St.Lucia. We met some of our old friends, made some new ones.
All colourful characters with their own dreams, own plans, own problems ,
living in a bit of paradise. After arriving at 6pm we tied up to the fuel
dock for the night, and filled our watertanks and drums. We took a free
ferry to the beach on the opposite side of the bay. Had some refreshments
there, took a walk into town a bit and were back at the boat at about
before midnight. Had a good sleep and at about 7am we started removing
refuse bags from our boat, organised a dingy, cleared customs and then
moved off the fuel dock and tied up to a mooring bouy. It was fab to have
free internet; we could skype, check our emails on our landbased @'s, do
some research etc. Also got the oil pump that was left for us. Saturday
afternoon we went for lunch, coconut chicken curry and rice with salad, and
then went across the bay again and had a burger and chips each. We were
truly well fed by then and made our way back to our boat a"s the sun was
setting. The dinghy we got could only just move at full throttle, making a
big noise and getting nowhere slowly. We even rowed to keep us going, but
at least we had a means move to and from our boat.
We had an early night last night as we planned to leave before first light.
Got up at about 5am and casted off, and turned our bows toward St.Vincent.
The sun was rising as we went past the pytons and another unforgettable
moment was etched in our brains, blessed beyond words. Quite a few boats
are making the short hop over and a little race ensued. Under sail we
pulled up close to another Leopard 46 and slowly passed him by crossing
ahead of him working a better angle of wind on the sails. We are leading
the pack, not often we get to race a few other boats. We should arrive at
St.Vincent just after lunch, do a last few checks, wash the boat down
properly with fresh water and either sleep over or take the highway to
Panama.
The wind predicted from here to Panama is what one of our Italian friends
Manu would say - "Vento in poppa", meaning wind from behind. Sounds about
right. And when these winds get very strong and the waves very big we get
the next nautical term - 'Pooped'. Comes from the devasting effect of a
huge wave breaking over the stern or poop deck of the ship. Such seas could
often flood or even sink a ship, stoving in companionways and
hatches.Yachts can be pooped while running before a big sea. It is now used
as a slang term for being crushed, exhausted or satiated.
I have been in such conditions before and we apply a few tactics to keep us
going at a safe speed and in a relatively straight line. We don't expect
too much of this but when we get to the top of Venezuela and turn south
west towards Panama we could meet some stronger seas.
Hope you have a good week ahead.
Captain Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment