We are still in St. Lucia. Its New Years day and we are cleared with C&I to be here through the seventh. The harbor is full of ARC boats. That is the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. Approximately 200 sail boats of all sizes left the Canary Islands in November headed for Rodney Bay. The fastest made it in about two weeks. Many Europeans join the ARC to make the crossing each year. There is also an eastbound ARC in the summer but not as many boats sail in it. There is now a "World ARC" for people that want to circumnavigate but like the security of a group. The ARC costs $7000 to join. I can't imagine the cost of the World ARC. We are going to hike up to the cannon emplacement atop Pigeon Island today. It has a great view and we need the exercise. Today I finally saw another Beneteau M-38 that was cruising. S/v Solovan, the gentleman was from Prague and his English was poor but it was ten times better than my Czech. I did confirm it was a Moorings 38 and it did have a lot of additions like Unchained. Unchained is in much better shape but it was interesting to see another cruising M-38. We didn't hike up to the cannon emplacement but it was NOT because I was lazy. Someone evidently tossed a cigarette aside and set the whole hill on fire. There is no piped water to the top so the firefighters had to use backpacks to fight it. It ended up burning all the underbrush off but it looks like that happens occasionally because the other hill on Pigeon island has no larger trees on it either. We have decided to stay till Saturday and will go on a tour tomorrow (12-6) to the Rainforest and ride the Zip lines through the canopy. Hear about that trip in the companion blog by Sue prior to this one. The picture with her blog is a beauty! We heard, by grapevine, that the first confirmed act of piracy to a cruiser between Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Grenada occurred recently. A friend still in Trinidad e-mailed us the facts. A sailboat left Trinidad and headed North. Just after passing "Hibiscus" (the very large oil platform about 30 miles out) they were approached by a "go fast" boat with seven armed men aboard. Six hours later they were released unharmed but the boat was stripped of everything but the sails and motor. We are sure glad we are not returning to that area. We are still enjoying our stay in St. Lucia. Weather reports from the US are chilling (pun intended) and we are experiencing 90 degree days and 80 degree nights. The winds increase and decrease with regularity as do the ocean swells, both from the East and from the North. We plan to leave Saturday morning for Sainte Anne, Martinique for a night and then on to St. Pierre where Sue likes to snorkel in the shadow of Mt Pelee looking for artifacts. We have had lots of opportunity to share sunset cocktails with many of our cruising friends these last ten days or so. Cruising is like a constantly changing neighborhood. We arrive and see friends we have missed and some leave and others arrive before we leave. Some are temporary cruisers like us with future plans to return to "dirt" and others have cast off permanently with no shore bound assets. Some like long passages and distant shores and some, like us, like island hopping. It is a varied group and with very few acceptations a congenial group, helpful and fun to spend time with. The group with the "World ARC" left yesterday for Panama and points west. We wish them fair winds and calm seas. It is with some sadness that we leave each island as we move North knowing we will not return but we have so much at home to return to that it is a double edged sword. The next update should follow a visit from my sister, her husband and two friends when we are in Portsmouth, Dominica. The picture with this update is Sue's Christmas gift. Our new "spray panels" now identify Unchained to all who approach.