In Tune - IN TUNE Sat 15th Dec. The last post!

Our last night at sea and on watches was very pleasant. Starry clear skies and half moon lighting our way west, like a glowing highway on the water. It was windy & rough but we're used to it now. Sailing under the genoa makes it relatively relaxing for sleeping etc.

We were planning to raise the parasailor at dawn because the forecast was for lighter winds. However, this did not eventuate, but around 1000 we decided to use it even though the wind was still around 18 knots. We were all relaxed on our last day looking forward to our arrival. Just when we thought we had it made, the weather had other plans. Looking behind showed the mother of all rain storms catching us. We quickly got all hands on deck to drop the Parasailor, getting it down just in time. Back with the genoa again we were getting 30 knot winds and surfing down waves of about 4 m breaking with spray blowing the tops off - our last test! We rounded the top of St Lucia and crossed the finish line about 1700, and entered the Rodney Bay marina.

We had a welcoming committee from the ARC the meet us, friends from other boats, and the St Lucia tourist people were there to present us with rum punches and a big basket of fruit. Steel drums and reggae music was playing and rastafarians on the dock. It was wonderful - everything I had imagined the Caribbean to be! In the evening there was a big party in the beach club.

We have sailed over 2,800 NM with no injuries to the crew, no boat damage (there were many boats that did) all in relative comfort, and having a lot of fun along the way. This was my goal, and I am happy to have achieved it.

This will be our last post on the ARC crossing web site; from now on I will return to our peacelovemusictravel blog posts. Thank you to all of you who have been following us on the WCC fleet tracker and reading these posts. We now have a few days to clean up the boat and do some jobs. We will stay here in Rodney Bay for at least a week before moving on. Best wishes to all.