St. Vincent - St. Lucia

I was in the middle of doing my Biology schoolwork when Ashton came rushing into my room, climbing over me and demanding that I play with him. I told him I was just going to finish the paragraph I was reading. So I put my gaze back upon my Biology workbook and moments later, I felt something moving up and down my leg. I looked down to see Ashton running his nose up and down my leg, sniffing me. I asked what on earth he was doing and he said, “I am smelling you to make sure you are alright.” Doctor, Doctor games are always very interesting with Ashton. He runs a torch over my arms and legs to check that I’m ‘clean’. He kisses invisible sores better and puts invisible plasters on them too. Ashton always makes things interesting.

Talisman and Jangles together

We had to catch a taxi to the airport to sign out of customs and immigration. As the skippers were sorting out all of the paperwork, my mom, sister and I walked over to the supermarket to get a few things. Outside of the airport was a guy who was making snow cones. . .his snow cones however, had a little bit of a twist. He used condensed milk on them! They were really sweet but very yummy! Once we had all cleared up with customs and immigration, it was back to the boat, dinner and bed.

snowcone

my first catch!

We left St. Vincent and headed for the pitons in St. Lucia around 4 am on Thursday morning. Both rods were put out . . .and we finally caught a fish!! Hearts raced as I sprinted for the rod. It was a fairly easy pull in, as he didn’t put up much of a fight. It was a small barracuda, so we put the very lucky fish back into the ocean. We got a radio call from Talisman that they picked up a barracuda a little while after we did . . .must of been the same fish. We were heading towards black clouds that were building up ahead of us. Hearts sprang again as the rod began to sing . . .my muscles were working hard as I began to frantically reel in the fish. As it came close to the boat, the unknown fish unhooked. My heart sank as the fish swam off. But fear not as the rod went off once again! It was a bit disappointing when we found out it was a barracuda again. . .that fish must have been following us. Luckily, we missed the brunt of the storm and received a light rain, which washed Jangles down nicely. We were also in luck as we saw pilot whales. We furled away our genoa and put up the screecher. . .we began powering as our speed sat between 9 and 10.5 knots, even reaching 11.8 knots at one stage!

lazy days

We arrived between the pitons and picked up a buoy close to Talisman. It is a beautiful bay, and an incredible feeling being between two giant volcanic plugs. The men went to customs and immigration whilst us girls headed for the beach. We spent the afternoon sitting on beach chairs and drinking milkshakes and rum punches. It started getting late and the men hadn’t returned in the dinghy yet. . .we assumed they got lost in the bar. And when they eventually arrived back, we were right! They were waiting for the immigration guy to show up cause he took his door handle off of his door (that is how he locks his office). And then they ended up having a beer WITH the immigration guy in the pub! Well the pub continued to Robert’s boat as we found ourselves there for the early evening. Ash had Rebecca and I up front playing pirates. After we sent the bad guy to heaven, Ashton exclaimed to Rebecca and I, “Arrgg maties now you’re my hotties!” Man do we love that boy! We decided to head to shore for an early dinner at the resort. 

at the start of the hike

We were up and at the dock at 8:30am the following morning to be taken to hike the Gros Piton, which is 771 m high. It took us 2 hours to climb up and 2 back down. At the top, there was a Canadian couple who were taking photo’s at the edge of the piton. My dad walked over and offered to take a photo of them together. My dad called us over for a photo so we began strolling to the edge of the piton. The Canadian lady gave my dad a piece of coconut candy and as soon as I heard the sound of that, I was on the move! Rebecca was in front of me and I was hastily saying, “hardloop!” Robert was behind us and he just laughed as he was totally oblivious as to what I was saying. . .I stopped to explain to him what it meant but by that time, I had missed my opportunity for some coconut candy. Robert and I powered ahead on the way down, and as we got closer to the end where flat ground started appearing again, we went for a run. Now it had been raining, slippery rocks etc. someone was bound to get hurt. . .that someone, once again, was me. I jumped on a rock and my one foot slipped so my shin bashed into the rock I was jumping onto. Robert hurt his finger but that was from trying to prevent me from injuring myself . . .which didn’t work anyway. Needless to say, I now have a bruised leg. After the hike, it was back to the boat for us as we had some preparing to do for Lee’s birthday that night. 

summit!

Ashton bringing pitons to the boys

We had pork on the braai and breaded shrimp! It was a great night. . .we lit a candle on Lee’s birthday cupcake and sparks flew. . .literally! Everybody had a reasonably early night as the long hike that morning had started taking its toll.

Happy birthday Lee

Mud people

The next morning we had hoped to go diving. . .that hope died however, when we looked out of our portholes and rain was pouring, the wind was howling and the sea was choppy. So we settled instead for hot chocolate, popcorn and a movie. By midday the weather had cleared and Robert, Rebecca, my mom and I headed for shore to go explore the island. We began at the sulphur springs . . .our noses all crinkled as we headed towards the springs. Steam arose from the ground, bringing with it a smell of rotten eggs. A guide took us around the springs and explained a bit of history about the volcano we were standing in. She told us that according to scientists the volcano is overdue for an eruption . . .she finished off with a quirky little comment of let’s hope it doesn’t erupt today! Next stop was the mud baths. The bath was 38 degrees Celsius . . .we were all pink when we got out! It was good fun rubbing mud all over each other. We had all gotten out and had been through the fresh water showers when Robert said that we should of covered ourselves in mud and baked in the sun . . .well, back in the mud we went! We went from hot mud baths to mineral baths at the piton waterfall. At the entrance to the waterfall there was . . .coconut candy! Yes, I finally got to try it after all! We spent a while in the mineral baths and even climbed up underneath the waterfall. Rebecca and I explored around a little bit until we found a great place to hide a little geocache for our friends from Catlyn. Daylight was slowly slipping away so we decided to head back to the boats. We stood on the dock waiting for my dad to come and fetch us . . .needless to say we got a very pleasant surprise when Marco and Joe came on our dinghy to get us! Rebecca jumped up and down and did her ‘squeal/high-pitched voice thing’ again. After some catching up, Marco and Joe stayed for dinner and a movie. At the end of the evening, Rebecca and I went to bed with big smiles on our faces.

The next morning we put the dinghy in the water and Rebecca and I went to say a final farewell to the Catlyn crew. It was a bittersweet farewell, as we will miss the beautiful people aboard that beautiful boat. But alas, it is not so much as a goodbye, but more like a see you later! By the middle of the day, we left our buoy between the pitons and headed for Rodney Bay. The wind would not make up its mind on our way up. It kept on changing direction, which made the sail not so pleasant. Robert and Lee were awaiting us on the dock, ready to take our lines. Once we were settled in, we all headed for pizza. They had to set up a separate table for us to the side on the grass cause there was not enough space in the tiny seating area for us. We were all fine with it though. . .private table under the stars, how amazing! Pizza was followed with ice-cream. . .blueberry yoghurt is all Robert ever thinks of now. It was good ice-cream though, if I do say so myself. The next morning came with a run and Rebecca and Kerry joined us this time. All that is left to do now is provisioning . . .food, parts, supplies etc. . . and then next stop, Antigua for race week.

And on a side note, it is rather shocking, as I actually have to hide food on the boat! I have to protect my very tasty cereal from my dad by hiding it in my room! Every last bite is savoured . . .man, cereal is good! Especially my crunchy granola cereal with almonds.