Bequia to St. Lucia

When we finally departed Bequia, we proceeded north past St. Vincent to St. Lucia. 

 Admiralty Bay, Bequia

We left at first light trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb our neighbors.

St. Vincent

Like many other cruisers, we always give St. Vincent a pass because of security concerns.  The U.S. State Department warns, “Crimes of all types, including violent crime, occurs in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  From time to time, property has been stolen from yachts anchored in the Grenadines.”

St. Vincent Passage

I am not sure what this sailboat was doing for wind, because we were not experiencing much.

St. Vincent Passage with St. Lucia’s Pitons in the background

Most of our day looked like the picture above.  It had to be one of the calmest passages we have experienced.  There were no wind waves to speak of, and very little swell.  Additionally, the current was in our favor, so we made a fast passage.

The island of St. Lucia offers several options for cruisers.  Vieux Fort at the south end is a charter boat base.  The anchorage has experienced boat robberies.  A single handler has his boat broken into, ransacked, and his computer stolen.  The robbers turned on his movie camera and then dropped it on the floor managing to video themselves.  Even with the video, the local authorities were not too interested solving the crime.

Soufriere, St. Lucia

We visited Soufriere and the Pitons on a previous pass (see: blog archive, Migration North dated 12/2/2012).  The city has some interesting older architecture, but seems to have fallen into being a bedroom community for workers for the nearby resorts.

Entering Marigot Bay

One of our favorite stops is Marigot Bay.

Cardea a DeFever 56 RPH

On this stop, we found that our friends Marilyn and Kent had beaten us there.

Marigot is a busy little bay with an active charter boat business and a hotel serving as a vacation destination.  We think we have checked into a resort when we visit Marigot.

Rainforest Hideaway

There are numerous restaurants ringing the bay.  The Rainforest is rated as one of the best in the Caribbean, however it is rather pricey.

RJ’s Restaurant

This time we settled for dinner at RJ’s where Pollie had the jerk chicken and I had the maui maui.

Our next stop on St. Lucia was 9 nm north of Marigot Bay at Rodney Bay Marina where we plugged into “condo mode” for a few days.  Rodney Bay is a modern marina that can handle megayachts up to 250 feet.  It has its only little village with restaurants and various specialty stores.  But, our main reason for stopping was fuel.  Motivator took on 2,070 liters – ouch!

Jambe de Bois Waterside Café

Our favorite café requires a dinghy ride out to Pigeon Island.  The funky little Jambe de Bois serves some great curried lamb.

Unicorn

The highlight of our visit to St. Lucia was the Unicorn.  The Brig Unicorn was built in Finland in 1946.  She was the Black Pearl in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and was also used in the TV series Roots. 

 “Junior,” the bartender, on the Unicorn

Today she is a bar.  But, more on the Unicorn at a later date as I intend to write an article about her.

Bamboo Bursting

As with everything else in St. Lucia, Christmas has its own peculiar traditions.  In sharp contrast to carols, which encourage peace and goodwill to all men, you’ll be treated to the sounds of bamboo-cannons shattering the quietness of cool December evenings. This is called bamboo bursting

Traditionally beginning November 2 and lasting until December end, echoes of explosive sounds are heard over the hills.  It’ll often begin by sundown and last deep into the night.

Participants in this traditional folk method of welcoming Christmas are primarily young boys. With next-to-harmless, non-ballistic cannons, each team tries to outdo each other in achieving the loudest ‘booms’.

To craft cannons, mature bamboo stalks about six inches in diameter are cut to varying lengths – the longer, the more resonant the bang, The ends are then trimmed and all nodes inside are broken except for the last one – serving as a receptacle for the fuel.

Above the receptacle, a small one-inch hole is bored away from the end of the bamboo.  The bamboo’s open end is then elevated slightly by placing stones beneath it, and the closed end rests on the ground.  Lastly, kerosene is poured through the hole and a bottle lamp (A ‘Shal’ in Kweyol) is kept nearby as the ignition source.

To fire, a thin stick is dipped into the kerosene and set alight by the flame from the ‘Shal’.  The flaming tip of the stick is thrust into the hole above the receptacle and the expert firer then extinguishes the flame by clamping his hand over the small square hole.  This process must be repeated several times to warm the kerosene until a few modest pops are heard.  As the kerosene vaporizes, explosions of the fuel and oxygen mixture grow into thunderous roars.

Ferocious blasts of hot air and blinding flashes of light are propelled through the elevated end of the cannon. Sometimes small objects are placed in the bamboo cannon to be hurtled away by the force. While it’s exciting, bamboo bursting is not easy. It requires precision and expertise to avoid a disappointing or dangerous experience.

The cannon crew usually consists of three or four persons. One controls the ‘shal’ and refuels the cannon, one handles the lanyard and another blows to clear the smoke – which is important to do between firings. It’s crucial for the crew to also notice if cracks develop in the bamboo as they continue bursting, as the wood eventually dehydrates and may shatter under the force of explosion.

Despite the hazards however, bamboo bursting is one of St. Lucia’s fun Christmas traditions. Until the kerosene’s exhausted, boy’s island-wide will carry on throughout the night in celebration of the season to come.

This article republished with the permission of: Tropical Traveller - St. Lucia Magazine

For other great articles visit: www.tropicaltraveller.com

Migration North

Grenada Sunset

With hurricane season officially over, according to the insurance companies, most boats departed Grenada and headed north.  A few are planning to head north then west to cruise the Western Caribbean.  Few of the U.S. or Canadian boats we met were headed home.  Most plan on staying in the Caribbean.

One boat we met is headed east.  Their first leg is out of Martinique where they will be place on a Dockwise Yacht Transport that will take them to the Mediterranean.  There they plan to enter the Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally.

Sandy Island

Our first stop was Sandy Island near Carriacou which is still in the country of Grenada.

Mustique

Because all of the boats travel at different speeds and the crews have different agendas, it does not take long for the boats start to disperse themselves to different anchorages.

Bocce Ball on the Beach

However, it was Sunny’s 50^th birthday on November 21^st, and we were all invited to Bequia to help her celebrate.  The celebrations began with “beach games.”

Sunny Abercrombie

That night at dinner, the birthday girl got the two things she has always wanted, a machete and a coconut bra.

The next day we all celebrated Thanksgiving together with a very traditional meal prepared by one of the local restaurants.

Admiralty Bay, Bequia

Bequia in the Grenadines is a popular anchorage, but soon it was time to move on.

The Pitons

Our next stop was on the island of St. Lucia at the town of Soufriere.

 Soufriere seems to be the bedroom community for the nearby resorts.

Sugar Beach Hotel

The contrast between the town and the resorts is rather striking.

Our next stop is one of our favorites, Marigot Bay.  This small hurricane hole in the mangroves is home to a Moorings Charter base and has several nice restaurants.

This time we discovered that our mooring fee entitled us to use the pool at the nearby hotel.

  Jeff from Izzy R crewing on Loose Cannon

We managed to get to Rodney Bay just in time for the Mango Bowl Regatta.  From here we plan on heading to Martinique.   The prevailing wisdom is that we need to be out of the Windward Islands and into the Leeward Islands before the Christmas Winds.