Sailing Slowly North

Aspen at Rodney Bay Marina, St. Lucia.  We are back on the grid!

The mega-yacht Venus.  Designed by Steve Jobs of Apple fame.

The front view of Venus, a floating city.

The recycling area at Rodney Bay Marina.  Isn't it nice?  When the truck appears to haul the trash and recyclables away everything goes together into the same truck of course.  So much for that concept!

The start of the World ARC around the world voyage.  Several of our friends will be back in a couple of years when they finish!

Jeremy and his wife Janis from the sailboat Raylah who we last saw in French Polynesia in 2010 appeared in St. Lucia.  It was great to catch up with them.

Our friends Charlie and Anina from the sailboat Prism who were with us watching the start of the World ARC out in Rodney Bay.

The new party boat, the Pearl, at the dock in St. Lucia.  The previous party boat, Brig Unicorn, sank on the way to St. Vincent 2 years ago and was replaced.  Watch out when you are out sailing here!

Some of the party crowd on the Pearl in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.

This is Duco on the sailboat Briet.  He sailed on his boat with us from Panama to Australia to complete his circumnavigation.  Now he is back in the Caribbean before continuing onward.


S/Y Aspen – January 18, 2016 – Log #137
Aspen Position: 14 degrees 04’ N  060 degrees 56’ W
Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

We had a really nice sail from Bequia, past the volcano on the north end of St. Vincent (notorious for nasty weather) and then alongside the Pitons on St. Lucia to our final destination of Rodney Bay on the north end of St. Lucia.

Aspen sailed well enough to pass 2 catamarans too!  If we get the wind on our beam Aspen can rock and roll just fine, thank you.

Rodney Bay is a center for sailors from all over the world and the place where Aspen and her crew finished their circumnavigation in December 2013 if you remember.  It is a great place to visit.

We are surrounded by sailors from The Caribbean, France, Germany, Poland, Israel, Holland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Australia, England, Canada and of course the USA.  It is a potpourri of nationalities to say the least.  Figuring out what anyone might be saying is quite a challenge too with the different accents.  But we all get by and the beer and rum flows nightly on the Boardwalk in the marina.

I forgot to mention that our favorite mega-yacht, Venus, is also here.  The ship is massive and lights up the entire harbor during the night with their deck lights.  If only Steve Jobs could see her now.

There was a gathering of sailors one evening onboard the Pearl, a replica pirate ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie fame.  At least 50 people enjoyed telling sea stories and the rum and beer flowed freely.  Such is the life of wayward sailors in these little latitudes during our sailing season.

Sail on, sail on Aspen…