Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

 

Maria’s final McDonalds French fries on Martinique for quite some time to come, ha ha.  Yes, the containers must be recyclable.  Only the French…

We were interviewed by Salty Abandon, Captain Tinsley, about our adventures on Aspen and Savannah Sky.  The YouTube video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxiz9RV5q9g

The street in Gros Ilet, St. Lucia.  I’m not sure what the ice cream cones painted on the street are for…

A young Rasta Fidel Castro, during our hike on St. Lucia?

Jen and Steve (Tanglewood) after a nice hike and lunch with us on St. Lucia.

Ti Punch Happy Hour with Maria, June (Fathom This), Laurie (Cat Tales), me, Dawn (Cat Tales), Susan (Aspen 1), Rachel (Aspen 1) and George (Fathom This).

Ti Punch Happy Hour on Savannah Sky with friends – Dawn from Cat Tales along with Susan and Rachel who now own Aspen (renamed Aspen 1).

Ti Punch Happy Hour on Savannah Sky with friends.

Jim and Donna with Maria and myself in Rodney Bay Marina, St. Lucia.  50 years have passed so quickly, since we last saw them.  Luckily their cruise ship stopped in port and they found us on Savannah Sky to talk about old times.

Bad things happen when we get west swells during the winter in the Caribbean. Our friends on Argernaut from the Netherlands drug anchor and ended up on the beach in Dominica. The boat was salvaged and put on a barge, headed for Martinique.  Dreams can end quickly and without warning…

S/Y Savannah Sky – February 22, 2024 – Log #17

Savannah Sky Position: 14 degrees 08’ N, 060 degrees 56’ W

Le Marin, Martinique, Caribbean

 

Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

 

We bypassed St. Lucia on our way up north to Martinique, since winds and seas helped us on our way with a glorious sail as we left St. Lucia in our wake.

 

But we sailed back, to get some marina time for both Savannah Sky and Maria.

 

That means electricity, restaurants and grocery shopping, with many USA items for purchase.  There is even a KFC if we need a chicken fix.

 

Rodney Bay Marina, where we are berthed, hosts the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, or ARC as it is known.  Remember we joined the ARC+ this year.  But the + sign indicates we were a smaller group that made landfall in both the Cape Verde Islands, off Africa, and then on to Grenada.

 

The ARC sails directly from the Canary Islands to St. Lucia and fills this marina to overflowing with sailboats.

 

We have to wait for the ARC rally boats to leave the comforts of Rodney Bay Marina before Savannah Sky is allowed to tie up to a dock.

 

With space for about 200 boats in the marina, things can get very busy at times.

 

Our preference is to be in the marina, rather than anchored out in Rodney Bay proper, for comfort reasons (it can be rolly), less noise than at anchor near the constant booming of music from shore and security issues.

 

Our sailing friends on Cat Tales were hit in the anchorage by an errant Hobie Cat from a resort, two months ago.  Their pretty catamaran sustained a hole in one hull, luckily just above the water line so they didn’t sink.

 

Also in the bay are speeding jet skis that come within inches of anchored boats, just for fun it seems.

 

We’re very happy in the marina!

 

While in Rodney Bay, we were interviewed by Captain Tinsley for her YouTube Channel Salty Abandon.  She was interested in hearing our stories about sailing on Aspen and Savannah Sky and created a podcast.  It can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxiz9RV5q9g

 

Then we had quite a surprise one day.

 

Someone was standing on the dock, calling my name, as I unloaded groceries onto Savannah Sky.

 

Donna, Donna Peterson, the person called to me.

 

My sea water saturated brain ground to a halt as Maria popped up, finally recognizing Donna.

 

Donna is married to Jim, a high school friend I hadn’t seen in 50 years.

 

Jim (and his wife Donna) came to St. Lucia during a cruise ship stop and found Maria, me and Savannah Sky at the dock.

 

It had been 50 years since we went to school together, partied, laughed, camped, canoed, hiked, rode our motorcycles, gambled (we never won), worked at Howard Johnsons Restaurant and drank quite a lot.

 

Yes, Jim is one of my best friends who even stood up to our wedding.

 

We talked about some old times, that’s for sure.

 

What a nice surprise to reconnect after all these years

 

You never know who you might find in the tropics!

 

Still crazy…And forever young.

 

Sail on, sail on Savannah Sky…