After the end of the ARC+ 2013

2^nd to 12^th December 2013 Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia

St Lucia was a great place to relax at the end of the Atlantic crossing, it was green, the locals were welcoming and friendly and the ARC+ community was also fun to socialize with.

Upon arrival we had a lot of cleaning and maintenance tasks to complete!  We also had a break from boat living and went to a resort hotel with our crew and family for internet, a big bed (that wasn’t moving!) and all the modern conveniences that one gets used onshore!!

The ARC+ yachts needed to be out of the Marina by 12^th December before the ARC yachts arrived on mass. So we had a lot to do in a short period of time.

On our maintenance list was:

·      repair of some small rips in our cruising chute – quite difficult when the sail-maker by the marina was inundated with lots of work!!

·      The installation of a BGAN Sailor 250 - very slow but better than the BGAN Sailor 150  we had and it might be just fast enough to get some work done! The VSAT was great when it worked and giving us 2Mbits/second down so reading web pages was really fast, but so far its proven unreliable for us as it doesn’t cope with bouncing on the high seas.

·      follow-up on new and old warranty issues with the Oyster team

·      General cleaning and house (yacht)-keeping

·      engine and generator services

We found some great places to eat in St Lucia, our favourites were “Razmataz” a local Indian restaurant, “Memories of Hong Kong” great food, especially the spring rolls, and “Spinnakers” - We said farewell to our crew, Alan and Vance at Spinnakers on the 4^th December.

Left-Right Amit, David, Vance, Alan, Vicki, John - Farewell dinner at Spinnakers, Saint Lucia

We found time for socializing with the crews of other ARC+ yacht as they arrived was as well as finding time for pampering! John meets some of the guys from Ninfea for coffee, and has a chance to brush up on his Italian, while Vicki has a manicure and Pedicure at the Rodney Bay Day Spa!  We also some invited some of the folks from other ARC+ yachts onboard Josie Maria for drinks - Shaun and Steve from Amaria, the crew of Sonsy Lass (Alex and June) and the Crew of Karma Wins for a drink.  We went through 5 bottles of champagne and quite a few of the red wine.  A great night!!

Some of the pampering that Vicki planned didn’t quite work out as she had her first $10 hair cut at a local barbers…. she was not that pleased with it!!

In the evening of the 6^th December we meet the guys from Karma Wins and La Rochelle and head to the Friday night street Party in St Lucia – we have meal at a pub on the street party and buy a few trinkets at the local stalls. These street parties are amazing. The locals every Friday night get together on a predetermined street that is corned off by the police and is setup to party. Local vendors line the street with promises of some BBQ food like roasted chicken, pork chops or corn on the cob. Others are selling various hand made wares to a throng of revelers who are moving towards the sound stage, rocking to the sounds of reggae music. We had some great conversations with both locals and folks from the ARC+ when the music level was low enough!!

On the 7^th December we start making plans for our passage to Grenada –planning to leave St Lucia, Rodney bay on the 12^th, but aware this may change as we are waiting on: our cruising chute repair, the collection of goods from customs (it has taken 3 attempts so far!) and maintenance and repair work by the Oyster team who are arriving on Sunday (tomorrow). 

John was on Skype for 3 hours to his cousin Paula!! Just a reminder of how much we enjoy spending time with our family (and friends)!!

On the 12^th December we head out of Rodney Bay for Marigot, for a party with all ARC+ participants and then start our time cruising the Caribbean – details in the next post!!