Paradise

I write this as I sit in the cockpit of our lovely little Tartan 37. We have just completed our longest passage to date. A whole 42 miles. It took us 8 hours to complete but included a few hickups along the way. It is a breathless anchorage and we circle our mooring boy like 2 boxers sussing each other out.

I have a large rum and coke in my hand and the gas braai is ticking over on the transom with chicken breasts grilling away smothered in banana ketchup (a local sauce we are trying for the first time).

We are in Soufriere, in the shadow of Petite Piton. The pitons (a set of two tall volcanic peaks) guided us to St Lucia as they were the first things we saw as we crossed the expanse between St Vincent and St Lucia.

The sun has just set over the horizon and we watched it give us a final wink before slinking below the horizon ready to pounce on us in 12 hours time. See you soon, Mr Sun!

It was yet another beautiful sunset. A menagerie of colours, vivid and clear in evening sky.

Life is pretty damn good. It certainly is.

We are on a mooring buoy in Soufriere as most of this region is a national park and anchoring is not alllowed. This is probanbly just as well, as this island emerges from the depths like a Kraken in Pirates of the Caribbean. I cannot see the bottom although I can track the mooring line fairly deep. The depth sounder reads 50 feet. I am always a little nervous picking up a mooring ball. I was reviewing one in Wallilabou yesterday and found that most of the outer wires of the mooring line had worn through leaving just the core to hold the boat in place...fortunately the wind prevails from the shore and the stern line is the main line.

We are in our third country now. What a great achievement for two people who did not even own a boat, let alone did a lot of sailing together not more than 8 weeks ago...

We are off on a tour tomorrow to see the waterfall and volcanic hot springs etc. Looking forward to it.

Cheers, let the adventure continue!