Not only is the wind and sailing great in the Windwards, the activities have been a whirlwind. We spent a month in Martinique and it flew by. Now here we are, St Lucia, Rodney Bay, with our dear old Miami friends Olga and Don on Richard Cory, Lynn and Lew on Sea Wings, Karen and Sheryl on Interlude and our new Friend Neal and his Dad on Dream Chaser for the St. Lucia Jazz Festival. We're all going to Grenada or Trinidad for Hurricane season and it's been a blast traveling together. Everyone that we speak of here are seasoned cruisers, with many years just here in the Windwards. Interlude, Dreamchaser and most lovingly, Richard Cory have been so willing to take us by the hand and share their island knowledge and lore. Thanks everybody! We love you!

Everybody we mentioned signed up for the four day pass at the Pidgeon Island Event except us. We boohooed when they shared some pics, some Amy Winehouse stories, and all the accolades of the great musicans they heard before we arrived. The whole island was covered with various venues participating in this18th annual Jazz event which started May 2.. At the next festival, if there is one in our future, I want to check out those local artists at the clubs 'round town to contrast the mega event on Pidgeon Island. Mo' personal, ya think?

How's this for a tease, and I'm only naming a few acts and star performers from the 4 day event on the main stage at Pidgeon Island...Kassav, Angelique Kidjo, Junior Marvin, Amy Winehouse, KC and the Sunshine Band, Jeffrey Osborne, Bebe Winans and Michael McDonald to name a few!

Don and Olga continued to share their inside skinny on getting around and suggested we take a water taxi to keep our dingies at our boats for safety and conjestion reasons. Good idea so they called "Orgasm", a memorable water taxi name, right? James was the character of that boat and was howling entertainment to the park! We had a full day from l pm til midnight of dance groups, custumed parades, food and drinks everywhere and MUSIC, wonderful, glorious music all day long .

We picked a good day to come. The rainstorms reeked havoc on the entire festival since the beginning, but we got lucky! The monsoons stopped for 'mother's day', the l0th, and we got a day full of sunshine and entertainment. Yippee. George Duke presented Patty Labelle, Chaka Kahn and a hot new St. Lucian artist, Nicole David who was thunderously entertaining. We just could not stop dancing. What a blast. This, our one and only day, we were treated to the Jazz ensemble of Eclectic Pan Jazz with Allison Marquis, CHICAGO had us up on our feet early in the evening and just when we thought we couldn't go on we were reinvigorated with the finale of Beres Hammond and his original reggae. What an electrifying day! It was literally sizzling when the fireworks lit up the sky for the close of a great festival . We were tired can't imagine doing 4 or 5 days of this in a row. Old foggies, or 9pm is now 'cruiser's midnight!!!

We managed to hang around in Rodney Bay after the festival for about 10 days, with bus trips, shopping, duty free shops, yatta yatta, and to visit with our friends from home, but they got sick! Rumor had it that a flu had circulated the Jazz Festival and Don on RC, Sheryl on IL, and Dudley with his sinus infection were all suffering with a crud! Since VHF eavesdropping is a pastime, we found out lots of other folks picked up the bug at the festival too. Olga had a few symptons but was one of the luckier ones as was I. Neal and his Dad were spared too, because Adrian, Neal's Dad wouldn't socialize with anyone for fear of having to fly back to England with the FLU. We got to be in close proximity with RC, check on them daily and help where we could, but that's it. We didn't get to socialize very much, with the exception of hanging off their boat and they had to leave quickly it turned out. Don's mom's health meant that they were cutting this year's crusing season short, we're SAD. They will shoot for Grenada when Don recovers...Very sad.

Our next stop in St. Lucia was Marigot, not just because it was where the original "Dr. Doolittle" was filmed, way back when Rex Harrison played the lead, or "Water" starring Michael Caine or how about Fire Power with Sophia Loren. This place is unbelievably picturesque, or to quote James Michener, "the most beautiful bay in the Caribbean". We had three peaceful days while at a dock, yes, we bellied up to a hose and fuel dock where we got a half price deal. Seriously folks, watching kids swinging from rope swings or speaking to local vendors as they weave 'lava beads" on sparkling necklaces is why we're here. Thanks Universe.

"Moses" took us on a half day trip in the Soufriere area of the lee coast to see La Sikwi Sugar Mill, the River Rock Waterfall; a sweet sleepy fishing village called Anse La Raye where we had lunch at Moses' friend's restaurant and a another distillery.

Are you beginning to see a pattern? All these verdant islands seem to have'sugar' in their agricultural history. We've seen more distilleries than we can even remember! You can only visit one per island tour 'cause you'd be pissed before lunch...not to mention an alcholic. The grounds, the architecture and the personal estates of these rum families are quite majestic, so I guess we'll keep visiting them and tastin'...hehe.

One last delectible meal at Chateau Mygo, here in Marigot, where some of the best restaurants are anchored, reeping success, was pure torture. We were actually trying to find the "reasonably priced local haunt" but stumbled on this gem. We were serendipidously joined by the Marigot Marina manager, Bob and his wife Melinda! Both were Brits who sailed here and bought land. The home they described with solar, wind power, cisterns and indigenous flora on top of a nearby mountain seemed just too good to be true! We didn't stay long enough to wiggle an invitation out of them before we admitted we've dreamed of a similar surrounding...only closer to home where family and friends are. I think the islands are full of characters and the characters in the cruising community are becoming more prevelant too. What an anthropological ride we're on.

Last but not least are the Pitons! Oh my God!

If you look up St. Lucia, you will probably see these two magestic peaks that rise from ocean floor for the most magnificent wonder! Whether you are anchored at the base of either Gros Piton or Petite Piton you can only imagine from our photos a tiny glimpse of the beauty! I'm just going to share the pictures of the walks we attempted up the Pitons but even my excessive expatiating can't describe their beauty. We got a taxi to rescuse us on day two, when we left too late and it was too hot. That was Peter D and we secured him for another tour, the Diamond Waterfall which is joined by an incredibly maintained botanical garden that tickled my love of nature, the drive thru volcano, steadily hissing steam and ash, the beautiful village of Soufriere to clear customs and the lunch were the highlights of our Peter D tour until...Dasheens. We were advised to lunch at Dasheens, because we probably couldn't afford dinner. The panaramic view is what they were encouraging even more than the award winning menu. This should be the # ???? world wonder of the world, whatever number it's up to now.

Check out the shot of Altair, that itty bitty speck, framed by the historical Pitons, Gros Piton @ 2619' and Petite Piton @ 2460'. Breathtaking and Altair even looks good at this distance.

The two things we planned to check out in St. Lucia were the Jazz Festival and the Pitons. Thanks to the folks who protect and earn a living from the assets of this beautiful island we were treated to many more surprises. My favorite to photograph and hike are the rain forests. What a magnifique ecosystem, RAINFORESTS. Then you meet the locals and they beam with pride that they were raised on the vegitarian bounty. I would love to photograph the marine park which is remarkable from what we hear. Someday maybe a waterproof, underwater camera or housing is in my future.

We are on cloud nine, what a whirlwind! Hope you enjoy, hope you join us!

Moving on to the next group of islands which are the Grenedines. We can't wait.

Hugs, Dudley and Bec, S/V Altair