Everyone knows we love the water. Well, when Brad and Anette announced they were getting married in St. Lucia in May 2007, we thought what better chance to try sailing while we were there for the wedding!
What started with a "what if...." turned into an incredible week of sailing with good friends of ours, John and Shelagh Slater, and Shelagh's cousin Paddy Carlson and her husband Dave from Spokane.
We took off from Marigot Bay, St. Lucia on a Moorings 4200 Catamaran named "Two Purrfect", along with our skipper, Lucas Alcee. John is an avid sailor and quickly took the helm. During the course of the week Roger and Dave tried their hand at it as well, while Lucas stayed close enough to make sure all was well, but far enough away to let the boys sail.
The catamaran was well equipped and each of the 4 cabins had it's own bathroom. The Moorings provisioned the food and booze we had requested and over the course of 8 days - we feasted like kings while keeping "well hydrated". Before leaving the port, Lucas asked us where we wanted to go - and when we answered "places with great snorkeling and interesting anchorages" he suggested we head south to the Grenadines.
I kept a journal, and each day found myself saying "no - this really was the best day so far" because everyday held such amazing experiences that I had to pinch myself to believe it was really happening!
So sit back, and come sailing with us...
May 12th - After a couple of hours sailing and experiencing the exhilaration of seeing the sails set, and feeling the wind in our faces, we arrived at our first anchorage between the majestic Pitons. All was well, until we were woken up by a midnight fireworks display, which in our minds, was in our honour! As it turned out, it was in honour of Mother's Day!
May 13th - It was a long 11 hour day of sailing, and a few of us had trouble getting our "sea legs" so were happy to go ashore and have dinner at the Gingerbread House where we sampled West Indian curries. We anchored in Bequia and sailed by some wacky looking houses that resembled something out of a Salvadore Dali painting. I "googled" it out when I got back and they are in fact, rental villas at Moonhole. Check it out at http://www.moonhole.com/gallery/index.php
May 14th - Stopped in Petit Nevis to snorkel in an isolated area where fishermen used to bring in whales for butchering. We swam in schools of thousands of fish and felt like we were in a Jacques Cousteau movie. That night, we anchored in Mustique; home to the likes of Mick Jagger and David Bowie.
May 15th - Can you even imagine what it would be like to swim in water that was such a deep shade of emerald that it would actually make seagulls look green because of the water's reflection? The Tobago Cays was such a place and an incredible place to snorkel on the reef.
It was also a breeding ground for sea turtles and it was exciting to swim alongside them.
May 16th - Like I said....things just kept getting better and better. Today's anchorage was by Mayreau Island - a quiet, tranquil bay with crystal clear water....and oh yes, a fabulous little beachside bar that Shelagh, Paddy and I checked out. Back on the boat we dined on BBQ rack of lamb, and snapper that Roger bought from a vendor that stopped by our boat. Another vendor actually delivered 4 warm loaves of bread the next morning.....can it get any better??
May 17th - We were heading north by now, and spent the night anchored in Wallilabou Bay on St. Vincent.
So what's special about that? It was the site of the filming for Pirates of the Caribbean and parts of the movie set were still there!
May 18th - En route to St. Lucia, we spotted more than a hundred dolphins in the distance. Lucas said they like music, so we cranked up the stereo and within a few minutes, they were surrounding our catamaran and entertained us by doing flips and twists while we sailed along -- a truly incredible site to behold.
The crossing to St. Lucia was pretty rough, but we all had a blast sitting on the nets between the pontoons and riding the waves like a roller coaster - a much more comfortable ride than just a few days before.......
Our last night on the boat was spent anchored near Soufriere, where our skipper lives. Over the week, our group became very fond of this gentle, quiet, man who shared his wealth of experience in sailing and life with us.
We were honored when Lucas invited us to a restaurant, Big Stone, which was owned by his family and we feasted on kingfish while we met his wife and children.
Soufriere is very interesting and the town square you see in this picture used to be the site of where pirates were beheaded!
May 19th - We arrived back in Marigot Bay and bid goodbye to our new dear friend, Lucas, and our sailing buddies the Slaters and Carlsons.
Our catamaran's name really summarized the whole week for us....it was Two Purrfect.
Stay tuned to pictures of Brad and Anette's wedding!!!
1 comment:
Woo!
Can't wait for more! I'll help you turn on anonymous comments so everyone can leave a note.
B
Post a Comment