Sail from St Lucia to Grenada

sv Honey Ryder in Marigot Bay - pretty girl

Thursday June 5th we departed St Lucia at 9:30 am.  When you look at a big chart, you see that sail from St Lucia to Grenada is somewhat south, southwest.  This should be an awesome point of sail given the trade winds.  However, the winds in the lee of each island can be.....fluky.  We joked the night before that it doesn't matter what the forecast or trade winds, it's always on the nose for us.  So, when the wind shifted around to the west towards the end of St Lucia, all we could do was laugh.  It didn't last long as once we cleared the end of the island completely, the easterly trades kicked in.  But here is a weird one........We were sailing south on starboard tack.  Another sailboat was sailing north on starboard tack.  Who has right of way?  YES, we were both on starboard tack. We had the fluky, lee of the island winds and the other vessel had the clear, easterly trades.  Ponder that one for a bit and let me know what you think.

Sailing past St Lucia's famous Pitons

We had winds from 2 knots to 19 knots over the entire trip but the average was around 10 knots. Very nice.  At the top of St Vincent we had some excitement when a small twin engine airplane banked around and came in low for a look at us.  By low I mean very, very low - mast height low.  I thought it was just a curious pilot admiring s/v Honey Ryder....and who could blame them!  When we mentioned this to other cruising friends that had past that way weeks before, they had the same thing happen. Perhaps instead of an admirer, it was some officials checking on boat traffic.  Any official looking for drug runners would know immediately that a sailboat isn't running drugs once they see the admiral (female) onboard.  Space is so tight on a cruising boat there is no way a female will allow extra cargo taking up space!  Ha!  The other excitement we had was a large class A - dangerous cargo ship south of St Vincent.  Apparently this is the first time we have encountered a class A as the AIS signal periodically flashed white explosion clouds on each side of the normal ships triangle that makes up the standard shape.  It was sort of funny - like a cartoon explosion.  We had a little added danger element on this passage as there is a rumor of a submerged cargo container somewhere around St Vincent.  We both kept a sharp look out while on our watches.  Of course this is a whole topic of its own for discussion but GPS beacons on each and every cargo container sure would be nice given the large number that fall off ships and are therefore floating submerged in our oceans!

Anyway, our sail down was lovely.  We arrived in St Georges Bay Grenada at 11am Friday morning.  We sailed into the anchorage just in time to see our cruising friends s/v Amaris pulling up their anchor for the ABC's.  Fair Winds guys, sorry we missed hanging out with you in Grenada.  See you in KC!!!  The guides books and Active Captain say this anchorage is tricky holding and they aren't kidding. It took us 3 tries to get a good anchor set.  Our cruising friend Ric off s/v Endorfin II saw us struggling came over in his dinghy to show us where a big cat was anchored successfully the day before.  Thanks Ric.

If it looks like we skipped a bunch of islands, we did.  It is now officially hurricane season and we needed to get further south - final destination is Trinidad, well out of the hurricane belt.  However we plan to spend a couple of weeks checking out Grenada first before the final sail to Trini (as the cruiser call it).  But don't fret, we plan to fully explore those islands we skipped next season.  

Rum Tour on St Lucia

Monday June 2nd.  The marina set up a tour of the St Lucia Distilleries Rum facility that is just down the road from Marigot Bay.  Archie (sv Janey) Paul (sv Sonic Boom) and his sister Sally, Tom and me did the tour.

Rum is such an integral part of Caribbean history.  Each island has a story to tell about sugar cane production and eventually rum.

Blending room and QC

 

Bottling area

The company is also a big player in St Lucia Carnival.  They had a carnival room that told about the history of Carnival on St Lucia and all the details.

Carnival Queen Sally

Carnival King Paul

Of course there was a tasting room at the end of the tour as well.  Sorry no pics.  My camera battery went dead but trust me, there was some good stuff in the tasting room.

More Fun in St Lucia with Archie

Doolittles

Sunday June 1st.  We grabbed Archie in our dinghy and headed over to Doolittles restaurant for pizza.  Paul from s/v Sonic Boom told us the pizza is really good and reasonably priced.  The setting is lovely as it right on the south side of the outer harbor.  However, it seems they don't serve pizza on Sunday night.  Argh!  We didn't want to drop a lot of money on dinner so we just had a coldie.  We ended up meeting the owner and chatted with him a bit.  Then Archie said "I know this woman that makes really good soup just down the road.  I told her we would come by for some.  Let's go there."  And just like that we were off on another grand adventure with Archie.

Archie says this was a typical house when he was growing up

He drove up and over the hill to the main road.  Karen runs a nice little place right across from the football field.  She was there sitting outside but the kitchen light was off.  Not a good sign.  It seems there were a couple of football matches earlier in the day and she was completely sold out of her soup as well as the few other items she cooked up.  Bummer!  She and Archie discussed where we might find something to eat on a Sunday night as most places close down.  Not good.  She gave us a couple of suggestions and we were off into the night.

The first place Archie tried was closed.  We drove by another that was really hopping but Archie wanted tried another only to find it closed as well.  We did a Uturn and headed back to the hopping place.

We pulled off to the side of the road to park and walked up.  There is a small grocery store (as in corner quick shop) that is also a post office.  This was closed since it was Sunday and 8pm by now.  The parking small lot was taken up by 3 small card tables with hot games of dominoes going.  Now I don't mean the goofy Mexican train dominoes that some cruisers play.  I am talking heated, full on, slam em down dominoes.  Heavy duty stuff.  There were four players at each table and at least 5 or six people gathered around each table watching.

Old school country music was blaring.  I am talking Hank Sr.  AND everyone knew the words.  It was kind of....weird.  It turns out that country music is very popular and standard fare on Sundays. I said something about Pasty Cline and Archie said "Oh god, if a Pasty Cline song came on, every single person here would be singing at the top of their lungs."  I talked with a cab driver that stopped by about his love for country music.  "It's soothing after a long week and our usual lively music."  I told him the famous country music joke - "What do you get if  you play a country song backwards?  You get your truck, your dog and your wife BACK!"  He laughed until he cried. Then he practiced telling it back to me so he would have it down.  He finally got it just right and headed off to tell it to others.  

Archie wondered toward the little snack shack at the end of the parking lot / domino area to see if there was any food left.  They weren't cooking anymore.  Most of the cooking for these types of events/evenings is done earlier in the day. When the food is gone, it's gone.  Just like Karen's place. However, Archie worked his BS....er... magic and talked the ladies into letting him scrap the bottom of the big pot. We got 3 full, lukewarm bowls of bouillon.  We watched the various domino games for a while and chatted with locals.  *Side note - I felt sorry for one domino player.  I think he had a touch of OCD as each time someone slammed down the dominoes, it jarred the whole table and upset the dominoes, sending them this way and that.  He just couldn't take it and quickly straighten them out each time only to have them all ajar again on the next play, and the next, and the next.

Finally we decided to head back to the marina.  However, when we got to the top of the hill above the marina there was another little place open. It's wasn't hopping like the domino place but there were a few families hanging out.  Archie said the food was really good and we didn't think the lukewarm stew had quite filled us up so we stopped.  Miss happy (NOT but inside joke) was in the standing serving up the food.  She only had a few items left.  I had grilled chicken, Archie had grilled pork and Tom had grill pork and fries.  It was some of the best grilled chicken I have had.  YUM!  Full tummies, we drove back down to the marina.  

Catching Up With Old Friends In St Lucia

Sally, Paul and sailor Paul 

Saturday June 1st.  Our sailing friend Paul on s/v Sonic Boom sailed into Marigot Bay.  His sister Sally and boyfriend Paul are visiting from London.  They popped by s/v Honey Ryder after dinner so we could meet them and get caught up with Paul.  After that, we all went ashore to the Raintree restaurant to hear some soothing Jazz.
Sadly they returned to s/v Sonic Boom, which was anchored in the outer harbor of Marigot Bay to discover the boat had been boarded and items taken.  They didn't lose everything but it was still a pretty big blow, creepy and frustrating.  The night before a sailboat out there had their outboard taken.  *NOTE - lock everything up tight each and every time!
On a good note.  Paul made the new marina manager at Marigot Bay Marina aware.  He immediately told Paul to come inside to the inner harbor and take a mooring ball for free.  Paul really wanted to but his guests wanted/needed to get back to their hotel in Rodney Bay.  Super nice of marina manager Pete!!

St Lucia - Our Grand Day Out With Archie

At La Haut Resort -Pitons in the background

Friday May 31st.  We left s/v Honey Ryder at 8am and hopped in Archie's Daihatsu to begin our exploring.

Tom and Archie on the grounds of La Haut Resort 

We drove south along the west coast of St Lucia on winding roads.  Some of the hairpin turns are rather sharp and tight but drivers beep their horns to warn someone coming from the other side that they are there.  Additionally they will beep if there is a bus pulled over for a stop or people walking in the road.  Not loud, long NYC cab type honks but just a short beep as a heads up.

Road slides and wash outs are a problem in St Lucia

Sometimes the road conditions will require a driver to drive on the other side of the road - to miss a big pot hole or go around a bus dropping off a passenger.  They don't wait until the oncoming traffic is completely clear, they just drive over to the other side.  It's seems....well...crazy to us to be on the wrong side of the road with cars coming at you.  But the cars coming the other direction don't get upset.  They know that this car has to do this and it will soon go back to its side of the road soon so they slow down or stop to allow this.  No one gets upset.  We have seen NO road rage, just logical give and take that seems to make up driving conditions in St Lucia.

Tom with a mouthful of cassava bread

Look closely along the wall and you will see the 2 fireboxes used in the boiling and baking process

Our first stop was at a cassava bakery.  We learned how they peel, grate, and boil the cassava root in preparation for combining it with flour, grated coconut and other ingredients for baking.  We bought a sample - banana flavored.  It has the appearance of a big English muffin but is very dense.  I couldn't eat a whole one by myself, it's so dense. We split it three ways.  The valley behind the cassava bakery was filled with various plants and trees.  Archie took the time to point them all out and tell us about them.

Despite lack of rain turning some of the countryside brown, there was still quite a bit of green.  

Pool at La Haut Resort

Rooms at La Haut Resort

Our next stop was La Haut Resort.  Archie knows the owner and stayed here on one of his previous visits.  It's small but lovely.  The grounds are wonderful.  We are thinking about coming back next season and spending a weekend if the budget allows.   I took a ton of pics and had a really hard time narrowing down which to show you.  So pretty.

View from La Haut down into Soufriere and the Pitons

After La Haut Resort, we headed down into Soufriere.

Simply food shack

Getting caught up

YUM

Our first stop was at a little food shack owned by a friend of Archie.  It was very small and very simply.  The three of us crowed into the place with her and her helper.  We chatted as she served us up a plate of flash fried fish - a small chunk of barracuda, small parrot fish and another small fish I don't remember.  They were yummy.  Tom learned why St Lucians and actually all West Indians LOVE the fish head best.  They say it has the best flavor and after trying it, Tom agrees.  YES he did.  He ate the whole fish head!  Crunch, crunch, crunch.

I happened to mention that I wish I would have bought some "bush tea" in the market in Castries the other day to kill my lingering cough.  She said "Baby, I'll make you some up."   In a few quick minutes I had my very own cup of "make you feel all better bush tea" - her version....basically it was honey, lime and strong rum.  And miraculously I did feel better and didn't cough the rest of the day.

Off the main pier in Soufriere - 1 of 2 Pitons in the background

 We roamed around Soufriere a bit and then headed for the Pitons.

Time to load up on refreshing
coconut water - SO good and good for you

We drove up to the sulphur springs and volcano but there were a ton of tourist buses and despite Archie's determination to drive through for free, he was not able to talk the security guard into it.  We also made a stop at the super, exclusive $$$ Ladera Resort that sits directly between the Pitons. Archie told the guard that we were headed to Dasheen Restaurant for lunch.  Our plan was to have a nice beverage and take in the spectacular view.  However, seems too many other people have had the same idea in the past.  The restaurant has a new policy.  $25 US dollar minimum per person regardless whether it's a simple coke, appetizer or full lunch.  We didn't feel like dropping $75+.  Archie worked his local magic and told the girl we weren't staying but in fact we would be taking in the view anyway. She wasn't happy about it but let us saying "but no pictures."  The Pitons are magnificent.  If you click the link on Ladera Resort, you can see the views we saw.

Coco beans drying in the sun

Fond Doux Plantation is a family run coco plantation.  Archie knows the patriarch in charge now so we stopped by.  They give tours of their coco bean operation.  They also have a very nice restaurant and a few guest cottages.  We arrived just in time to see the coco bean drying racks being rolled back out after a brief shower.  This plantation doesn't actually make chocolate.  They ship the beans to chocolatiers in Europe.

This is actually a WIDE road compared to most roads in the little villages

One of the village bath houses

As we roamed along, we drove through many little fishing villages.  The small houses (sometimes mere shacks) are very tightly packed together.  I mean VERY tightly packed.  No secrets in these villages.  The streets are really narrow, in most case with barely enough room to drive one car down.  Most are old so there is no running water in the houses but instead a couple of village standing water pipes that everyone uses.  There is also no bathrooms but a public bath house with bathrooms, showers and a places to do laundry by hand.  They don't have much but life is simply in these villages and Archie says most of the people are happy.

**READERS - Are you still with me?  I know it's a long blog posting but it was a full, action packed day!  Hang in there.

The guys checking out the bouillabaisse

bouillabaisse with dumpling

Our fried fish from Soufriere was long gone so when Archie spotted this kewl little roadside place, he pulled over to check it out.  It was one of the nicer stands we have seen/visited.  She has St Lucian style bouillabaisse.  She also had terrific lambi (conch) soup - best I have had.  It was SO tender.  We had a wonderful time visiting with her.  She insisted that I use her bathroom in her house next door before we left.  I was grateful.  Her home was lovely - an unusual American style and size kitchen and bath - meaning HUGE.

lambi soup

Oh yeah, we just happened to run into Cervin while we were out and about.  He is Archie's stonemason at the house Archie is building here.  He joined our sight seeing tour for a while.

Archie's house

View from his deck - perfect spot for a mooring ball for sv Janey or sv Honey Ryder

The guys discussing the details

Good retaining wall that Cervin built

Archie's house is just outside of Laborie on the south coast of St Lucia.  We got a full breakdown of the build.

Back alley walkway in Laborie

Anchorage has several reefs that make it tricky

We also made a stop in Laborie.  Much like the other fishing villages we drove through, it's compact with people living closely together.  The people don't have much but friendly.

SE coast of St Lucia

East coast of St Lucia

Oh look - ANOTHER Japanese Gov't built break water and fish sorting house - how nice.

We bypassed Vieux Fort and drove north along the windward coast (east).  Not a place I would want to make landfall as the shoreline looked very unforgiving to boats.

Soon it was time to start back across the country toward the west coast.  Again we climbed up and up into the mountains.  We stopped a few times to take in the view, meet and visit with the locals.  

She made us tasty salt fish cakes.  YUM!

There are many small roadside places in or near each village where locals gather to chat, grab something to eat and play dominoes.  These places are very, very simple - sometimes there is a small kitchen but other times it's just a two burner hot plate run on a small table run off a propane bottle.  The bar is a table and a cooler or two.  The chairs and tables are a mix-match under a simple covered patio with no sides.    

The bar

Chatting with the locals

After a couple of wrong turns on dark mountain roads, we found our way back down to the west coast. We headed back to Anse La Raye for their famous Friday Night Fish Fry.  We had driven through this fishing village earlier in the day.  

Anse La Raye

However now the main streets were blocked off and a full street party was going on.  There was music, a St Lucian version of Top Model (whatever that means), vendors, drinks and FOOD!  So much good looking food.  However, we were stuff from all we had eaten during the day so we just took in the sights and smells. 

People watching

The Fish Fry was a veritable buffet of people watching as well.  Archie's older brother George showed up from Castries so we had a good time visiting with him.

Finally we had to call it a day and head back to Marigot Bay.  We climbed aboard s/v Honey Ryder around midnight and fell fast asleep.  

Special Note - We can't say thank you enough to Archie.  We had a wonderful time seeing St Lucia with you through your eyes so to speak.  There is NO way we would have ever seen or experienced the day we had with you on our own.  Thank you so much!