A working autopilot

Finally, after nearly 4 months and 700 miles later, we were going to have an autopilot that worked.  Or so we thought.  When we arrived in St. Lucia on March 1st, we made arrangements with a well respected and highly recommended marine electronics company to rebuild our autopilot.  We contemplated scrapping the old one and buying a new one all together.  But the new autopilots were just a wee bit bigger and wouldn't fit in our space without modifications and a bit of fabricating.  We went back and forth and finally decided to have our old one rebuilt.  No problem.  The parts would take about a week to come in and then just a couple days to rebuild it.  Again, no problem, we'd be in St. Lucia for 3 weeks with visiting friends.

We kept in contact with the electronics company and Craig signed the customs paperwork when the rebuild kit arrived.  Yeah, we were almost there.  That's when we decided to go to Martinique and wait for it to be rebuilt.  Sounds like a good plan, right?  But then Easter came upon us and low and behold, the islands take that holiday very seriously.  Not only do they take Friday off, but they take Monday as well.  We returned to Rodney Bay after our hike up Petit Piton only to find out that the guy working on our autopilot took Tuesday off too!  What?!  So we waited another day.  Finally on Wednesday, Craig got the maddening news that he had not worked on it AT ALL and that he thought about calling us, but didn't get around to it.  To add insult to injury, they discovered that they didn't order all the parts they needed to fix it and that would take another week to get them in.  We were furious, to say the least.  Craig made some phone calls (using Skype) and found a brand new autopilot, in stock, in St. Martin.  We said "we'll take it and we'll be there on Monday!!".  He snatched up our old autopilot and all it's parts and after almost five weeks, we stormed out of Rodney Bay for the very last time.  We sailed to Martinique for the night and then began our passage to St. Kitts the following day.  Good ridden St. Lucia.

Leaving Martinique, sailing north to St. Kitts and then eventually St. Martin

We were met by a large pod of dolphins near Fort de France

Passing Fort de France with the wind at our backs, we made really good time.  In the middle of the night, we had to contact a cruise ship on the radio as we were on a collision course.  We changed course which involved a gybe to get out of the way.  The cruise ship captain assured us they saw us on their radar and we would be fine.  Phew.

Passing Nevis Island, just before we head into St. Kitts

Kate drives for a while

Reeling in a fish.  Everyone has a job when we catch a fish.  I am in charge of slowing the boat down and helping Craig get the fish in the boat.  Kate is in charge of pouring the rum down the throat or in the gills.  Liv is in charge of tying the line to the boat and then on the fish tail, so we don't lose it.  Maggie takes pictures and videos for prosperity.

Maggie chillin' in the morning sunshine

Kate and Liv play barbies to pass the time.

Heading into St. Kitts

We were greeted by a morning rainbow as we made our approach to St. Kitts

We stopped in St. Kitts for several reasons.  The first being we had no autopilot and multiple night passages are unpleasant and exhausting.  Secondly, we wanted to see St. Kitts.  Thirdly and maybe most importantly, we were picking up a very special childhood object for one of the kids on Patronus.  It had gotten left behind at the house where they had laundry done.  Erica sent me a pleading e-mail asking me to pick it up if we decided to stop.  It was a win win for everyone.

This mega yacht pulled in after we were snug in our spot at the marina.  Can you see our boat to the right?  We look like a toy!  Except our mast is taller than their boat.  hee hee.  The marina manager was nice and only charged us half price for the dock space because we were there literally 12 hours.  We pulled in at noon and left for St. Marten that night at midnight.  We didn't need water or electricity, so it was very simple and straight forward. 

The town square, modeled after Picadilly Square in London.  St. Kitts is a British Territory after all.

View from our lunch table at xxxx restaurant

Does it look like we are in London?  Not really...

The really funny story about St. Kitts was that we all bought some kind of souvenir from an island that we spent the least amount of time on.  We spent weeks on other islands and never bought a single item. What is the irony in that??

Petit Piton: The Climb

We did it!  We climbed Petit Piton!  All 2600+ feet!  We dared to climb a volcano that many native St. Lucian people haven’t climbed, let alone thought about climbing.  There was definitely a level of respect that came from climbing one of the pitons.  Let me just say that our friends Bob, Christine, Gene and Kat climbed BOTH pitons!  Now that is truly bragging rights.  We opted out of the climbs the first time around because we’d have to leave the girls for a really long time in a relatively new part of the island, at anchor, alone.  However, since they demonstrated their resourcefulness so well the day we spent 10 hours going to Fort de France in Martinique, we decided they could handle it.  But I am getting ahead of myself....

When we met up with Bob and Christine in Martinique, we knew we had to go back to St. Lucia for our autopilot and they were also heading down island, and wouldn’t it be great if we hiked Petit Piton!  The seed had been planted.  We finished out our week in Martinique and together sailed to Soufriere and picked up a park-mooring ball between Gros and Petit Piton.  The magnificent beauty of these volcanoes rising so steep from the deepest bay in the Caribbean is awe-inspiring.  Looking straight up the side of Petit Piton from the waters surface, it didn’t seem possible. 

Christine wanted to hire the same guide, Exbert (yes, that is spelled correctly and is his name), that they used on their previous climb.  So, she went to his home and made arrangements to take the 4 of us to the top.  Exbert’s father mentioned that all of his children and grandchildren have hiked Petit Piton and that kids are very agile and are often the best leaders.  Armed with that information, Kate decided she wanted to blaze the trail.   Maggie and Liv opted to stay on the boat.  We awoke at the crack of dawn on Monday morning, after Easter, and picked up Bob and Christine at their boat.  Maggie dropped us off at the Sugar Beach Resort dinghy dock.

We met Exbert at the trail head and wasted no time getting started.  It was 7:30 am on a clear day, cooled by the lack of sun that hadn’t risen over the mountains yet.  As we walked through the thick trees and brush on the meandering trail, I couldn’t help thinking what a great day it was going to be and how much I loved hiking.   Soon after I had those nostalgic thoughts, we were traversing over our first of many boulders, scrambling straight up the side of the volcano.  A little while later we encountered our first rope, a guiding line to help us along the narrow trail just wide enough for one person at a time.  To one side, there was sheer rock and brush straight up and on the other side was a cliff that would lead to a certain death.  As we climbed higher and higher, the trail became increasingly damp from the night rain.  The trees were losing their leaves and there was a crispness in the air that was reminiscent of a beautiful fall day in the California Mountains.  I really felt like I was somewhere other than the middle of the Caribbean.  We stopped to gaze between the trees to see the town of Soufriere getting smaller and smaller as we climbed higher. 

 Kate and Exbert climbing with ease

 Rest stop in the morning shade

 A very steep trail

Kate's lizard friend

Soufriere looking smaller already

Exbert was an amazing guide in that he was very kind to Kate, made sure she knew where to put her hands and feet as she navigated over the big boulders.  He also informed us when we were one quarter, one half or three quarters of the way there.  Just after we were half way, we came up the ‘shoulder’ of the volcano.  We veered off the main trail to enjoy the vista from the shoulder.  WOW!  How amazingly small everything looked and the Caribbean Sea went out as far as the eye could see.  We relished the rest stop before continuing to the most challenging part of the hike.  I was eager to reach the ‘ropes’ in which we had been told and warned about by Bob and Christine.  

 The first set of ropes.  It took pure upper body strength to pull ourselves up the steep rocks.  

Christine squeezes through the "rabbit hole"

Once we had made it up the multiple ropes and through the rabbit hole, which was literally a hole made by the rocks and the only way to continue was to squeeze through, we were almost to the top.  We had new found energy and almost raced to the top.  Once at the top, one by one, we took in the view and said "WOW".  It was an invigorating hike and it was time for a well deserved rest.  The tippy top was surprisingly flat with a grassy area, like someone had planted it there for our enjoyment.  

A little dirty but we made it!

 Looking at Soufriere

 Looking at our boats anchored below.  Ours are the little ones close to shore.  Gros Piton is in the distance.

Walking back to Sugar Beach Resort.  It was an unwelcome climb up and over.

At the base of the mountain there was a little house that sold arts and crafts, beer and a chance to sit in the mineral springs.  Our legs were tired aching and a cold drink was in order.  Craig and Bob sipped on a brew while Christine and I talked to the very friendly ladies selling homemade candied coconut.  I was inspired to make my own, which I did later.

Ground Hog Day in St. Lucia

We spent nearly the entire month of March in St. Lucia enjoying all our visitors and waiting for our darn autopilot to be fixed (another story for another day).  If you didn't notice from the blog posts, perhaps you noticed following our Spot, that we did a number of trips up and down the coast of St. Lucia.  This was mostly because our guests were spread out in different areas of this relatively small island.  It was a logistical challenge to spend as much time with everyone in each location.  No worries though, we learned that traveling by boat was faster, easier and in our opinion, a lot more fun.

While spending time with Bob and Christine in Martinique, they posed the question of hiking Petit Piton with us.  They had already hiked it once and knew we would also enjoy it.  We were totally game for the challenge.  Back to St. Lucia we went.  In the meantime, I got an e-mail from Captain Dan wondering if we were stuck in Groundhog Day.  He had been following our Spot and noticed the many trips back and forth, then Martinique and then back again!  HA...it did feel like that, now that you mention it.

Approaching St. Lucia for the 2nd time

Olivia singing her heart out while we sail back to St. Lucia

Decorating easter eggs!

Concentrating

moer concentrating

The finished products 

Easter morning 

Easter egg hunt

Blueberry muffins

Skyping the grandparents

 Maggie, Kate, and Olivia delivered muffins to Virginia Dare

Driving solo

St. Lucia Part lll, last but not least

After nearly 2 weeks of visitors, Chris, our last visitor, arrives.  We celebrated his Big 5-0 birthday the night he arrived before Lizzy and Malia flew home.  Cari hired chef Joel to cook up a birthday feast at the 'Butterfly House'.  It was a spacious and comfortable home, perched on a palm tree covered hill overlooking the Caribbean Sea.  Simply breathtaking!

Finally, a man to hang out with!!

Chef Joel prepping for dinner.  Kate got many cooking tips from him.

Our feast of Mahi Mahi with creole sauce, salted fish and boiled bananas, veggies and plantains....

....and bananas flambé with ice cream for dessert!

Liv and Lizzy waiting for their ice cream

The following day, Cari took Lizzy and Malia to the airport while Chris sailed with us from Rodney Bay back south to Marigot Bay to their next rental house.  

While in Marigot Bay, Chris and I got hair cuts and Cari asked the woman in the salon if she had any tips for getting the braids out of Olivia's hair, which were showing signs of dreadlocks.  Instead of giving us tips, she went straight to work.  She was ten times faster than Cari and I put together!

The view from Chris and Cari's house in Marigot Bay.  So beautiful and peaceful.  We all spent one night off the boat in real beds, enjoyed the pool and long, hot showers!

We brought the 'provisions' and we all cooked a delicious meal in the big kitchen.  It was so fun listening to music, serving up painkillers and eating outside on the veranda.

Our meal of "almost lobster" (the name of the recipe - not mine); tenderized conch pockets grilled to perfection with butter, wine, garlic, onions and tomatoes.  We also fried up plantains and warmed up left over salted fish and vegetables from chef Joel the night before.

 We took Chris and Cari for a day sail to Anse La Raye to walk to River Rock Falls.

 The dug-out boats the locals use for fishing

 Anse La Raye town center

 Walking through town to make our way to the waterfall

We met First Blood along the way, asked him if we were going in the right direction for the waterfall.  The guidebook made it seem so simple.  I should have known better even though we felt prepared with our written directions.  We walked and walked and walked some more.  We heared some frightening loud booms, like dynamite, that made us feel a little uneasy.  We were passed by some dump trucks along the dirt road and even flagged one down to ask if we were going in the right direction.  "Yes, yes, it's that way" the workers told us.  Finally, we saw the rock quarry that was being blasted and decided we had better turn around and head back.  We had plans of snorkeling around the bend from Anse La Raye, and we didn't want to get there too late.  So we ate some lunch beside the river that we knew came from the waterfall.  So close but yet so far.

 Motoring around the corner to Anse Cochon, we plopped in the water to do a little snorkeling.  This is a well known spot with clear water and great fish.

Chris drives us back to Marigot Bay as the sun sets

Leaving Marigot Bay for the last time...I promise

Chris and Cari checked out of their Marigot Bay house, loaded their bags on our boat and we first sailed down to Souferie to see the Pitons before going back north.

Equal Rights helps us with our mooring by the bat caves.  Yes, we've been here before and this won't be the last...

Chris gets a lesson on how to tie up the mooring lines to the boat

We do a little snorkeling around the bat caves and eat lunch

Then we sail all the way back to Rodney Bay, again.  I think this was our third time in Rodney Bay. 

Olivia and Cari enjoy the sunshine on the trampoline

Rain squall produced a beautiful rainbow as we near Rodney Bay.  We quickly anchored between squalls and gave Chris and Cari our foul weather jackets for a wet dinghy ride back to the Marina where they caught a taxi to their new hotel.

A beautiful sunset after the squalls leave the area

 The following morning, while Chris and Cari would be sleeping in and spending the day enjoying their new resort, we went on a sunrise hike with Bob, Christine, Gene and Kat.  We hiked up to the top of Pigeon Island.  That meant we were up at 4:45 am and hiking by 5:20 am.

 Here comes the sun

Ready to hike down and get some breakfast on Virginia Dare.  On our way down, we ran into a sketchy looking dude wearing all black with his hood on.  Although he didn't look like a park ranger he was acting like one and said we needed to pay him our admission fee to the park.  So, he followed us all the way down the hill to where we had our dinghies parked.  He was then becoming insistent that we pay him $96 EC (for all 6 of us).  We were not quite convinced that if we payed him, the money would end up in the park's coffers.  We told him we would come back to the Park office at 9:00 when the park opened.  He wasn't buying it.   Things were becoming a little tense and uncomfortable when Bob suddenly said in classic Bob style with hand motions and head tilting,"OK, look, this is the situation.  We don't trust you and you don't trust us!" And Gene said,  "We're Leaving'."  And we left just like that.  Later we did in fact go back to the park office and pay our admission fee.  When we told the park officers our tale, they all raised there eyebrows and smiled and said we did the right thing.  They had no idea who that guy was. It just goes to show that if it doesn't look or smell like a park ranger, it's probably just another St Lucia con artist trying to fleece you.

The gorgeous pool at the Cap Maison Resort where Chris and Cari stayed for their last few days in St. Lucia.

We enjoyed the pool all day and then made dinner and had our last meal together in the Caribbean, a bittersweet night!  

Enjoying a rum punch poolside

Pina Colada's for the men

Sweet girls