Tuesday, 13 Dec 2011
Well I apologize for missing yesterday, but after a glorious morning swim we raised the hook and headed into the marina to the gas dock. We got in line at the gas dock – just ahead of us was our old dock mates from Casamara – Simon and Tim were still aboard - the rest of the guys had left for the airport about a half hour earlier. Tim was getting ready for an afternoon flight and Simon had picked up a couple of additional crew for the sail to Barbados. They had had a great crossing – looked very tan and like myself had great beards. After filling up we went to our slip #10 on “E” dock. There we were met by a very lovely and gracious lady from the tourist board greeting us with a lovely fruit basket and 5 rum punches and 5 chilled cans of Heineken. Welcome to paradise – St Lucia style.
We were also immediately greeted by Claire from the “ARC” committee. She immediately asked how everything went – any more problems – other than the engine – crew ok – any problems? My honest response was - the crossing was like 5 old friends who hadn’t seen each other for 15 years who decided to go on an adventure to renew their friendships. We had a great time together and it was going to be difficult to get back to our normal lives. Everyone we met – especially the locals were very friendly and welcoming. The staff was amazed at how our fresh fruits and vegetables survived the crossing and how our basil plant looked. Tom went over and checked us all through customs – a very helpful young lady remarked – “Glass Slipper” – I’ve been reading your blog – did you have your morning swim – did you have a good time?
This morning we have a writer from “Yachting World” for a possible future article coming by to interview us. There’s certainly no guarantees that it will make it through the editors knife – but it’s exciting to have a writer ask about our adventures. Last night we had a wonder dinner at a local restaurant – Big Chef – we highly recommend it – excellent food and service. In between we are thoroughly cleaning the boat and doing our laundry. In another day or two we’ll have everything ship shape.
A number of people have asked will you go again – next year? – or perhaps around the world? At this point it’s too early to tell – for certain the friends you choose make the difference – but for certain the adventure of the past three weeks is one that I will look on favorably for the rest of my life.
Ciao