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Wednesday, January 7, 2009, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
 
     How is it possible for nine days to pass by so quickly?  We crammed a lot of living and loving life into that too-short period of time.  Surrounded by friends and good fortune, we celebrated Christmas and rang in the New Year with gratitude and joy for the wonderful opportunities and adventures we have been blessed with in 2008 and full of hope for what the future holds in store for us and for all of you.
     A Christmas Eve shared with our cruising friends on "Twice Eleven" and "Sky" set the celebratory mood that was to encompass the next few weeks.  "Twice Eleven" had just completed the ARC rally across the Atlantic.  A joyful and charismatic couple from England, David never ceases to amuse with his dry, sardonic wit, while Tamsin sweetly and unassumingly captivates with her enthusiasm and wealth of knowledge.  We have enjoyed their company in many wondrous places over the last few years, from our first encounter in Barcelona, Spain to the Aeolian Islands in Italy, to the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. We shared dock space in Venice as well as the astounding adventure of the Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally.  It was a fantastic treat to also share our Christmas celebrations with them here in the Caribbean. 
     The ever-gracious host, John invited us all over to "Sky" for dinner.  Po and their youngest daughter, Skylar had gone on a Disney cruise with Po's entire family.  Jaimie sweetly elected to stay and keep her dad company for the holiday.  I cooked, Johnny hosted, and Twice Eleven brought the cocktails and appetizers.  Right about here is where I would insert a photo, but unfortunately, my external hard drive that I just transferred all my recent photos to, died.  I am hopeful that I will be able to recover them, but so far I haven't been able to get any of the pre-Cunard photos to come up.  Luckily, I had already shared all of our photos with the Cunards and they were able to upload them for me to access and use here. 
     With our long-anticipated guests arriving at the southern airport on Saint Lucia at 3pm Christmas Day, we set out on Christmas morning for an anchorage between the spectacular Piton mountains. 
With the five star Jalousie Hilton Hotel on the blindingly white sand beach at the head of the bay, and a dozen mooring balls for boats to tie up to in the deepwater anchorage, all surrounded by towering volcanic peaks overflowing with verdant tropical vegetation, we were sure this setting would be an appropriately impressive first stop for our new arrivals.  We all piled into a taxi to the airport to pick up our guests and accomplish the obligatory clearance paperwork.  We had to add our new crew members to our crew list, and check the whole lot of us out of the country.  We were planning to leave the next day for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
     Our agenda was based upon the need to be back in St. Lucia to pick up Kari on the 30th.  She had delayed her trip to the islands so she could play in a national soccer tournament with her team.  We set the Tobago Cays as our goal for the pre-Kari portion of the vacation.  For those of you who are not familiar with the area, the Tobago Cays consist of numerous small, uninhabited islands nestled behind a large coral reef separating the Atlantic Ocean from the Caribbean. 
Mother Nature rules the roost here.  A quick swim or dinghy ride from the boat brings you to miles of coral reef, chock full of multi-colored fish, lobsters, plants and other mysterious sea creatures.  It is amazing to go snorkeling with five people and discover that each one saw so many different things from the others.  Just imagine the wonders that escaped observation all together!
     An overnight stop in Bequia on the way down allowed us to break up the trip and clear into the country.  We also picked up a few more "provisions" (that is code talk for "cases of beer").  We hit the market in town and were accosted by the colorful Rastafarian vendors all trying to get a piece of the action.  Their lively personalities and persuasive entreaties make resistance futile.  We walk out with a $15 watermelon, along with mangos, papaya, grapefruit, cucumbers and tomatoes, and even a bottle of the local specialty, ganja wine - guaranteed to provide a nice mellow buzz with no hangover!
     Filled with camaraderie, conversation, smiles and playfulness, our two days and nights in the Tobago Cays were certainly a highlight.  No specific event or activity stands out in my memory, just the extreme comfort of profound friendship in a setting that demands relaxation and appreciation of the wonder and beauty of life.  Cassie, Holly, and Juliana, "the littles," were constantly in and out of the water, shrieking with awe at the sights beneath them.  Two huge sea turtles found a tasty patch of weed nearby.  Completely unaffected by our presence, they let the girls get close enough to touch their hard shells.  "Can we go back to the place with the sea turtles when Kari comes?"
     Chasing around our clearances in and out of the country, we elected to stop in Canouan for a beach day before embarking on an overnight sail back to our anchorage between the Pitons.  This was our day of decadence, relaxing in the luxury of the facilities provided by the Tamarind Beach Hotel. 
They were happy to oblige us as the hotel was not very full and we spent lots of money buying lunch and beverages for the eight of us.  There was a decent swell rolling into the anchorage which made us happy to be playing on the beach rather than jerking and rolling around on Zia, moored fifty feet away.  There was enough surf to provide a short ride into shore on a boogie board or just body surfing and the littles spent the whole day doing just that.  Perhaps we should have been a little more concerned about what this meant for our night passage upwind back to St. Lucia, but we didn't care.  We were going no matter what the weather was like and we enjoyed every minute of it. 
     Watching Bruce and Alison sailing on Zia, we could see their pleasure in every expression.  Bruce has now officially spent more time hand-steering Zia than either Joe or myself. 
He sat at the wheel for hours, coaxing her up on top of that wave at just the right angle to catch it, sending us careening down the face at 13 knots.  Alison perched herself on one of the bow seats, reveling in the sun and the wind and the sea. 
Sam was up there in all conditions, getting air on the big upwind waves and drenching himself in seawater.  Cassie, Holly and Juliana "surfed" on the bow during our last passage on New Year's Day, happily passing the time trying to keep their footing on the rollicking upwind beat. 
And our night sail back from Canouan to St. Lucia was quite lively indeed.  With two reefs in the main and the full jib, we bashed into some pretty decent seas with 25 knots of wind on our nose.  Bruce has always laughed at me for my willingness to beat into the wind if my desired destination lay in that direction.   I had vowed to take him sailing upwind on this trip and this was my big opportunity.  The rough seas and strong winds were tempered by a few mellow intervals as we passed behind or in the lee of an island.  In the end, we arrived a few hours before daylight and wound up motoring slowly in the lee of St. Lucia, waiting for daybreak before pulling into the anchorage.
       With Kari's arrival, our family was complete. 
"Sky" and "Twice Eleven" were also in attendance and we all planned to celebrate New Year's Eve here the next day.  The hotel made their facilities available to us, although they were full up for dinner that night.  We actually wound up celebrating a day early, sharing dinner and a movie with everyone.  The next night we all decided to have dinner on our own boats and then head to the beach afterwards, if we were up for it. 
To our great disappointment, Bruce came down with a nasty 24 hour bug and was out of commission all day long.  The rest of us set an alarm for 11:45 so we could get up to watch the fire works display put on by the hotel on the beach.  Perhaps a bit anti-climactic, but the evening transpired enjoyably for those of us who were able to participate. 
     New Year's Day we said good-bye to "Twice Eleven" who was heading south, while "Sky" and "Zia" headed north.  The Cunards had fond memories of Rodney Bay from their time here on their own boat, "Simpatica," during their stint as cruisers in 2002-2004.  A brief snorkel stop at the "Bat Caves" around the corner from the Pitons was worth the extra effort. 
The water teemed with fish and coral.  The bat cave itself was a little creepy with thousands of squealing, pooping, creepy beasts clinging to the walls and ceiling of a narrow crevice that opened up onto the sea.  You could swim into it if you wanted to but the guano and noise kept me from exploring too closely.  Eeeew.
      As a last hurrah on our last full day together, the nine of us took an excursion to the Treetop Adventure Park on the eastern coast of the island, high up in the rainforest. 
If you have never experienced one of these adventures, I can highly recommend it.  This particular operation was clearly top notch, with two cables to which you were attached and an extra safety clip on top of it all.  There were eleven exhilarating runs, sure to get your adrenaline pumping.  The wait in between the rides dampened the excitement a little, but we all loved it nonetheless.  It was a perfect last hurrah on a cloudy day.
     Although the weather wasn't perfect, minor illnesses invaded, and the accommodations were tight - poor Sam was sleeping on an air mattress in the cockpit and awoke more then once completely drenched with rain - it was a perfect reunion with dearly loved friends. 
                                 
Not once did any issues crop up amongst the incredible threesome of Cassie, Holly and Juliana. 
Big Brother Sam, hero and superstar, entertained, amused and abused the littles, conducting boot camp style workouts on the beach and throwing them into the water off the boat and into the waves on the beach. 
Kari, gorgeous and sweet as always, brightened everyone's day with her smiles and good cheer. 
When it comes to Bruce and Alison, I don't have quite enough time to come up with adequate words to express how we feel.  It is priceless.
 
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