Saint Lucia
Everything the tourist brochures say about Saint Lucia is true. She captivates anyone who sets foot on her shores. From that first breathtaking glimpse of the dual volcanic peaks rising out of the crystal ocean, Saint Lucia will steal your heart. Trust me, you won’t get it back.
Saint Lucia is a place that personifies relaxation, adventure and inspiration. She is so many things rolled into a single island nation. She has something special for every kind of traveler to enjoy. Her warm beaches, gentle waves, ubiquitous steel drums, and hospitable people offer the perfect medicine for weary sailors and worn out souls.
I arrived into Saint Lucia by air to meet Wild Spirit at the finish of the race. Armed with several bottles champagne and local rum, I stood on the dock in Rodney Bay Marina with a mixture of excitement and anticipation. As the clock neared 10pm, I heard the elated voices and happy, weary faces of Kevin and the crew. They had finished third in class after 12 days, 11 hours and 39 minutes. They’d sailed a good race. A podium place was on the horizon. Celebrations were in order.
Despite our hangovers, we dedicated the next day to cleaning up Wild Spirit.
The ARC+ had organized celebrations, island tours and dinners for participants, which proved a fun and festive introduction to Caribbean life. We’d been told it would be a number of days before the entire fleet were due to complete the race, which meant final results wouldn’t be tallied for some time. This would give us time to explore the island with the crew.
Being berthed in Rodney Bay provided easy access to the nearby beaches, Pigeon Island for history and hiking, and the colorful town of Gros Islet, best known for its Friday feasts, street parties and stunning beaches. But after a few days I sensed a collective restlessness. We’re talking about sailors here.
Sailors gonna sail.
Before long, Wild Spirit was reversing out of her berth, heading downwind on a reach to Marigot Bay, a mid-island hurricane hole hideaway once home to the 1967 movie set of Dr. Dolittle, staring Rex Harrison.
After a week of wild and spirited island escapades, the Wild Spirit crew returned to Rodney Bay where we donned our red crew shirts and prepared for the prize giving. Together we stood on the podium as Kevin received the first place trophy for the ARC+ Leg Two and first place overall for Leg One and Two combined. What a thrill! Although the prize giving signaled the end of the race and a farewell to our international crew, it also signaled the start of our Caribbean cruising season.
My favorite memories of cruising St. Lucia include the blissful days secured to a mooring under the watchful eyes of Petit and Gros Piton spent with our family. How we managed to snag the choicest mooring on three separate occasions, we will never know. But when serendipity calls, it’s only right to answer.
There, between the Pitons, we had easy access to Sugar Beach Resort, where we strolled the manicured beach and enjoyed lovely resort meals. We snorkeled in the shadow of the Pitons, lounged in the sun and toured the island by car. We found many cruisers who said they were put off by the pangas hawking their wares, but we looked forward to daily encounters with the locals entrepreneurs who paddled out to sell their fresh fruits and veggies to yachts in the bay. We grew particularly fond of one local man who explained how he used to be a fisherman, but there were no longer enough fish for him to sustain a living. The lack of sea life forced him out of his profession into an existence selling local produce to visiting yachts. As it turns out, his was a common story in these islands.
By the time we left Saint Lucia, we felt we’d checked all the boxes. We had circumnavigated the island in a car, explored its many towns, beaches and bays, eaten our weight in lobster, drunk our weight in Pina Coladas, snorkeled in the shadow of Petit Piton, visited botanical gardens, attended the Friday street party in Gros Islet, spent a day zip lining in the rainforest, hiked and hiked some more, and generally recovered our energy after the race.
After spending the better part of a month getting acquainted with her many charms, Saint Lucia’s beauty and tranquility now resides deep in our memory. As the brochure warned, she captivated us — heart and soul.