During most of our stay in Admiralty Bay the wind had been strong especially at night and in rain squalls. The topography of the bay accelerated the normal trade winds and at times it was uncomfortable when a swell developed.
Just before leaving I took a ferry to Kingstown, the main city and principle port of St Vincent. The chief attraction was the botanical gardens, although not very large it boasts some fine specimen trees.
As it rained for most of my visit, I spent time looking round the cathedral and the newly restored Methodist church. Sadly the cathedral has suffered a severe attack by termites. Most of the buildings were poor examples of modern architecture but the Police HQ had some character about it. Looked to me like it was built London bricks not doubt originally brought over as ballast. There is a fine covered market with a wonderful choice of fruit, vegetables and spices. For the equivalent of £1-20 I purchased a bag of around 30 nutmegs. Most of the fresh produce in the Grenadines comes from St Vincent.
We made an early start for the passage north with the anchor up and stowed by 0515. The channels between Bequia and St Vincent and St Vincent and St Lucia are both noted in the local guide as potentially hazardous. With 2 channels to cross in one day, I decided to leave the decision to sail the windward or leeward coasts of St Vincent until I could see the conditions. Conditions were at best marginal but a threatening large rain squall made the lee side the obvious choice.
It was possible to sail most of the length of St Vincent enjoying spectacular views of a very green island. Within 5 miles of the northern tip the large volcano which dominates the end of the island started to accelerate the wind and build up the seas. This is the price for taking the lee coast. Conditions were very rough for the next 6 to 7 miles and then gradually eased as the influence of the land diminished. Once in the lee of St Lucia the last few miles sailed to the Pitons were a delight. With the help of half a dozen boat boys we picked up a buoy and secured a line ashore round a tree in the Shadow of Petit Piton.
Next morning we made a detour round the bay before heading north to see the extent of the damage from hurricane Tomas which from the sea didn't look much. However, we were told that 20 people had died in the mud slides and quite a few of them had not been recovered. The passage north to Rodney Bay was mostly fine on the wind with a NE swell.
I decided to berth in the marina so that I could complete a number of jobs best tackled alongside. In any case, it is always nice to have power and hot water and to be able to boil an electric kettle. Just some of life's simple pleasures we tent to take for granted. It also enabled me to watch the opening games of the 6 nations rugby!
Largely because I changed my plan to head for Panama and the San Blas islands, Geva my current crew decided to try to find a boat heading in that direction. Eventually, she decided to fly to Curacao where she thought her chances of finding a boat heading west were much better than here in St Lucia. I have also decided, provided I can find experienced crew, I will now head for the Azores, rather than see out the hurricane season in the ABC islands. So now I am actively seeking crew for the Atlantic crossing to join me after Mary's holiday which ends in April. It will be lovely for us to have PS to ourselves for a month to explore Martinique and Dominica.
In the meantime, I have enjoyed dinner aboard with friends and returning hospitality on PS. I'm using the time in St Lucia to spruce up the varnish work in what must be the best possible conditions.
