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Diane's Diary5/19 Saturday It's been blowing about 20-25 knots since we got here. I was going to go food shopping this morning but with all this wind I decided not too. It would have been a long wet dinghy ride into the marina. We are outside the lagoon because the water is too dirty inside it to run our water maker. I cleaned the forward berth cushions where they got wet with salt water from our crossing. Larry just rebedded the windlass in Martinique but it appears to be still leaking. Oh well, he'll have to fix it again, I guess. I updated my logs from 9-1pm. In the afternoon, the wind calmed down a bit & I was able to dinghy into the supermarket. Larry stayed to work on the boat. They actually have some US products here- genoa salami, cream cheese (we haven't seen this since we left St. Marten) etc. Of course the prices are a lot higher than the US- probably about 20-30% higher but I was dying for cream cheese to make some of my dips. It's great to have US products again but I noticed lots of stuff was past the expiration date. We had S/V Kajsa over for drinks. We had first met them in Anse Mitan when they invited us over for drinks & saw them again in Marin Martinique. 5/20 Sunday It's still blowing about 20-25 knots. Larry's friend Heidi is coming for a visit today. She's staying at the brand new Hyatt Regency across the bay from where we are currently anchored. We are reluctant to move the boat until we know what she wants us to do- move into the lagoon (but then we can't run our water maker), go into the marina ( but it's .40/ft & water & electric. We also heard from several different people that the water at the marina was not potable so we really don't want to go there) or move the boat closer to the Hyatt. So, we kept the boat where it was. Also, the holding ground is not great here- Kajsa told us they dragged over here. Kajsa will look after our boat while we are meeting Heidi. We walked over to the Hyatt. It took over 30 minutes in the long hot sun. Heidi came around 2:30. She brought us our mail, the Sunday NY Times (I have been dying for my favorite paper) books & food we requested. Thank you Heidi!!!! Thank you Dad for shipping all our mail to Heidi. It was nice seeing her again & catching up. We really appreciated Heidi bringing us these things. She also brought me lots of books. She wanted to know what we did with them when we finish them but we trade all our books, give away magazines, newspapers etc. Cruisers don't care how old it is- to us it's new to us. We never throw reading material out. Most cruisers seem to read a great deal. Anyway, since it was late in the day anyway, we just hung out at the pool. The resort is only 1 year old & the property is just beautiful. Larry & I also took showers in her room. It has been so long since we took a real shower with unlimited water- it was a great treat. We are used to 10minute military showers- we try not to use a lot of water. Funny, I am so used to taking a lukewarm shower I can't even use the hot water- it just burned my skin. We ate dinner in the Hyatt- hamburgers- we haven't had one of those in awhile. We took a cab back to the marina where we had left out dinghy. Cabs are very expensive here- that ride of about 2 miles was $8USD. Normally, we walk or take the bus. However, the bus doesn't go near the Hyatt & they don't run frequently on Sundays. We didn't want to walk back since it was dark & they don't have sidewalks. 5/21 Monday The wind is still blowing so we decided to leave the boat right where it is. Our friends on Kajsa will watch it while we are gone during the day. I dinghied into the marina to go to the bank to get some EC currency for us & Heidi. We took the dinghy over to the Hyatt- not a bad dinghy ride. It only took about 10 minutes to dinghy over compared to 30 minutes walking however, since the wind was still blowing it was a wet dinghy ride. We decided to just hang out at the Hyatt today. By 6 pm we all had all finished showers ( Larry & I were able to take showers in the health club the rest of the week) & dinghied back to Destiny. Heidi was a good sport- she was reluctant to go into the dinghy but did.We did get wet a little on the way back. I don't mind getting wet with freshwater but I hate saltwater. We wanted to go to one restaurant but the Shamrocks bar that has a dinghy dock was closed so we couldn't leave the dinghy on that side of the lagoon. So, we dinghied back to the marina & treated Heidi to dinner at the Bistro. We all enjoyed the meal. Heidi took a taxi back to the hotel & we dinghied back to the boat. 5/22 Tuesday The wind is still blowing so we left Destiny right where she is. We dinghied over to the Hyatt to meet Heidi. By 10:30 AM we were on our way up to Pigeon Island fort- about a 5 minute walk from the hotel. We enjoyed walking around the fort. However, we both had Teva sandals on (this is the only shoes we ever wear- most of the time we are barefoot. Even visiting other boats, majority of the cruisers go barefoot) so I only made it about ¾ of the way up the lookout hill. It was just too slippery in Tevas. It was no problem walking up the fort hill with Tevas on though. We got back to the Hyatt around 1pm. I had made us a picnic lunch. We hung out by the pool & later took showers. We all dinghied back to Destiny for cocktails & dinner. Larry drove Heidi back to the marina after dinner to get a taxi back to the Hyatt. 5/23 Wednesday We went shopping into Castries & to Pt. Seraphine mall. We have been to St. Lucia by cruise ship several times & have gone to both these places before. But, the prices have increased about 50% from the last time we were there about 4- 5 years ago. The prices have also increased that much at Pt. Seraphine mall. Larry & I didn't buy anything. We took a taxi back to the Lime restaurant. Their roti's were excellent & the price was only $9EC- about $3 American. It's an Indian dish with chicken, beef, or vegetables with curry wrapped in a tortilla shell. We took the bus back to the Hyatt. For an extra $4EC, the driver agreed to take us to the Hyatt since he had already let off his last customer. This saved us over a mile walk. We went to the managers cocktail party at the Hyatt- free rum punches & cheese & crackers. It was very nice. Larry & I had to dinghy back to the boat when it was almost dark. I didn't like dinghying across the lagoon with no lights- it can be dangerous. We were so full from lunch & the party we only had Ramen noodles for dinner. |