Out in Rodney Bay (updated)

Yesterday evening we dined in pairs. Helen and I walked about a couple of miles around the harbour to Razmataz, the Indian Restaurant, which was about 200 yards away from the boat as the crow flies. The food was very good but not quite up to what you can get in London, England.

This morning we did some more shopping and I finally managed to find a place to supply some distilled water – I’ve been searching for a while.

We’ve now left the marina and are anchored outside by Pigeon Island. Jim and Bob have climbed one of the hills while the rest of us swam. In reverse, this afternoon the four swimmers will be climbing the hills on the island this afternoon.

I haven’t been taking too many pictures recently but here’s a few that I’ve not shared recently.

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UPDATE: We’ve climbed the two hills on Pigeon Island and enjoyed some very pleasant views. Helen and I dinghied round to where we’d seen another Lagoon 420 (Where II) earlier but she’d left. Hopefully we’ll catch up with her later in the season. The pics have been updated. Tonight it is barbecued chicken.

Tomorrow our plan is to sail to Souffriere where the very picturesque “Pitons” can be found. We’ll stay there for the day and evening.

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Rodney Bay, St Lucia

We’re safe and sound in Rodney Bay St Lucia. As the slips only cost $40 per night we’ve decided to stay one night in the marina so we can all do our separate things.

Still no internet so blogging via SSB

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Cul-de-Sac Marin

A day packed full of excitement. First order of the day was to replace the 2A anchor light with the 0.2A LED anchor light that Bob brought with him from the USA. I got the job of being hauled up the mast on the genekar halyard. Having got to the top I realized I couldn’t quite reach the top due to the pulley being a foot or two from the top of the mast. Fortunately I had brought the digital camera to take pictures so I used to to take pics of the top and to view them on the screen.

I managed to take the cover off but the bulb broke when I tried to remove it. We used the main halyard to haul up a couple of pairs of pliers. In order to see what I was doing I had to pull myself to the top of the mast with my arms, cling to the mast with legs and one arm while working with the pliers. Scary stuff. I tried this several times but all I succeeded in doing was mangling the base of the old bulb and tiring myself out.

On the way down I spent a bit of time taping up the radar cable, a long overdue task. While up there I did take some pics looking down which I’ll post when we’re next on the internet.

After breakfast I went up again, this time on the main halyard. I’d also fashioned some stirrups in case I wanted to stand up. Also taken was some WD40 to help unstick the base of the old bulb. This time success came quickly. We now have a low amp anchor light in place. Can’t wait til this evening when we can turn in on and look at it.

Helen then took everyone to the town to shop while Simon and I prepared the dive gear for a quick splash. Once the rest were back on the boat we assembled a party to go out. Bob and Sharon were to go snorkeling while Simon and I took our dive gear. We dinghied about a mile to a spot indicated by our dive book. The dive and the snorkel were successful and a lot of fun.

Back on the boat we had lunch then moved Dignity into the ‘cul-de-sac’ and anchored close to Marin. We’ve been ashore to look around. Simon, Bob & Jim have been left to look at the internet. Helen and I picked up some shopping and I’m using this time to blog and catch up on a beer.

Because of the continued northerly component of the wind there’s a good chance we’ll sail to St Lucia tomorrow. If we do end up in Rodney Bay Helen and I have decided to go for a curry shoreside. There is an ad in our four year old guidebook for an Indian Restaurant. It could just still be open.

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St Anne

This morning, after breakfast, we sailed to St Anne over on the south side of the island. Our original plan was to head north to St Pierre but the NE winds and, more importantly, the northerly swell prevented us. So we’ve gone south instead. We’ll probably stay here a couple of nights while assessing our options. One possibility would be to head over to St Lucia for a couple of nights while we wait for the winds to get back to the east.

We’ve been ashore a couple of times. Once to collect bread and once to look for a dive shop to fill our tanks. At this point in time Bob, Sharon, Jim and Simon (our guests) are all ashore exploring while Helen and I have a snooze.

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Guests aboard

All guests arrived aboard safely around 10am this morning. We spent about an hour going over the boat then set sail for Petite Anse D’Arlet. We arrived after a pleasant sail, anchored, swam, went ashore, drank beer, moved the boat and are now settled down for the evening. Probably off to St Anne and/or Marin tomorrow.

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