Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Underway

Well, we made the break from Tyrrel Bay. Said our good byes, promised to come back in April and checked out. The weather looked good for the next few days and boats were departing for different regions. We decided to "yellow flag" it North to hopefully St. Lucia. Yellow Flag means that when we reach a new country, we do not go ashore or check in. We fly the yellow quarantine flag so officially we are still underway.

After changing Vagus over from a harbour boat to an offshore boat, we went all of 11 miles on Saturday to Chatham Bay, on the west side of Union Island, St. Vincent. The next day, we had a great 30 mile close hauled sail (no tacks) to Admiralty Bay in Bequia. The anchorage, however, was rolly, very rolly - the kind of roll where you feel your bones lagging your body while lying in bed. We did not sleep much. The weather was still holding so we got up early the next morning to go to St. Lucia, about a 60 mile trip. We left at the break of dawn, sailed to St. Vincent, motored up the lee side of St. Vincent, then sailed the thirty mile crossing to St. Lucia. The St. Vincent / St. Lucia crossing is one of the roughest on the trip North. We had a perfect day for it. It was a bit bouncy for the first 5 miles, then the seas dropped and we sailed directly to the Pitons at St. Lucia (no tacks). We had planned to check in at Soufriere. But when we arrived, we found the moorings near t
he town full (you have to take a mooring) and the East winds had brought a distinct sulphurous odour to the area. We decided to keep going to Rodney Bay, about 15 miles up the coast. We reached the Bay about 5:00pm, just before sunset, dropped anchor at the back of the pack and had an early night. We were tired after traveling for 11 hours. The next morning we checked in and moved Vagus to the other side of the Bay, near Pigeon Island to get out of the roll. Now we are happily anchored just off a luxury Sandals resort - check them out on their web site. It looks like a great resort. We can even use their facilities for the day for $100US per person - I don't think so! Our anchor is firmly set and it is time for a little exploration.

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