Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Before we left the boat this morning we noticed a mooring ball had become free on the opposite side of the bay where the snorkeling was supposed to be better than where we were. We therefore moved the boat over before heading into town.

Rather than pay, collectively, $180 for a trip to the botanical gardens (as we were offered) we walked there. The fee to get in was only $5 each so our walk saved us a fair bit. The botanical gardens were ok – certainly not as fine as those in Deshaies but pleasant all the same. They contained a waterfall fed by a volcanic source. Again, not as good as those in Dominica but it was different in that the rock wall behind it was coloured yellow from the impurities in the water.

Back in town we shopped then had lunch. Had a bit of excitement when a bottle of beer exploded when I put it in the fridge. Before going snorkeling in our new location I cleared us all out of St Lucia. The snorkeling in our new location (called Bat Cave) was excellent and most have been in the water several times.

Now we’re settling in for the evening and preparing for a long sail tomorrow when we head for St Pierre in the north end of Martinique.

Last night Simon and I went for a night dive off the back of the boat. Fortunately I had a couple of working dive lights which worked well. Diving at night is a very different experience. What you see is limited to the area lit by your torch (flashlight). Everything else is dark. Navigation depends a lot more on your compass as it is hard to know where you are by looking at individual rocks – which look different depending on what angle you look at them from.

The marine life at night is quite different. The parrot fish are covered in self-excreted mucous and sleeping on the bottom. The trumpet fish are asleep and pretending to be reeds. We came across a squid, twice the size of my fist, asleep in the water. I was able to touch it. Lit by our torches it was iridescent.

After 40 minutes we were both cold so we surfaced right by the boat. We surfaced to a brilliant night sky full of stars. A couple of shots of rum warmed us up.

A slow but very pleasant sail has us now moored outside of Souffriere right by the world famous “Pitons”. We’re staying here for two nights before heading back to Martinique. We’ll probably swim/snorkel around the boat before heading into town this afternoon to check things out. We’ll probably go for a walk in the morning and see the local sights.