Tuesday, February 5, 2013

All Work & No play


Beach Club Bar, Rodney Bay

Makes Bill and Laurie really boring, so we took a day off on Saturday, sort of.  We wandered around town looking for ant traps (thank you Grenada Marine-NOT!) and a wind proof lighter for Bill...lighting cigars in highs winds can be a bit of a challenge!  We also needed it to heat shrink some electrical wrap on the (newly moved) stern light fixture.  Success on the ant trap front, not so much on the lighter :(  But we made sure to stop in at the beach bar for couple of attitude adjustment beverages, and enjoyed the afternoon watching boats, tourists and locals frolic on the beach and in the bay.  We meandered back through the grocery store for a couple of things, then headed back to the Marina for a much deserved Pizza.
 
We then decided (a couple of days later) that we needed a REAL day off...and there was Sandals Grande Saint Lucian, just sitting there, calling our name!  We arranged for a day pass, and had a lovely time lounging by the pool, talking with people from all over the world, and sipping frou-frou umbrella drinks.....we even sat in the (lukewarm) hot tub for a bit :)     Despite the late afternoon downpour, we thoroughly enjoyed the day, and would like extend a huge 'Thank you!" to R.E & Gramma Kay (Bill's mom & dad) for their generous Christmas gift that made our day possible! We definitely would not have done it otherwise.

Morning Nap
Sandals is all-inclusive, so we were able to eat in any of the restaurants.  We had a late breakfast....Crepes at Josephine's Cafe....

Our Bartender Mixes Bill & I a Drink Sampler

Don't let the number of drinks fool you-we really were just sampling!  The Orange in the middle was Peter's "specialty" drink, the green on the end was a Bob Marley Splash, and the white one was a  Lime Daiquiri....


Late Afternoon in the "Warm" Tub

Alas, all good things must come to an end, so it was back to our (very wet) dinghy, and out to Mañana....nicely relaxed & ready to face the bust workday waiting for in the morning....

Decisions, Decisions...




Sailboats headed out of Rodney Bay Anchorage

Our time here in Rodney Bay was getting short, which meant we had some planning to do.  We have our first boat guests of 2013 joining us in Sint Maarten on February 22nd, so we need to sail somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 nautical miles in the next few weeks to get there.  We could make a shorter sail if we went directly there, but that would mean we would be skipping some beautiful places along the way...how do you choose between Martinique, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, St. Eustatius (Statia), and St. Barts?  We have already made the decision to skip Dominica & The Iles de Saintes, as we stopped at those Islands on the way down. If we made a straight shot directly to Sint Maarten, it would still be about 270 miles.  At 6-8 knots, that would take us 34 to 45 hours to get there....not like driving at California speeds, that's for sure! *Laughing*  We find it much more enjoyable to island hop our way along, as it gives us time to get to know a place and the people there. Not to mention sampling the local brews and tasty foods.

While thinking about these weighty matters, we decided we'd had enough of dock life...so we pulled in the lines & headed out into the outer bay, where we picked up a spot not far from the Sandals Grande Lucian Resort. From here, we could enjoy watching all the activity around us, and have a front row seat for some spectacular sunsets!  We also were able to enjoy the waxing moon (we are planning to leave when the moon is full!). We still had a few days of work to do before setting off on the next portion of our journey...and the outer bay was the perfect spot to get it done...

Almost Full Moon Between the Spreaders

So, we shall keep you posted!