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American Spirit II - Day 457; Zip Line, Rally Party & Dinner with Folie a Deux; Wednesday, April 8, 2015



One year ago today:

"Day 95; Cleaned Boat Bottom, Giant Clams, Numerous Boat Anchors Stuck, and Beach Party; Tuesday, April 8, 2014. Stayed up late, until 1:30 AM.

Slept in until 8:00 AM. Hebe was trying to weigh anchor to go to the pass and 'drift dive.' Difficult time getting ancho on board. Took them 1/2 hour, with 2 snorkelers in the water and one tank diver dressed in SCUBA gear ready to go free the anchor. Finally they used their bow thrusters to position the boat so they could untangle anchor chain from the coral heads.

At Manihi Atoll 8 miles away to the west, the sailboat NDS Darwin and one other Rally boat tried to weigh anchor Monday evening, and could not do it. So they waited until the following morning, Tuesday, and it took them 3 - 4 hours to clear their two anchor chains; and they had to do so using a SCUBA diver. Because they were anchored in 20 meters, 66 feet, they were fortunate they had SCUBA tanks on board or else they would have had to hire a diver from somewhere to free their anchors. We'll have to be careful in the depth that we anchor in. The deeper you anchor, the potentially more difficult it will be to clear a stuck anchor chain."

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Darlene and I are up at 7:45 AM; followed by Joel and 8:00 AM.

Breakfast at 8:45 AM consists of 4 bacon, 3 eggs, potato and chilled sliced peaches.

I call up Rain Forest Adventures, and they give me directions to their location. We're going zip-lining today; at least Joel and Darlene, and Eric from Nexus, are. I'm taking the aerial tram. I've had enough experience with lines breaking (like in Port Vila). We arrive around 11:00 AM. The attractions is crowded as two cruise ships are in town, the Jewel of the Seas and Adventures of the Seas. My wife and I sailed on the Jewel of the Seas a couple of years ago.

The cost to zip-line is $65 US; and the aerial tram costs $75 US. Its raining on and off, so we're going to get wet. The tram I board has 2 others with me, two locals. Our guide is named 'St. Lucia.' I think that's what she said. When she saw my hat she asked me if I was with the ARC, and I said yes and asked her how she knew. She said that she had seen a segment on TV about the boats visiting St. Lucia.

Our guide went on to tell us that the park opened on March 21, 2006; that the land was leased from the government for 50 years; that they have 9 zip lines and 18 platforms; that the aerial tram line has 12 towers; that it rained on St. Lucia in the rain forest 160 inches per year; that the tram traveled at an average height of 80 feet above the rain forest floor and up to 120 feet above; and that there are 180 different wood types on the island and 56 in the park, with 6 being endemic to St. Lucia. As we moved along our guide pointed out and gave us the name to different trees, fruits, birds, etc. I had my light weight foul weather jacket on and I needed it as it poured during part of the trip. The park had also given us plastic ponchos to try to keep dry with. The ride ended at 1:25 PM. I then waited for Joel, Darlene and Eric to finish; and bought a box of Rum Cake and a T-Shirt which said 'the journey is the destination.' Kind of like our circumnavigation. Darlene, when I asked her about her zip-line experience, said that it was kind of tame. My type of ride. I guess I should have gone zip-lining. Oh well.

On the way back to the boat we stopped by a couple of ATM's for money; and at a KFC for lunch. We arrived back at the boat at 4:13 PM. From 4:25 PM to 5:12 PM I typed 2 logs.

At 6:00 PM we went to a Rally party. The rum punch and beer were free; other drinks you had to pay for. And a BBQ dinner could be bought for $15 US. It was a good party, with everyone trying to get their good-byes going because many of us will be separating in a couple of days; heading off to different destinations; and will probably never see each other again.

From around 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM we had dinner with Tim and Tracey from Follie a Deux at the Indian restaurant we liked so much the other night.

Once back at the boat, Darlene was the first to fold, followed by me. Joel was still up reading when I went to bed at 11:30 PM.

Brian Fox

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