True North HR 44

Hallberg-Rassy 44

New Year in Bequia/Pitons with Matt

Anticipating a long, perhaps sporty sail back to St Lucia from Petite St Vincent, we left at first light to return to Bequia, to relax and watch for a weather window to sail the final 68 miles to the Pitons. We had really enjoyed our brief stay in Bequia for Christmas, so we decided to arrive two days before New Year in the hope the anchorage would be less crowded and we could find a better spot to "drop the hook". We were told that New Year's Eve is a much bigger deal than Christmas. We did have better luck, we thought, setting our anchor as it seemed to hold right away. But when Mike dove on it, he found hard sand and the anchor barely sunk into the ground. Rather than worry about dragging, Mike and Matt jumped in the dinghy to inquire about a mooring ball. We followed DeeDee on a small boat called "Blessing" to a ball right near the heart of town and settled in for two nights. It was a very short dinghy ride into town so we wandered the lively main street with lots of vendors, returned to the dive shop to replace my 20 year old swim fins with new ones, and found a local favorite pizza restaurant nearby for dinner. The meal was so delicious that we returned the next evening, New Year's Eve for their special holiday meal where Mike and I ordered the impressive lobster thermidor dinner, probably the fanciest holiday dinner we've ever had.

Friends Tom and Karen, on Sea Rose had arrived to the anchorage by New Year's Eve and we all went to snorkel the little reef nearby and spied the resident eel but the swell was churning the sand so visibility was poor. We gathered in the Sea Rose cockpit afterwards to catch up on life since Las Palmas as they had sailed the ARC+. Later that day, before our special dinner, we strolled the narrow stone path built along the shoreline, which led to a path up a hill with a beautiful anchorage view, and down a long flight of stairs onto a boardwalk leading to Princess Margaret Beach. Afterwards, sipping Rum Punches, we watched the sun set on the last day of 2024. By the time we returned to the boat, music was playing from multiple venues, competing with each other for our listening pleasure, everything from loud Reggae to acoustical guitar, lots of colorful lights lit up the stage on main street. We went to sleep and as planned, awoke just before midnight, hearing the crowds loudly counting down. We popped our heads out of our hatches, Matt in the bow and we in back, and watched the fireworks explode overhead, boats honking and crowds cheering. We fell back asleep despite the revelry and woke early the next morning at 5:30am to music still loudly playing from town (pretty good music actually)!

Conditions were perfect for a great sail back to St Lucia and we made great time to the mooring field at the base of the Pitons where a boat boy led us to a mooring ball. The boat boys in that area have created a collective, where payment goes to a central authority that distributes evenly to members of the collective so there is not the aggressive push, as there is in some areas, for "your business". The mooring balls in the Piton area are also in a marine preserve, so the boat boys do not own the moorings, instead the park service does and the ranger collects the $20 fee per night. But what they try to sell you are package tours, and have a laminated sheet they show you with all the various places to visit, meals to enjoy, including water transport to town and taxi rides and you negotiate a price. We specifically went to this area because we wanted to walk the Tet Paul Trail and visit the botanical gardens so I negotiated with Ebu for a package deal for the next morning at 8 am. He really wanted to sell us a barbecue but I explained that my son was leaving soon and I wanted to cook him some of his favorite home made food instead.

Mike and I set out in our dinghy to the town of Soufriere to clear back into St Lucia with the authorities. Clearing in requires us to create an account with all boat details and personal information on SailClear and then submit an online application for each exit and entry into most countries in the Caribbean. When we arrive, we bring all ships papers and passports and the number of the file that is generated through my SailClear submission. It goes fairly seamless but unfortunately rarely makes the officials less surly or pleasant, and a fee is required (often cash). In St Lucia, the next stop is the Health department where we have to fill out a long form by hand and pay more cash. Then we visit the Port Official and pay more cash and finally we visit immigration to get our passports stamped.

Our mooring ball was quite close to shore but the area is super deep. Matt popped into the water right away and found beautiful coral, an amazing amount of fish swimming all around the area, even a turtle but bits of jellyfish around so warned me to wear a rash guard. Mike warned me that there was a strong current so I entered the water keeping one hand on the boat and just loved hovering there watching large schools of various fish with no fear approach and swim all around. Clearly the no anchoring rule was successful in restoring the thriving ecosystem.

Not sure what really to expect from a fairly young but pleasant Ebu, he arrived just as promised with his boat and brought us to a waiting taxi. We had visited these places with Andrew years ago and remember how awful it was to drive in St Lucia then, while the locals had told us it was now worse, so we wisely left the driving to others. Ebu had suggested the Tet Paul trail first before the day heated up. It's a guided "hike", about 45 minutes long that has beautiful overlooks to the Pitons and ocean. There are many steps up to the lookout now, something new since our last visit, as a landowner removed permission and a new access point had to be built. Mike and I had not walked much in about 6 weeks so the climb felt good. The access might have been new but the viewpoints were unforgettable. Matthew told me how people actually climb those rocky cliffed Pitons (with ropes).

Our driver waited and then proceeded to the Botanical Gardens, picking up our guide along the way, "Alexander the Great". A local gentleman with a head absolutely full of facts from plants to USA State information, he was a delight, as he led us around the gardens, explaining nearly every plant and tree, their historical and current uses, where some plants originated from and sadly the pests that are attacking some plants now. He gathered leaves of some plants letting us savor their aromas. The main path led to Diamond Falls, where minerals of all sorts in the cliff behind the falls sparkle their different hues. The water running from the falls is warm and full of sulphur with no aquatic life at all. People can pay to bathe in the mineral pools adjacent. We tipped Alexander for his wonderful tour and headed back to the boat and the waiting water taxi, had sandwiches onboard and prepared too sail north to Rodney Bay.

The winds had increased quite substantially and kicked up some good size waves and we were a bit worried that the planned anchorage would be rough. Calling ahead to Rodney Bay Marina to see if we could get a slip a day earlier we were surprised to learn that the day was still the New Year Holiday and unless we arrived soon the marina would be closed to new arrivals. Wow, a December 31-January 2 holiday would be welcome back in the states too! We arrived to the large anchorage and as we motored close to shore, the waves stopped and the wind settled, we sunk the anchor into sand and enjoyed a peaceful evening at anchor. Early the next day, the boat next to us radioed the marina for permission to enter, which started a trend, and we too called to see if we could arrive to our slip earlier than the 1 pm requirement. It had been a very active 2 weeks and it felt good to be tied into a secure slip, as we were all a bit tired and puttered around the boat especially with Matt leaving the next day. He and Mike worked at scrubbing layers of salt off the outside while I did a few things inside, including laundry, then went and arranged a taxi ride for Matt the next day. Before Matt left, we hoisted Mike to the top of the mast to inspect the rigging making sure all was well after our long sail here.

Matthew has become quite proficient at sailing on True North and makes a wonderful crew. We were both very sad to see him leave but he promised to return soon. We spent the following couple days scrubbing the boat inside, saying goodbye to ARC friends. We met up with friends on Saltair and celebrated Guillemette's birthday with a pizza dinner and gelato enjoying the chance to connect (last seen in Ellos) before they leave for Colombia and points beyond with the World ARC. It is strange to be just us two again after having people on the boat nearly all the time since mid-October. But we next point True North towards Martinique, one of the French Islands and the next new country.

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