End of Leg One
03 January 2020 | Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia
Graham Walker
New Year’s Eve at Blue Lagoon was pleasant and quiet – that is, until 10pm when the music started, and after 4am when it finished. At least we had been warned, so went to bed with earplugs in.
Then it was time to move on. We had to complete our customs and immigration check-out first, but once that was done we slipped our mooring and headed up the coast to Cumberland Bay. This is a place we’ve always avoided as it used to have a bit of a ‘reputation’; however, recent reports were very positive and we, and the other 26 boats in the bay, can confirm that it’s a great stop in St Vincent. It’s very deep until quite close to shore, so you moor Med-style – that is, a tight anchor on the bow and a stern line to a tree on the shore to keep you from swinging around. It’s a tricky one for two people so we were glad of the help of the boat-boys – no. 1 took our line ashore, no. 2 went off to buy us some bananas and no. 3 sold us some lovely ripe green oranges and then turned up at 0600 in the morning to help us untie. Thank you to the great boat-boys of Cumberland Bay! A cooling swim, a stunning sunset (complete with green flash) viewed with a beer from the foredeck, a good night’s sleep and then up with the flying fish in the morning.
We had a 60 mile passage to get up to Rodney Bay. The last two times we’ve come in here were both after dark and we really wanted to arrive in daylight – ie before 6pm – so it was off at first light. Very calm to start with, but then as we cleared St Vincent and made the open sea the wind got up and we had a lovely fast sail north, with full sail for the first time this season. And then it was a long, slow motor up the lee shore of St Lucia, and into Rodney Bay, our home for the next week while we prepare for the next stage of the trip.