Dead computer !!!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently but our  computer finally bit the dust. I don't think it liked the salt water environment! Our friends Sally and Olly who arrive today are very kindly bringing us a replacement so hope to be back to blogging soon.

St.Lucia to Bequia...

Anchored under Petit Piton

We managed a couple of decent sails down the coast of St.Lucia with my parents, the rain had cleared at last and the sea was flat. We spent a few days anchored under the spectacular 'Pitons'. There are two, Petit and Grande Piton which feature on many images of the Caribbean. They rise quite dramatically out of the water and the snorkelling and diving bring many tourists.

Soufriere

Soufriere is the town as the base of the Pitons. Soufriere means 'sulpher in the air', the town is in a volcanic crater which is still bubbling away, emitting gas. We did get used to the smell of rotten eggs after a while!
 I have to say it wasn't one of our favourite stops. The locals were fairly full on, 'hey skip I'll watch your dinghy for you' was a favourite saying. Whether we agreed to it or not, on our return money would be demanded for 'watching our boat'. Often it's easiest just to give them a small amount to prevent a confrontation.

White spotted file fish

We visited a warm waterfall in the rainforest which was heated by volcanic gases. It was just like having a warm shower, and our hair felt so soft afterwards, bliss! The waterfall flowed into a hot pool where it was easy to lose a couple of hours.

Naked fishing-shouldn't this be an olympic sport?!!!

The girls are slowly turning into naturists, I'm always suggesting that they may like to put on some underwear, especially when we have guests onboard!!!

We left St.Lucia after saying a sad goodbye to Granny Mo and Pops. Our plan was to sail to St.Vincent and overnight there before continuing to the Grenadines. We had winds  of up to 30 knots and big seas between the islands, Isla retreated to the sofa and went to sleep. The conditions don't seem to affect Darcy. We sailed close to the shore of St.Vincent but could only see a couple of boats in any of the anchorages. Knowing that the island has had a few armed incidences recently we decided not stop but to continue on to Bequia. We reached Bequia just as the sun was going down having completed a ten hour sail, the girls longest to date. They had deserved their coke and chocolate!

Rain from England....

When it rains, it pours!

My parents arrived in St.Lucia and very kindly bought the rain all the way from England. It started the day they arrived and rained pretty much constanly for four days!!!! Now it's back to blue skies and pina coladas!!!

We spent a few days anchored in Rodney Bay in the north of St.Lucia where we were treated to a free concert from Ziggy Marley (Bob Marley's son). He was here for the St.Lucia jazz festival and practising for the open air concert this weekend. Darcy was very excited as she is a real Bob fan, she's learnt to play ' three little birds' on her guitar.

Barry the Cuda!

After a dry patch on the fishing front Dave's caught two Barry's (Barracuda!) this week. You certainly need to be careful fishing the hook out of their mouths. Delicious to eat.

 

We've had alot of success catching squid which are delicious fried. Darcy had a go at gutting one this week and got covered in black squid ink.

blowing the conch horn...

 The fishermen blow the conch shell when they have got fish to sell.

Getting Pops hoisting those sails!

Weeeeeee!

Ok, this might look a bit wierd! As you might have guessed, this is one of daddy's inventions called,
 the boom swing!!!! It is basically the boom (for those who don't know what a boom is I will tell you, this is the bit that if you were racing in a small dinghy you would need to duck!) Any way, daddy attatched a peice of rope to the end of the boom and a handle with a rope to pull it back and you hold onto the handle and it swings, you then you let go and land, plop,into the water! It is VERY cool, I bet you would want to try it now! Isla was a bit to scared to do over again and again but, unlike me, I was the opposite.
Today, Granny mo and Pops are arriving in St. Lucia, we are in a lovely anchorage but the only thing that went wrong was Isla and my hair! Yesterday we went to a caribbean hairdressers and OMG Isla's hair was chopped, mummy asked for a trim! It is now just touching her ears! But, I think she looks quite cute! My hair is at the top of my neck, but I like it, it used to get really hot!  
 

Phew, back in the water at last....

We are all mighty relieved to be back on the water at last. It has been a fairly stressful week, I think the girls would probably say 'mummy and daddy haven't been very nice'!!! We stayed in an apartment while the boat was out of the water which was basic but did the job. The girls and I spent most of the week in either the doctors or the pharmacy as both Darcy and I developed ear infections. The doctor said no swimming for ten days, as if I can stop a nine year old living on a boat in scorching temperatures not to go in the water. I've invested in some ear plugs and a swimming hat which seems to do the job.
We hired a car and drove round the island, through thousands of acres of banana plantations. Our main stop was at Saint Clement rum distillery on the east coast of Martinique, we've become very fussy with our rum and don't think much of the french rum, although we made the most of the free tasting!

Royals palms

 Banana palms only ever bear one bunch of banans and then they are cut down and small plants sown. It takes 9 months for a bunch of bananas to grow. They cover each bunch in these plastic bags to encourage them to ripen.

Mangoes, mangoes everywhere!

The Caribs calles Martinique, 'Madinina' -island of flowers