A Week In St. Lucia
Thursday January 3, 2019
Flew American Airlines through Miami, there was an emergency landing earlier which backed the flights up delaying us by an hour.
C&I was a breeze, even though I had 4 bottles of champagne I brought along for a wedding on Saturday. Trendy and a friend of his picked me up at he airport as arranged. We stopped for the obligatory beers and photos at the Dennery Overlook. Traffic was heavy around Castries so we took the back way to avoid the worst of it.
I checked into the Chez Marie Alish guesthouse, I stayed here last year and it’s perfect for me; self-catering rooms, close to the marina and a bus stop out front all for $65 a night single/$75 double.
After unpacking I headed over to the marina to meet up with some friends. The beers were cold and the rum smooth but being tired from a long day of travel I called it an early night.


Having one at the bar at the Dennery Overlook

Friday January 4, 2019
I met Dan and Em at Café Ole’ in the marina for breakfast and to catch up on the past 9 months activities. They are at anchor in the bay so after we ate, they headed back to the boat and I walked over to Pigeon Point. All the usual suspects were there and the day was spent consuming cold Pitons and Chairmen’s Reserve.
Boomer and his future bride met me at the marina in the evening and we walked over to the Jump Up in Gros Islet. It was fun as always, I had a piece of spicy jerk chicken from one of the ladies grilling on the street. The happy couple left around 11:00, Trendy and I made our way home by about 1:00.



Saturday January 5, 2019
Today was the big day for the wedding on the beach. Trendy stopped by for breakfast in the morning then I went into Castries to pick up some fruit and veg at the market, I also picked up a few ballyhoo for breakfast at 3 for 1 EC I couldn’t resist. I spent most of the day at my favorite beach which is between the Landings Resort and the town of Gros Islet.


Some nice tree ripened grapefruit at the market in Castries


One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

Boomer’s uncle picked me up as arranged and we went down to the beach. It was a small ceremony, just a few close friends. I was given the honor of “dad walking the bride away” or giving away the bride as we would call it. The ceremony was timed perfectly to coincide with the setting of the sun. Skyelark was anchored just off Boomer’s right shoulder, so maybe that’s a good omen. We all drove over to the Coco Palm hotel for a nice dinner; the Caribbean braised lamb shank and mahi mahi in an orange ginger sauce were the entrees of choice. The food was very good, the service reasonable and they happily accommodated our request for substitutions for the standard side dishes.
Afterwards it was back to the marina where I finished the night out at Bosun’s.


The happy couple


The Reverend makes it official just as the sun sets

Sunday January 6, 2019
Today was going to be a chill out day; Trendy stopped over for breakfast, I prepared the ballyhoo the same way we do smelts at home and got the thumbs up from the local guy. I brought my hammock to the beach to give it a test ride, perfect, the best $10 I ever spent. Dan and Em stopped by for their daily swim and the beach was filled with families having picnics as is usual for Sunday’s on St. Lucia. One party in particular had two truck loads of gear brought in for the festivities.
Leaving the beach, I stopped at Golden Apple for a late lunch then back to the room for a quick nap. The evening was spent at the marina bars as usual.


A true local breakfast


Pigeon Point from the beach in Gros Islet


This boat is on the beach in Gros Islet across from Dukes fish restaurant and down the road from Irie Bar, he has fresh catch he sells on the beach just about every day


This was a great idea! I'm loving my hammock

Monday January 7, 2019
Today is the big day for the long-awaited beach BBQ. I had purchased a tripod grill and swapped out the round grate (too wide to fit in my duffle bag) for a nice sized rectangular grate. I purposely choose Monday rather than Sunday as I didn’t want to tie up a spot that someone could use with their families, after all I’m on vacation so every day is a weekend. The chicken, pork and lamb were well marinated and the veg all chopped for steaming in foil packets. I brought along a small soft-sided roller cooler as my carryon and it came in handy to cart and keep the beer and ice. I stopped at a local shop for a large bucket of coals (best to bring your own bag to cart them away). I headed to my favorite spot and had started to get things set up as Trendy arrived to assist with the fire and cooking. People driving by stopped to check out the grill which, apparently, they don’t have them here. Soon Dan & Em, Boomer & Celia, and John Doe made their way there. It was wonderful to have all my friends together for a nice little party, I’d been dreaming of this since our cookout last April. The grill worked perfectly as the heat can be controlled by raising the grate with the chain it hangs off of. Once the meat was grilled Trendy put the breadfruit in the embers and surrounded it with wood then sparked it all up. The traditional local way to cook breadfruit is to roast it in the fire as such, you just leave until the fire has burnt down and it’s done. Anytime I’ve tried steamed or fried breadfruit is seemed dry, but cooked this way it had the taste and texture of mashed potatoes. I had wondered about that because a couple years ago when Boomer was visiting me in Buffalo he asked “what is the thing that tastes like breadfruit” referencing the mashed potatoes I had made for Thanksgiving dinner.
After we were all well stuffed and had our soaks in the sea, Dan & Em went back to Skyelark while the rest of us headed over to my apartment for drinks and some music on the balcony. Boomer and Celia left after a bit, however Trendy, John and myself settled in and put a very good dent in the grabber (1.75 litre plastic bottle) of Chairmens Reserve. Once we had a good buzz on we ambled over to the marina for a few then back to the apartment for a couple more glasses of rum.


The chef with my favorite sailors


It's called chillin" and grillin' baby


Breadfruit cooked the proper way


A great day with friends

Tuesday January 8, 2019
I decided to take the bus over to Rodney Bay and grab a baguette sandwich for breakfast and enjoy it sitting along the channel into the lagoon across from the fishermen’s co-op in Gros Islet.


Looking across the channel to the fishermens co-op in Gros Islet

When I finally made it to the beach the one spot where the trees are close enough for my hammock was taken so I walked down to Pigeon Point and spent the day having beers and rum with the guys as they spent the day hustling on the beach selling their handmade souvenirs to the tourist. I was a little knackered by the end of the day and rather than going to the marina I just picked up a couple cold beers from the gas station and some fried fish from the snack stand on the side of the road.


One of the local bars at Pigeon Point


I remember when the only thing on this beach was a small shack Agnes sold drinks and lunches out of. It's become popular with the cruise ships and it does help my friends who are beach vendors make some decent money, but I prefer my little quite beach

Wednesday January 9, 2019
I met Dan at the marina to drop off my duffle bag, leaving me just my backpack and cooler to schlep to the boat tomorrow for our Grenadines charter. Then hammock in hand it was another day at the beach just chilling and swimming. I had some miscellaneous veg left along with some chicken legs so I invited Trendy over for dinner of One Pot (a stew) and rice. We finished up the grabber of Chairmens and a six pack of Pitons before calling it a night.

Sounds like a perfect week! I have never eaten ballyhoo, I will have to try that, care to share your recipe? Fair winds and following seas on your sailing trip!

Sammy, once again, terrific trip report! great pics, enjoyed the wedding photo. Have a great sailing trip and don't forget the report.

Hi Sammy,

"Captain One Sail" here. It's nice to see that you're back to doing what you do best. Enjoy.