As we left Martinique we sailed right through a very large group of dolphins.
Unfortunately, we were so mesmerized by the sight, neither I nor Steve thought of getting the camera. There were at least 5 that jumped over the waves in a perfect pattern as if they had been trained to do so. I thought, today must be a good day... And it was. We had a long but pleasant reach to St. Lucia and as we approached Rodney Bay (at the northern tip of St. Lucia) it was going so well, that we decided again to sail right on down to the southern tip to another anchorage called Laborie. We sailed right by Soufriere and the famous towering twin Pitons. It was a spectacular island, but St. Lucia will have to wait for our return planned for next winter.
It was getting really late but we made it to Laborie. We ventured into the bay at a slow pace since it was too late to eyeball our way past the coral reefs into the anchorage near the town. Just as I was about to ready the anchor I could see that the water was getting really skinny and we stopped just in time to not go onto a reef. We had a track on the GPS and we backed up, turned around and decide that we would try another spot further out. No sooner had we turned around and a fishing boat with a 75 hp, pull start engine, crowded with 4 boys came rushing towards us. Follow us, follow us. You can use the mooring balls for free. (We had passed the mooring balls on the way in and didn't need to follow anyone, but we decided to let them feel like they were doing us a favor). "For free?" Steve asked. "Yes for free", they replied.
I picked up a well overgrown rope and continued to drop it back into the water and re-lift it until I could see the end. I grabbed the end and split apart the vegetation to discover that indeed there was a loop for me to insert our mooring line through and we cleated it off without a glitch.
The boat boys, just hung around until they saw Vanilla and off they rushed. Later they came back to ask for gas money. We gave them $4 US, not enough they said. Steve returned with $1US more and I had already given them 4 beers and 2 cans of coke. They were still disappointed but we insisted that for 2 minutes of their time, it was enough and that we didn't have any more to give. "Maybe next time", one of the boys said...and thats free in St. Lucia.