On the move
15.01.2010
We finished our stay with the Bamforths with a fishing trip/sightseeing tour of the coast by speed boat. This was to be the last day of their holiday and Richard and Dawn had thought that Frank might enjoy trying his hand at deep water fishing. The boat arrived at the mooring beside the house to collect us at 8.30 a.m. We were greatly entertained and well looked after by Gavin who claimed to be one of the best fishermen in the area. He had his two crew who helped bait the lines of some very impressive rods with some equally impressively large lures. Some of them reminded me of the sensory items the kids in Ochil House used when in the sensory room. Alas despite having six lines out with huge reels on them, bungie cords on others and a young lad on the canopy above the boat spotting for the fish we came home empty handed. John of course now claims that it is nothing to do with his technique that we don’t catch fish. If they can’t how could we possibly do it? No comment.
Having gotten over this disappointment we headed to the Pitons which are a big tourist attraction on the island. There is a small stretch of water just beside petite Piton at Jalousie beach that we did some snorkelling. There was such a lot to see that time just flew by and before we knew it we had to leave.
We had all enjoyed the experience and it is certainly a fast way to travel as we were back in Rodney Bay in under 20 minutes. We knew by this time that Frank and Marian’s flight home had been cancelled due to the bad weather. They kindly offered to keep us for the duration of their extended stay. However we took our leave of Frank and Marian’s hospitality and headed back to Jalan Jalan. By this time the smell of the teak oil had died down enough to be able to breathe without getting a headache. We got ourselves organised and ready for an early start next day.
We had thought that by now Liz and Robert would have been safely back in the U.K. However due to the bad weather in the UK their flight home was also cancelled. The bad news was that they could not get another flight out until the following week i.e. 12th January. The hotel could not accommodate them past a few more days and so they had to move to another hotel in Marigot Bay. At least they were taken care of if it was somewhat inconvenient for them.
We headed out the following morning to get to Vieux Fort where the main airport for the island is. We had Joy and Cliff arriving from UK OR did we. With so many cancelled flights and what appeared to be complete chaos we really weren’t sure they would get through but we needed to be there in case they did.
Anyway the God’s were with them and they had a trouble free flight both from Edinburgh to Gatwick and then on to St Lucia. They were only an hour and a half late.
We had had a great sail down to the southof the island and managed to drop the anchor just in front of the breakwater. The scenery had been stunning all the way and we looked forward to going back up slowly once we had taken onboard the new arrivals.
The first time we went ashore to check things out we were met by Christopher who announced he was our dinghy man. He also had a mate Ian who would be our taxi man. Being a persuasive sort of guy Ian suggested he should just take us to the airport now to meet our friends. We agreed and were duly whisked to the airport only to discover that the flight would be at least another 2 hours. Back to the harbour and arranged to be picked up around 5.3o to get to the airport again. Christopher was waiting to help us with the dinghy. So a couple of hours later we went through the whole thing again.
We had decided that as we were the only tourists we had seen as we drove there and back the first time that it would not be a good idea for Joy and Cliff to be arriving at the harbour, in the dark by themselves. Their plane arrived just behind the Virgin Atlantic flight and so there were lengthy delays with luggage and customs but eventually we were good to go. The taxi had waited with us the whole time. The guys were completed happy and found us as we emerged with Joy and Cliff.
It is probably the most interesting mode of transport they have had on arrival. The program 3 men in a boat had nothing on 2 couples and 2 suitcases in a rubber dinghy I can tell you. Christopher was once again in attendance and manfully handled both Joy and I into the dinghy. Cliff was another matter! All aboard we headed out and round the corner to the boat which wasd in compete darkness. We managed to catch on and get them safely onboard by which time it was almost time for bed.
Next morning was a beautiful day and they wakened up in a beautiful anchorage with stunning views. We went ashore and experienced Saturday shopping in the main drag. The poverty was stark. The town, unlike the north of the island is very much a non tourist area. This is odd as it is where the main airport is based but there are no huge all inclusive buildings visible and life seemed very local. The buildings were pretty rundown. Pavements, drainage and roads very basic and should carry a health and safety warning re potential broken limbs. People were sitting out in the streets just watching the world go by. Others were selling their bundles of vegetables from the pavement. We stopped a few times to check out what some the vegetables were. Ended up buying some plantains, yams, sweet potato and christophene as well as soursop. Boy were we going to be adventurous with tea! It was a great experience and we did not feel at all threatened or intimidated even when a machette weilding, coconut vendor offered us a drink of coconut water.
Back at the harbour we were greeted by some very young boys who were claiming they had looked after our dinghy and that we had to give them money. We were polite and firm and told them Christopher was looking after it. Then they just asked for money. Having no joy there , they asked for bread. This they got but they were just trying it on and knew they shouldn’t be doing it. On the other hand Christopher appeared to greet us and went of to get some fish for us (at a good price!). Back he came with some king fish duly filleted and sliced. He was so helpful and cheery and yet clearly was struggling to get by in life. We gave him a tip for all his help as well as paying himn his fee for looking after the dinghy. (the dinghy was held with a metal strop and lock, tied to the harbour wall) The guide books tell you it is wise to enlist local help such as Christopher or you may come back to find the thing gone.
We spent another enjoyable evening on anchor and laid some plans for the following days.
Next morning, after a dip in the lovely clear water, we headed north again. The sea was much calmer than on the way down and we were able to appreciate the reefs and different shades in the waters. The little villages we passed were very simple and clearly had limited services etc.
We rounded the headland and got a stunning view of both Pitons. These are two volcanic hills that are around 2,500 feet high. Colin and Gareth would probably love to have a go at scaling them but we just enjoyed the view. We picked up a mooring buoy and tried to call up the marine ranger in order to buy a permit. The Pitons is part of a marine nature reserve and you have to purchase a lisence if you plan to stay there overnight. When we couldn’t get anyone on the radio we decided that maybe we would just head round the corner to the other side of the petite Piton at Harmony Beach. The marine ranger appeared and directed us to a buoy right beside the local restuarant run by Benny. Reading up on the area it appears Benny has a pretty good handle on the area and a finger or two in many an enterprise. He managed to arrange a water taxi (his cousin), run the eaterie, run a 24 hour radio watch for yachts in trouble etc. He also has one of the best locations in the area. The beach, water and waterfront is just stunning.
We ate ashore at the restuarant in the evening. A quick call on channel 16 brought Dylan out in the boat with the menus. He took the order and arranged to pick us up at 7.30. Right on time back he came. We clambered in whereupon we were told to take our shoes of for going ashore. We were dropped in knee deep water and then had scrabble up the beach and into the seated area, sandy feet and all. They also provided bug spray for you just in case the mosi’s started biting. Meal over it was back into the boat and back to jalan. Life is never dull these days.
Next morning we were sitting having our brekkie when the entertainment for the morning arrived. A local boat, bit like a scooped out banana boat but with a powerful outboard on the back sped past. There were 5 guys in a varying range of swimwear, masked and snorkelled up. They were throwing bits of palm out on the water. Suddenly a shout went up, 2 dived into the water and began swimming fast as they could. Then they stopped and waved to the guys in the boat. They in turn threw a huge net out of the boat. The other 2 guys went in with it and began slapping the water. The one left int he boat was throwing stones into the water. The first swimmers had gathered the other end of the net and began moving it back to the boat. Eventually all the net was gathered back in to the boat and the swimmers were retrieved. They had obviously had a good haul as the boat was tipping, at that point they began bailing furiously. They then repeated this whole process another 4 times. It was fascinating to match such a traditional method of fishing. When they went past they greeted us and when I asked if they had caught anything they pulled up a huge handful of wriggling fishes.
Exhausted just watching we got organised and took the water taxi into the town of Soufriere. Once again we were astonished at the surroundings. This is quite a big place by local standards. It had a couple of banks, bakeries and supermarkets. A church was dominant in the village square, where there were a couple of swings etc. there were a couple of wooden properties which had once probably been quite stunning but were now worn and shabby. Again the poverty seemed evident everywhere. It did not take long to ‘do’ the town and we headed back to the tranquility of Harmony. Swims, walks and snoozes were the order of the day by then. That evening we ate onboard and watched the myriad of stars above us in the spooky shadow of the Piton.
12th we dropped the mooring line and headed toward Marigot Bay. By this time we had heard from Liz and Robert. They were now in a lovely hotel in Marigot and we would meet them there. It was not far to sail so on the way we stopped in a bay called Anse Choucon. Dropped the anchor and were instantly surrounded by boat boys selling fruit and local crafts. Honest all we wanted was a quiet lunch and a swim. Anyway we went ashore and found a beach bar where we had a lovely lunch. As we were about to leave the beach we heard a voice we recognised. It was Liz and Robert who had jsut come out on a trip round the bay. Five minutes more and we would have been gone – funny world ain’t it. Anyway we went back to the beach bar and chewed the fat with them for a while before heading to Marigot. we had phoned ahead to Herman (owns the buoys in the bay) and booked a buoy. Jean Jaques was waiting for us when we got there and he guided us quite far in to the bay and caught the mooring for us. Once we were settled we went ashore and caught up with the Millar clan for a short time.
13th: Hopefully it would be Liz and Robert’s last day. but when we met them they had discovered that the flight for the day had been cancelled and folk were being rescheduled for the 19/20th. It was a case of hold your breath and keep everything crossed for tomorrow. Farewells taken after such a long time are hard. We shall miss them both very much but will always appreciate their contribution to getting us across the Atlantic.
14th : In to Rodney Bay having left Marigot in the rain. Feels like we have never been away. Managed to use Frank and Marian’s washing machine to get caught up on laundry just before they left to go home. It now transpires that they will be on the same flight (hopefully) as Liz and Robert tonight. They to have had an extended holiday compliments of BA. As we were sitting chewing the fat with Richard, Dawn, Joy and Cliff a boat arrived in to the pontoon opposite us. Cliff noticed it was flying a Scottish flag. Eventually as voice said ‘you’ll be Scottish then – can tell by your accents’. It turns out he is from Bridge of Allan – would you credit it. 7,000+ miles from home and you meet someone from the village who knows folk you know. It ain’t half a small world.
