31 Dec. 2011 Happy Old Years Night everyone.
After breakfast of bacon and egg sandwiches onboard, we left for Rodney Bay, we were glad we opted to leave the second reef in as the winds were still running close to 30 knots. We tacked our way up the coast and anchored off Pigeon Island for a swim and lunch ashore at Jamb de Bois. I had the callaloo soup, nice but not as good as at Mojitos, and also my favorite dish there the seafood salad, a cevihce style marinated mixture of fish, calamari and shrimp. Tony had vegetable lasagna and was very happy with it. Mike opted for the curried kingfish and was also satisfied.
[Linked Image]
The dingy dock at Pigeon Island

Tony and I strolled around the park and took pictures of the Atlantic side, with its waves breaking and crashing on the shore it was a stark contrast to the tranquility of the bay side. Once we were back at the marina I called my friend Mike who had arrived from Rhode Island while we were in the Grenadines. The plan for tonight was to join him, his cousin Nadine (who lives on the island) and some others for a beach picnic and bonfire.
[Linked Image]
With John Doe at the Ocean Club
[Linked Image]
Dan and Em all dressed up for the night

We met up with Trendy at the Boardwalk Bar in the marina and took the bus to Mike and Nadines. Mike was just starting to make the frittata so we enjoyed some of the Chairmans Forgotten Casks rum while we waited. This is a very good rum and I will be bringing some home. After all was sorted we called a taxi to take us to Pigeon Island to meet their friends. What a great way to spend New Years, on the beach a stack of pallets burning and some home cooked food to go along with it.
[Linked Image]
Bonfire on the beach, does it get any better!

We were treated to Mikes frittata, seafood salad, stewed pork and some very delicious mussles mad by Danny (Danielle) from Martinique. It was also a great spot to see the fire works as they were being set off all around us.
[Linked Image]
Tony and Ian celebrate the new year

Around 2:00 am Tony, trendy and I decided to head for the Rodney Bay strip. We walked through Gros Islet, and things were still going strong, the bars full of people celebrating and music coming from everywhere, we must be starting to blend in because no one gave us a second look. I stopped at a stand selling grilled chicken and added sides of green fig salad, rice and lentils. The woman running the stand looked on in amazement as I loaded the chicken up with the yellow pepper you find everywhere here. We hoped on a shared taxi and got dropped off at the end of the strip (5EC each) then proceeded to work our way down, stopping to talk to people we knew and finally meeting up with Mike at Rehab. Around 4:00 am we were feeling the effects of our long day and went back to the marina for some well deserved rest.

Drink all day at home, your friends worry about you; do it on vacation and they say "what a good time you're having". Save your friends needless worry, travel more!