St Lucia
December 2024 : Rodney Bay
St Lucia - our “final destination” - that until a few months before leaving, we had never heard of! We had no idea what to expect and were curious about what our first Caribbean island experience would be like!
We arrived in the morning of Friday 13th Dec and were welcomed at first by a photographer following us to the finish line on a dinghy (some James Bond multitasking!). As we approached the finish line, the horn sounded and we were welcomed by the ARC committee! The last 3 weeks suddenly felt like ages ago and we couldn’t wait to dock in to see our friends again! Whilst docking in, a “Welcome Hamper” awaited us as well as freshly poured Caribbean Rum Punches - mind you, it was 9 am!
We downed the drinks as we were so excited for an ice cold drink and whilst Antoine disembarked to complete the customs and immigration paperwork, the crew had a little nap! Our friends also came by to welcome us and we were right back to where we left off!
In true ARC fashion, about 2 weeks of celebrations ensued and it was the most rewarding gathering - we crossed an ocean with ~500 fellow sailors in the fleet and were now celebrating on the other side!
The final award ceremony though was not until the 21st December and after a couple of days doing some boat work and some road trips, we felt we had an opportunity to “quickly” dash South to explore Tobago Cays and the famous kite spot on Union Island. We were warned about the severe hurricane Beryl damage a few months prior so we stocked up on food and made our way south to the Grenadines on the 17th Dec.
Our sail back to St Lucia on the 21st Dec was quite eventful and we had a few deadlines that day - Stefan, our crew, was leaving to Martinique in the morning and we had to make it to Rodney Bay for the awards ceremony! At 3am, after dodging a few squalls, we got hit with one and whilst furling the jib, the line snapped! A 30 knot squall, flapping jib and very loud rope thrashing sounds later - we managed to get everything under control! Exhausted, we arrived to St Lucia at dawn and managed to drop Stefan at port to catch his ferry to Martinique! We then sailed North to Rodney Bay where we arrived just in time to get ready and head off to the final and bittersweet celebration - the ARC prize giving!
The "last" sunrise at sea on the 13th Dec was a magical one!
July and I danced the morning away making crepes!
Land in the background felt like a mirage!
Max unbothered by seeing land, kept reading his favourite books - Asterix & Obelix!
Finish line team: "Welcome Tranquila" ... Us: AHHHH!
We arrived on such a beautiful morning!
The kids finally understood how exciting this was!
Our ARC photographer taking some arrival snaps!
The best welcome team - fresh fruit and rum punch!
Team shot!
Certificate from the St Lucia tourism and our awesome hamper gifts aka RUM!
What happens when you have rum for breakfast!
Our food calculations were on point - this was all that was left of fresh food!
3 weeks worth of rubbish!
Stretching our legs around the marina as soon as we were checked in!
The day we arrived felt so long as we caught up with friends and dash by dinghy to explore the beaches!
These boats are common in the south Caribbean islands and are so very handy to have - fresh fruit and veg and sometimes some Caribbean Banana Bread!
Oh we missed our ice creams and Rodney Bay had a great choice of restaurants and ice cream shop on site!
Stefan has his first stretch on land!
Whilst the captain did some boat repairs, we explored Pigeon Island!
It was quite hot and the kids were done but Julz did a little jog to the top!
We had the most incredible lunch at the Naked Fisherman Restaurant!
It felt like a feast after 3 weeks at se!
Amazing food, great vibes and cute little beach!
We explored Cas-En-Bas to suss out the kite spot!
Maddie and the traditional Carnival dancers of St Lucia - organised by the ARC Welcome Party!
ARC organised a Welcome to St Lucia party and it did not disappoint!
Maddie was exhausted but the party girl in her kept going on the dance floor!
Celebrating with awesome sailors!
Somehow we ended up at a full moon party back at Cas En Bas in what was quite an adventurous drive!
We balanced the parties with nature and were up early the next day for another day trip - this time to the Pitons!
But first, we stopped at some waterfalls to freshen up!
We had a great hike and swim, just what we needed!
We finished off the day with a very late lunch (early dinner?) at the Mango Tree Restaurant after a popped tyre that delayed us significantly - but we made it!
The views in St Lucia are just incredible!
It's easy to lose track of what day or month it is living on a boat but Rodney Bay reminded us Christmas was near!
More maintenance as we clocked on some engine hours!
Maddie won the award for the youngest crew in the ARC!
Tranquila won a social media award for documenting our crossing, Ted's adventures, fuel transfer and Disney challenge video!
The kids were recognized in their youth crew awards!