Monthly Archives: January 2016

Ryan, Ronan, Theresa, Randy & Patton @ Diamond Falls, St. Lucia, Botanical Gardens

St. Lucia: Exploring the Island – by Ryan

Since we arrived in St. Lucia a couple of weeks ago, we have all been having fun exploring the island (after school, of course).

Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

From Marigot Bay, we visited two fishing villages, Anse La Ray, and Canaries. We learned that most of their fishing skiffs are made with wood from the local rain forest and that the majority of the fish they catch is sold to local restaurants and resorts. We had great views of the Ocean and the Pitons on our drive along the coast.

Grass (Palm Frond) Grasshopper

Grass (Palm Frond) Grasshopper

We also visited Diamond Falls and the Botanical Gardens. Our guide there was nick-named “Alexander the Great.” He told us about all of the plants and trees in the gardens. Most of the plants we saw only grow in tropical climates so we don’t see them growing in the United States. Alex the Great also made me a grass hopper. Literally a “grass hopper” made from local palm fronds.

Alex also took us to this awesome waterfall that was approximately twenty-five (25) meters tall. The water from the waterfall is different colors every day depending on which minerals are flowing through the water. After the waterfall he showed us a river with water from an underground spring heated by the volcano. It was very hot and super cool!

Another cool place we visited was a drive in volcano and sulphur springs in Soufriere. The sulphur smelled like rotten eggs. Our guide at the volcano told us there has not been a major eruption in forty thousand (40,000) years. He also told us that once another guide was showing tourists how below the ground there was hot boiling water. He jumped down below so they could hear the ground crack. He cracked the ground open and fell into a hole of hot water. He was OK, but after that they put up railings.

This past week we left Marigot Bay and cruised north to Rodney Bay. We pulled into the channel right behind former Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s Mega Yacht “Venus.” It is 78.2 meters (235′) long and is an unusual looking boat. It looks like, if you looked at it from up above, an iphone resting on top of an ipad, in an ipad box.

We are currently at he IGY marina in Rodney Bay. It is a great spot and has everything a boater would want or need. This includes a marine chandlery, floating docks, 50 and 60 Hz power, restaurants, a pool, and two malls and a bulk provisioning store nearby. There is also a great big field where a lot of kids come to play soccer. Yesterday we played in a soccer match at a nearby school.

Soccer in S. Lucia

Soccer in S. Lucia

Soccer in S. Lucia

Soccer in S. Lucia

St. Lucia has been a lot of fun and I hope we can come back someday!

 

Sea Ray Neigbors, Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

NEW YEARS EVE IN ST. LUCIA – by Theresa

Cruising Past the Pitons, St. Lucia

Cruising Past the Pitons, St. Lucia

On our previous stop in St. Lucia earlier this year, we cruised past Marigot Bay and moored in the shadows of the Pitons. On this, our return trip, we motored on by the Pitons and cruised into Marigot Bay. We tied up in the most southeastern corner of the bay, directly in front of Capella Resort. As residents of the marina we had full access to all of the resort amenities, of which we took full advantage! We were fortunate enough to ring in the New Year here and were rewarded with a spectacular midnight fireworks display over the bay with front row viewing from the bow of the Pilot’s Discretion.

Marigot Bay is a noted hurricane hole that is lined with mangroves, beaches, and a plethora of restaurants, all dog friendly and with excellent cuisine. Many of the restaurants are only accessible via boat, either in your own dinghy or one of the many water taxis and ferries that service the bay. Not surprisingly, the boys particularly enjoyed the rope swing at the beach and kayaking around the calm waters in the bay.

Upon advice of cruising friends that have been in Marigot Bay before us, we sought out the hiking trail behind the Rain Forest Café (an actual café in a rain forest setting, not the chain restaurant). The hike was arduous, and very steep at times, but the views made it well worth the climb in the end.

Sea Ray, Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

Sea Ray, Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

Throughout our Caribbean voyage, we have seen countless sail boats and trawlers, but we have not seen many fellow Sea Rays. We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled into Marigot Bay to find several Sea Rays underway in  the bay, including our port side neighbor in his 52′ Sea Ray Sundancer.

 

Sea Ray Neigbors, Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

Sea Ray Neigbors, Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

We also shared the bay with our other boat neighbor, the 231′ Mega Yacht Talisman reminding us that  “there is always a bigger boat!”

M/V Talisman, Cruising Past Our Bow, Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

M/V Talisman, Cruising Past Our Bow, Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

Our plan is to continue exploring all that St. Lucia has to offer. Our next stop will take us further north to Rodney Bay and will be posting additional updates from there as time allows.

Typical St. Lucia

Typical St. Lucia

Randy & Theresa, Dark View Falls, St. Vincent

Christmas in St. Vincent – by Theresa

Randy & Patton on the Bamboo Bridge, Dark View Falls, St. Vincent

Randy & Patton on the Bamboo Bridge, Dark View Falls, St. Vincent

Dark  View Falls

While our family had not originally intended to spend Christmas in St. Vincent, when the weather prevented us from heading off to St. Lucia, we made the most of it and set out to explore our tropical holiday home. St. Vincent is an island with pristine bays, dramatic peaks, tropical forestry and picturesque waterfalls. We ventured out to Dark View Falls, on the north end of the island, and were rewarded with a set of dual cascading waterfalls over 200 feet high. To reach the falls we had to first cross a river via a long bamboo bridge. We were advised to not all cross the bridge at the same time! The good news, that our guide shared with us, was that the water below was warm and not that deep in case anyone didn’t make it all the way across.

After crossing the bamboo bridge there was a short hike through lush rain forest like vegetation to reach the lower falls.

Just a short hike uphill past the lower falls we were rewarded with views of the second, larger waterfall.

Wallilabo Bay, St. Vincent (Pirates of the Caribbean Set)

Wallilabo Bay, St. Vincent (Pirates of the Caribbean Set)

Pirates of the Caribbean

In addition to its natural beauty, St. Vincent is also famous as the main filming location for the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. Much of the filiming took place in Wallilabou Bay where many set props and building structures remain on display. We enjoyed touring the set, viewing the artifacts and dining at the Wallilabou Anchorage Restaurant which is used in many of the scenes in the movie and is also dog friendly!

Pilot's Discretion, Wallilabou Bay, St. Vincent

Pilot’s Discretion, Wallilabou Bay, St. Vincent

We enjoyed Wallilabou Bay so much that we decided to move Pilot’s Discretion from Blue Lagoon Marina, at the south end of the island, to Wallilabou Bay.  We took advantage of our new position to explore the surrounding area and bays, including the stone archway, filmed in the opening scene of he Pirates of the Caribbean, and nearby Cumberland Bay.

Ronan was so entranced with the Pirates of the Caribbean theme that even on the water he immersed himself in his latest acquisition instructing how to build “The anti-Pirate Potato Cannon.”

When not building anti-pirate potato cannons, the boys busied themselves fishing off the dock with their friends from S/V Madhatter and S/V Shoe Shine. Since the next weather window has presented itself, our next post will be from St. Lucia. We are all very much looking forward to sharing our continuing adventures with everyone in the New Year!

Fishing off the docks at Blue Lagoon, St. Vincent

Fishing off the docks at Blue Lagoon, St. Vincent