Beautiful St Lucia awakens

It’s nice to wake up in the morning and see green hills, palm trees and birds. And it’s nice to sleep regularly again, not getting out of the bunk in the middle of the night for a watch. After a week in St Lucia and 5 days in freedom after quarantine, we are slowly getting into the Caribbean Flow.

All ARC+ ships have arrived finally, all well. The finish line is closed now. Time for the price giving ceremony. It has not escaped our notice that we are moored a whole day ahead of the next catamaran. Rallycontrol still had to adjust the handicap and the engine hours to find the winners. With a – in our opinion – nice result.

And the winner is: Rivercafe

The four of us from Rivercafe won the catamaran competition of the ARC+. That is really cool. What a finish. For Jana and Gary it was a nice end to a trip. For Ka and me, it was a conciliatory end to our 6 month odyssey and the beginning of our new sailing life. Our first long trip with the Rivercafe and right at the top of the podium. Not too bad.

The ARC parties are usually legendary. And it should stay that way even in Corona times. The result was a jetty/boat party.  A big ship was moored at the head with a big screen. And the party was on all the boats. Very funny. First a dignified award ceremony, with anthem and all the trallala. Afterwards, there was an exuberant party. The author is silent on the details.

On Sunday, Jana and Gary will leave us and fly home. Then we will have spent more than two months together on board, longer than usual due to Corona. But the whole thing was a thoroughly successful social experiment, because the four of us harmonised perfectly.

The Rivercafe still needs some attention. Our radio and AIS need to be replaced and our water maker has to be repaired. Only then will we be truly self-sufficient. Where we can sail to next will be determined by the C19 protocols of the islands. It is clear that it will be a different rhythm. There will probably be fewer short stops. It will be a special Caribbean season, without charter ships and with far fewer ships than usual.

We will therefore spend Christmas and probably New Year’s Eve in St Lucia. Unfortunately also in marinas, because our water maker will not be repaired by then and of course we need fresh water. But I guess we will find something nice.

St Lucia is coming back to life and the C19 regulations were relaxed again yesterday as there are hardly any cases. The restaurants are open and we can move around freely. Normal tourism is not happening yet. But people are happy that hopefully things will pick up again soon. The people here are super happy that at least the ARC ships have found their way here. Even if there are far fewer than usual. Ka and I are also looking forward to the next time we travel as a couple again. Until then, we’ll try to absorb a bit of Christmas spirit. That’s also possible at 30 degrees, even if it’s a little different.

Have a wonderful pre-Christmas season and don’t let Corona take away your good mood. Everything will be fine, eventually. See you next week. /Holger Binz