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!