactics at all.
Rodney Bay has a large well appointed Marina which is home to several large Charter fleets and accommodates Superyachts
Rodney Bay Marina. The Motor Vessel Venus, commissioned by the late Steve Jobbs is most certainly not to everyone's taste - and not what I'd have expected from the creator of all things Apple. Although those top two roofs are reminiscent of an iPad and iPad mini ...
We visited some of the other attractions of St Lucia from Rodney Bay anchorage
The Pitons, and Soufriere town
The Volcano, from which the town of Soufriere (meaning Sulphur) gets its name - complete with bubbling mud pools and a very strong smell of Sulphur. We were informed that the overpowering smell was a good sign; if you couldn't smell it, there was about to be an eruption!
One of the mud pools - access is now restricted and you must be accompanied by a registered guide. Things were tightened up after an independent guide went too near a pool and fell through the crust some years ago. We were told he suffered 2nd degree burns to his legs, but at least lived to tell the tale.
The Botanic Gardens
One of the many waterfalls - if does rain a lot here!
We also took the opportunity to go on a dive in St Lucia at one of the local PADI centres.
From St Lucia it's only a short sail to Martinique - Baguettes and Brie were calling
It was a very wet sail across to Le Marin, a vast anchorage complete with several very convenient supermarkets, chandleries restaurants and a large Marina again with a massive selection of Charter Boats.
The traditional Martinique sailing boats are called Yole Rondes and we were lucky enough to be there for the first day of their World Regatta Series
The competitors and supporters assemble on the beach
We had anchored next to the buoyed channel, which turned out to be very close to the action.
They were fantastic to watch - as far as we know no one fell in, but it certainly looked challenging!
The Yole Rondes being packed up after the race ready to be transported to the next race venue on the island.
The bay ends in a mangrove swamp
We took the dinghy up this little waterway which surprisingly ended up in an industrial park complete with a large sail loft. A venue we will have to visit as we have unfortunately ripped our beautiful Parasail.
Le Marin also appears to be a place boats come to die.
There were dozens of yachts in this sort of state dotted around in the shallows.
Having spent a few days in Martinique we headed back to Rodney Bay, St Lucia to meet up with Lynne and Steve our travelling companions on Aztec Dream and set off together back through the Windward Isles to Grenada where we needed to collect a new anchor and hoped to meet up with another friend from Eastbourne Yacht Club, Alan Costello.
Alan was in Grenada for the Grenada Sailing regatta, we met at the end of the first day's racing to find two of the crew had jumped ship - so we were invited to join Sandy Mair's crew on Cricket, a Beneteau First 35.
The Hat - only available at events sponsored by Mount Gay Rum. The departed crew members took two with them, a crime indeed!
Alan at the bow as we prepare to start a race
Sandy at the helm, Ian and Ray on the jib sheet.
And the results! Third overall, which wasn't a bad effort for a scratch crew.
Sandy with the trophy, being put to good use to hold the kitty.
We left Grenada and headed north again, stopping this time in Carriacou, an island with about 5000 inhabitants.
Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou.
The festival of independence took place while we were in Carriacou - the town of Hilsborough was adorned with lots of red, gold and green bunting - the colours of independence although none of the locals I asked could explain what they represented.
Apart from the bunting, the festival seemed to involve lots of people milling around in the street
Shopping opportunities
Drinking opportunities - this one may have started a bit early!
Lots of youngsters covered in green, gold and red paint - possibly another one who had one too many Carib beers.
Washing the paint off. Apparently there was also a Shakespere recital, as a reminder of dark days when slaves were forced to perform plays for their masters and beaten for forgetting their lines. The music at the current festival was so loud there would be no way to know if the scripts were followed or not!
We did some fantastic snorkelling off Sandy Island, Carriacou Marine Park where we also bought a lobster from a Boat Boy - hopefully not caught in the park.
Sandy Island in the background - we saw a sting ray while snorkelling here.
Ian's sister Hilary and brother in law Martin were spending a day in St Lucia so we sailed back up north to meet them, stopping overnight in Bequai on the way.
Bequai - not sure why we didn't notice this last time, but someone certainly wasn't looking where they were going on this ship!
We booked into the Rodney Bay Marina for a couple of nights and met up with Hilary and Martin. It was great to see them and catch up with family news.
We set off to Martinique bright and early the next day so we could catch up with some sailing friends from Bexhill, Steve and Pippa Cole and Wendy Morton and partner Bjarne who are chartering a yacht here. Unfortunately this time we also need to make use of the Martinique sail loft as we have done a very thorough job of ripping our Parasail.
One final photo - these birds are called Boobies, and provide us with great entertainment when we are sailing as they dive and catch the little flying fish that scatter across the surface of the sea as we sail past.
We will stay here in Martinique to (hopefully) get our sail fixed and then head on to Guadaloupe and then Antigua where we will be joined by my sister Rose Anne - all is good!
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