Birthday and Christmas

We are still in Marigot Bay in St Lucia and have decided to stay here until our spare parts for the watermaker and AIS have arrived and everything is repaired. Only when the Rivercafe is fit again do we want to continue north. Just sailing to another island – which is also another state – is not possible at the moment. We have fulfilled the C19 quarantine in St. Lucia and are allowed to move freely, unlike the few normal tourists. The drivers are more than happy to get a few customers who want to see something of the island.

If we sail to Martinique or Guadeloupe, we have to comply with the C19 rules there, with testing and quarantine. If we leave St Lucia for even one day, we would have to go back into quarantine for 14 days on our return. So we wait until everything is fixed before we sail north to the next island. Honestly there are worse places to wait. Marigot Bay is where the first Doctor Dolittle was produced in the late 60s and it’s just beautiful here.

I guess most of you would change places with us in a heartbeat. We have 30 degrees every day, with warm rain in between. The water is warm and perfect for swimming and snorkelling. We can stock up on food and also eat in restaurants. Even though we wait, we enjoy the lush nature and spending time with our friends Nilla and Anders and the other fellow sailors.

Holidays

Every year, holidays pile up for us around Christmas time. Ka’s birthday on 23 December we celebrated with sailing friends. On Christmas Eve we cooked traditional Christmas dishes with Nilla, Anders, Janet and Kevin from the Swedish “Ydalir” and the British “Weyve”. After New Year’s Eve we have our wedding anniversary immediately afterwards. So like every year 4 celebrations in 10 days.

We are very aware that this year we are much more comfortable than most of you. It is a difficult time for most of you, as many keep telling us. That’s why it’s a bit difficult for us to tell you about the wonderful days we have in the Caribbean. Nothing could be further from our minds than teasing you. But maybe we can motivate you a little to get through the difficult time and look forward to the time “afterwards”.

But we sincerely hope that this difficult time will soon be over. If the situation is getting on your nerves too much, please let us know. For once, we have good internet.

Ka and I wish you a Merry Christmas and restful days. Best wishes from the Caribbean /Holger and Ka