Blue Lagoon, St Vincent with J&J
06 May 2019 | Blue Lagoon, St Vincent
Philip Greetham | Windy
I was getting concerned at this stage because there was about one week of 20 + knot winds forecast. Port Elizabeth is not all that well sheltered from the wind, but what was concerning me more was the passage back to St Lucia, since J&J had booked their flights in and out of the same place. The passage N to St Lucia is not good in strong wind. We decided to make the crossing N back to Blue Lagoon on S coast of St Vincent; J&J booked a flight to fly from St Vincent back to St Lucia. As it turned out the passage N to Blue Lagoon wan't too bad since it was only a short passage of 10 NM. I decked them out in life vests, and J&J clung to solid supports like koalas again, and stared at the horizon to ward off sea-sickness. Currents moved us off course for a while and a rough patch in the middle. All ended well though. We took a mooring in Blue Lagoon, wandered ashore, swam and relaxed.
Wanting to see some of the interior of St Vincent, we hired a car with Jack & I sharing the driving. The car hire was an interesting experience - no licence, receipt, contract, or paperwork of any kind - just an exchange of keys and cash. We drove up the windward coast to see the Black Point tunnel. The tunnel had been constructed by slaves on the plantation to make it easier to get the sugar cane on to boats and export. The roads are very narrow, no signs or aids - I think there is one roundabout on the island and one set of traffic lights in the main town of Kingstown. We found our way through Mesopotamia Valley, the "bread basket" of the island and then to to Kingstown, where we experienced market day. After a bite of lunch, we drove up to Fort Charlotte, which was built by the British for the proverbial wars against the French. Finished in 1806, it ha a magnificent view over the harbour, but was finished too late to be of much value. We had a chat to the guy who manned to lighthouse there monitoring the shipping.
Sunday Geri treated us all the bacon & eggs for breakfast and we relaxed around the boat and marina. I say "relaxed" - Jude's main occupation was sitting on the transom stairs picking her feet and tossing it to the fish. We had schools around the boat, and she was finding it difficult to walk since so much flesh was missing! Jack practised tying knots, well correction, tying one knot, a bowline, but since he fell asleep every time he tried it, he never did get to master it. In the evening, J&J treated us, than you very much to a nice dinner in the marina restaurant.
Monday was very sad to see the leave around lunchtime to catch their flight to Castries, St Lucia. It is impossible to capture the wonderful atmosphere of jokes, and laughter that we constantly had on In Tune. We were looking forward to J&J visiting, and despite the anticipation, the time with them exceeded our expectations.