The Anderson Charter Party - Part 2

Its July the fourth and apart from this being Independence Day for the US its also a year since Nic and Scott stepped aboard Dulcinea in Newport.  The kids were a few days behind us.  Hard to believe that it was a year ago - more of that later.  Another posting.

We have spent the last few days around St Lucia.  Marigot Bay was beautiful.  The bay is narrow  but indents the coast quite sharply which makes for a very protected anchorage.  There are hills all around the edge lined with houses which must have an awesome view.  At the head of the bay is a small marina and marina village with all the necessary essential shops.  Its a great spot to unwind.  One minor problem was Nic managed to injure herself during the mooring operation and she thinks she has cracked a rib.  This has slowed her down a bit but the show must go on.  After a couple of days of R&R at Marigot we moved south along the coast to Soufriere which is the second biggest town on St Lucia.

A skipper has many duties

Soufriere is famous for a couple of things - this was the original settlement when the French started to colonise the island in the 1700’s and as such many of the place names around here are French.  The town was named after the smell from the volcano.  The capital was moved to Castries when the British took over the island.  Secondly the town is beside a dormant but still smoking volcano.  Thirdly it is situated just North of the Pitons which are two spectacular rock pinnacles rising to around  2500ft almost sheer from the water.  The whole area around here comes under the Soufriere Marine Management Area (SMMA).  There are moorings in place at various locations along the coast and generally you have to use these rather than anchor.

We sailed down to Soufriere and picked up a mooring very close to the beach right at the base of Petit Piton about half a mile south of the town.  As you would imagine the terrain is very green and lush and very mountainous.  The main order of the day is relaxing with Lars and Diana and watching the kids play in the water.  They seem to be able to spend the best part of the day in the water.  Our kids especially are enjoying not having to do school.  The first night we went over to the beach to a local restaurant which was the only building on the beach and had some dinner.  We got talking to Benny the owner and organised a minivan and guide for the next day.

We were picked up from the boat at 0900 by the local marine park Ranger (Benny apparently has some pull), and were driven into the jetty at Soufriere where we were met by Victor our guide and Anslim our driver.  They proceeded to show us around the local sights in the Soufriere vicinity.  We started with a cold waterfall not far out of town which Lars and the kids braved and then headed to the botanical gardens.  It was quite good having Victor for the local history and his knowledge of the plants.  At the botanical gardens there is a hot spring and mineral baths.  There are modern tiled baths which people use and an old original bath from when the baths started and which Empress Josephine apparently visited.

Ross enjoying a waterfall?!

Waterfall at the Botanical Gardens

We next headed to the sulphur springs at the volcano on the outskirts of Soufriere called Qualibo.  The volcano is dormant but geothermally active and you can drive right up to the caldera where there are steaming bubbling mud pools to look at.  It stinks of sulphur but is pretty interesting to have a look at.  Our guide Victor then took us to some mud pools nearby and we all had a mud bath and soak in the hot spring water.  It was interesting but quite crowded with other tourists.  We capped off the tour with another warm waterfall and then headed to a restaurant at one of the resorts in the area called LaDera.

Caldera with bubbling mud pools

The things we do

The restaurant at the resort has been built in a cleft between the two Pitons and the view is just spectacular.  The photos give you some idea but really do not do it justice.

View of the Pitons from LaDera - Dulcinea is anchored in the bay now

There are few boat boys around here but again we have not had a problem with any of them and they actually provide a good service selling us fruit and veggies and taking off the boat garbage.

Yesterday we shifted moorings into the bay between the two Pitons which is just spectacular.  Dulcinea looks pretty small with the backdrop of the twin Pitons.  It really is an amazing anchorage and must be one of the most awesome in the Caribbean especially a dusk when the sunlight catches the exposed rock.  At these times we try and get the kids settled and then enjoy a painkiller or pina colada on deck for an hour or so.  One of Sam’s new responsibilities is cocktail barman - a position which we were sorely in need of onboard.

The Anderson Charter Party

We will move to the southern tip of the island to a place called Vieux Fort tomorrow to drop off Lars and Diana for their flight back to the real world and get ready to receive Steve, our next guest.

Decorative Ropework c/o Claire