St Lucia – the post ARC parties

One of the valuable things about crossing the Atlantic as part of a rally is the friendships that you make before and afterwards (and to a certain degree along the way on the radio nets). The crews on Emily Morgan, Nisida, La Contenta, Aurora Polaris and Ludanka were some of these.

Boats arrived into St Lucia over a period of about 10 days and on many days the arrivals had people on board that we knew, so that period became one of party after party. Not only the impromptu arrival parties, marking the arrival of each boat (day or night), but also World Cruising Club pre-arranged shore parties on the dock. We enjoyed the camaraderie from comparing and sharing experiences of our different ocean passages and supporting and helping each other to fix the inevitable breakages by loaning tools and muscle where needed.

Rum Punches on the Party Cat

The ARC arranged various events and trips, one to Anse La Raye for a fish fry evening arriving via a large catamaran.

History of Anse La Raye

The locals prepare their catch from the day in the streets, you wander the stalls and decide what you fancy to eat. Afterwards we browsed the market stalls and spent time talking to Anthony Cadasse.

Anthony Cadasse

We were impressed with his passion for his village and island. He told us of his ideas and his previous job as a ranger with the Hawksbill turtle Marine protection and  SMMA (Soufriere Marine Management Association).

In between arriving and the final closing ceremony and prize giving, we did take a brief overnight excursion to the lovely Marigot Bay, to mark Pete’s final night with us but other than that we stayed in Rodney Bay spending time with our new friends. We knew it would be all too soon that many would go their separate ways continuing their different adventures. Some we would meet up with again, and no doubt some will have been fleeting friendships, but still ones that will leave lasting memories.

Collecting the plaque for second in class and 10th in all cruising boats
Collecting the plaque for second in class and 10th in all cruising boats

The prize giving came all too soon and after an excellent evening with some very worthy winners getting their prizes – the most notable for acts of seamanship and selfless assistance to others, the day came to leave and head North up the island chain towards Antigua where we were to meet up with Derek’s mum for Christmas. However the weather was not on our side and we suspected it could be a challenge. Ironically having just sailed nearly 3000 miles across an ocean, the next 40 mile trip to Martinique was to be more unpleasant and more challenging than anything we faced in the Atlantic!

After checking out we were able to top up our fuel tank duty free. Jeffery at the fuel dock took our mooring lines and effortlessly secured them!

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