Island Time

It would be another 3 days before the next ARC boat would arrive Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. 

The 8 days i spent on the island are a mix and jumble of fond memories.  Each day in the Caribbean feels like the last one and you get the feeling that tomorrow will be again similar.  Picture yourself living a rum fueled Groundhog Day.  Also since there was so much sun to greet, sand to get covered in, and warm salt water to soak up I spent 0 time writing, leaving the end of the trip undocumented and relying on my fascinating memory to put the pieces of time into a story that makes sense.  But in place of that here are some sentence fragments and a couple photographs.  Perhaps the photos will trigger some better recollection.

I spent a few warm rainy mornings running in the green jungle covered hills of the island.  The songbirds were singing and the insects buzzing, chickens clucking; definitely no need for headphones on these runs.

The normal "trade" wind pattern for St Lucia  in months December - May is Northeast 18 to 22 knots; a kiteboarder's paradise.  But the winds were not so dependable here at this time; as with many weather "norms" around the planet that no longer run on dependable patterns because of climate change.

Piton is the national beer of St. Lucia.  Served so cold that it turns to slushy when opened.  It tastes better on salt water covered lips.

What is good to eat on this Caribbean island ?  So many fresh fruits, spiny lobster, fresh fish, and they make some incredible hot sauces, spiced rums, jerk seasonings, etc.  

I attended 3 parties for sailors on boats from the ARC.  There was a Friday night street party with the most excellent fish grill and dancing in the street until late into the night.  I took no photos of this party since I was worried about getting my phone stolen if i had it out but it was unlike any other festival anywhere in the world I have been..... and they do it every Friday night!? These islanders love to party.  I met some talented musicians on the island and attended Jazz dinner at the famous Jaem Du Bois (Wooden Leg) restaurant located within the National Park fort ruins and named after St. Lucia's most infamous pirate.  

Leaving the North end of the island where Altair was docked and driving to the South end of the island to the airport over the island's hilly and curvy roads.  Dense jungle, banana farms, coconut trees abound; through small villages and larger towns and past many pretty sandy beaches. 

 Gorgeous views from the jet before we flew above the clouds and away from beautiful St. Lucia.

St. Lucia Finish Day 12

When i came on for my early watch (sunrise watch) the lights of the islands were very clear on the horizon on this dark Caribbean night.  The nights weather had included a lot of squalls,and we were not rid of those yet.  In the hours approaching the finish line the crew was getting dock lines(1.25" diameter and 15-25'long) and the inflatable dock fenders ready.  Altair jibed one last time in the channel between Martinique and St. Lucia.  With the wind direction change and positive current
we had over-stood the finish.  Now sailing at hotter angles with the wind acceleration typical of this channel, Altair was heeled over and overpowered under spinnaker. Spinnaker doused and genoa at 2 reefs with a full main Altair was cranking towards the (small and barely lit) nearly invisible finish line. The crews faces now began to feel the rain squall to begin pelting them.  Radio contact from
the race committee helped us identify the small lights that would clue us into the buoy with white strobe and anchored sailboat with yellow strobe on the other side of the line.  Out from the dark sideways rain came the ARC cameraman Tim Wright in his small inflatable.  You can see his work at his site Tim Wright Photography .   He was tethered into the little boat and leaning back on his harness attached at the bow.  With one hand he was controlling the tiller outboard and the other hand snapping photos with his powerfully-flashed dslr.  I screamed at him through the wind and the rain as we crossed the finish "HOW ARE THE SHOTS COMING OUT?"  He yelled back "it looks like a snowstorm, but its looking severe!" so that comment made me laugh and happy (my middle name is Snow) that photos of our finish look so harsh and fast!

Altair's finish time was 03:48:32 local time in St. Lucia which is UTC (-4) and was announced to us by the committee on the radio after we crossed.

  The boats elapsed time was 10 days 17 hours 48 minutes and 32 seconds; she sailed
2,410 nautical miles, a bit more than the rhumb line distance of 2,125 nautical miles.  This difference in mileage is due to the amount that we had to jibe downwind during the race.  With the wind direction blowing at exactly the direction we wanted to sail, we could not sail directly downwind!  This may seem illogical to those who have not experienced the awesome feelings of sailing.  I won't go into the details of the physics of sailing but sails work like airplane wings creating lift, so the angle of sail to wind are of utmost importance.   

Altair made her way to the dock assigned at Rodney Bay Marina on the Northwest end of St. Lucia.  At the dock awaiting our arrival were some farmiliar faces from the ARC rally.  Also a rep from the St. Lucia tourism and a local steel drum artist.  The welcomed, clapped, asked us how it had all been and handed out our welcoming rum punch cocktails. ARC photo gallery

The drummer played his steel drum along to 4 pop songs and we took photos and had our photos taken. Our welcome party and entourage bid us goodnight and Altair crew retired to the pilothouse for a bottle or two of champagne, some video selfies, and a quick go-round of each crews
favorite moments of the passage.  I related the incredible sailing we experienced on Thanksgiving Day as my favorite part.  To be fair it was pretty difficult to choose just one moment that stood above all else during the voyage.