Stunning Saint Lucia

 We said our goodbyes to friends staying in Bequia and on December 10th 2025 at 7:10am we pulled anchor and made the 60 mile run to Saint Lucia. It was a windy day with 12-18mph winds and 3-5 foot washing machine seas. Not ideal but that's the way it is sometimes. Prior to our arrival I made contact with a local man named Jahleel (whose name I got from a Sea Sister also named Joy) via WhatsApp and he reserved a mooring ball for us in the Pitons of Saint Lucia. A piton is a steep volcanic peek and in Saint Lucia they have two you could take a morning ball in-between. As we arrived I reached out to Jahleel who met us at our morning ball and helped me with the lines. It's often a challenge from our very high bow. Jahleel was really nice and after we got tied up he took us in his skiff over to the town of Soufriere to check in with customs and immigration. He waited while we completed this process then took us back to the boat. Such a great service. After getting settled we swam off the boat and had happy hour in celebration of our first arrival into Saint Lucia. 

Rainbow En Route

Approaching The Pitons 

Jahleel Taking Us To Customs 

Bay of Soufriere 

The next day we didn't want to do anything but sit back and soak up our beautiful mooring spot. We had a slow morning and then the rain and the wind began. And it didn't let up all day until finally around 5pm and we went outside. 

A Rainbow To Start The Day

Rainy Day

And The Rain Let Up And The Sun Came Up

Jahleel arrange a tour for us the following day and around 10ish he came back with his skiff and took us back to Soufriere to meet the taxi driver/tour guide. Our first stop was a hike with a view of the Pitons. The hike itself wasn't that strenuous and it afforded us gorgeous views. We took our time taking picture and soaking in the scenery. From there we went to the volcanic mud baths. When I first saw this I was very skeptical. I think we both were. First you sit in one of four sulfur baths which are kinda warm but not hot. Then you get out and take volcanic mud from buckets that are placed around the baths and lather your entire body with it including your face. We didn't do our faces. Then you stand in the sun and allow the mud to harden then you get back in the baths and wash it off. Apparently it's really good for your skin and promotes all kinds of wellness. We couldn't wait to get it off. The driver then took us to a waterfall that was very unimpressive after some of the amazing ones we've seen throughout our travels. We had a nice lunch at the botanical gardens before strolling around and we before we knew it our tour day was coming to an end. The driver took us back to the dock where we met Jahleel who returned us to the boat. It was a very nice survey of our area. 

View of Grand Piton 

View of Petit Piton

The Pitons 

Mud Baths

In the Sulfur Bath

Walking To Waterfall

Waterfall

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens

Sugar Beach is located right in the morning field and there is a designated area for snorkeling. We piled the gear and ourselves into the dink and made our way there. Fortunately there is a nice dinghy dock and the snorkeling area is roped off and there are lounge chairs as well. It was a little challenging getting in as rocks lined the snorkeling area of the beach but once in the snorkeling was incredible. So many fish, eels and coral. It seemed to go on forever too. It took me a long time to get all the way out to the end. Very worth it though. We both really enjoyed it. After relaxing a bit on a lounge chair and taking off all our gear we decided to make our way over to the resort restaurant and have some lunch while enjoying the view of the beach and the anchorage. It was lovely. We laid in our lounges for a while longer until almost sunset then made our way over to the sunset bar and had a couple sundowners. Really excellent day in the Pitons. 

Sugar Beach

Snorkeling Area

Lunch at the Resort

Sugar Beach

Sundowners With Tidings Of Joy in Background 

The next day was football Sunday and we spent it watching from the cockpit while we took turns swimming. It's an incredible way to watch football. 

Finally it was time to move along. We had a reservation for a slip at Marrigot Bay Marina where we would be leaving the boat while we traveled back to Ohio for Christmas. On December 15th 2025 at 11:07a.m we made the short 12 mile hop north. This was our very first time med morning at a marina. When we hailed the marina on the radio we got no answer. I tried calling on the phone and nothing. This made us both very nervous because not only was this our first time docking like this, it was impossible to do on our own. Two bow lines need to be tied to a morning ball that's in the water then we back down to tie the stern lines to the dock. Very fortunately a local man in a skiff was talking to me as we pulled in he asked me where we were  going. When I explained that the marina wasn't responding he took his dinghy ahead found someone at the marina, found out where our slip would be and he himself helped me with the bow lines to the mooring ball while a crew of office staff stood at the stern for our aft lines. If it wasn't for this man I don't know how we would have known where to go or who would handle our mooring lines. We found out later that both the radios and phones were down at the marina. Good lord! We decided we needed a good lunch and stiff drink after that so after we checked in we made our way to the marina restaurant. 

Following Dinghy Into Marigot Bay, St Lucia 

Lunch at Marina Restaurant with Tidings Behind Us

Marigot Bay

Over the next several day we got our barrings, completed boat work and took advantage of the resort we were docked in front of. With a one time pass you can enjoy the pool, gym and spa. Also right at the marina is a free shuttle to a restaurant across the basin called Doolittle's where we had a nice lunch and used their pool as well. It was a quaint little basin and had just about everything we needed. We both felt good about leaving the boat there for a week while we traveled back to Ohio.

Marigot Bay Resort

Resort Pool 

Dinner at Marina Restaurant

Free Ferry to Doolittle's 

Lunch at Doolittle's 

On the 21st of December we flew back to Ohio for Christmas for a week. Lorri a wonderful driver and tour guide drove us the 1.5 hours to the airport. He made a couple stops for views and pictures and gave us the highlights along the way. 

Scenic Drive to Airport 

Viewpoint 

Our time in Ohio was great as always and on December 28th we flew back to Saint Lucia. Unfortunately I came back totally sick. I picked up the cough and cold that my mom struggled with the whole time we were there. Jeff and I had a reservation for New Year's Eve at the resort which included a nice dinner, live music and fire works at midnight. I waited until early afternoon on the 31st to decide that there was just no way I would be able to attend. Jeff reached out to the resort and explained our situation and while they couldn't give us a refund they allowed him to come to the restaurant and get some food to take back to the boat for himself. This made me feel not as bad. He was also able to see the first works from the boat while I laid in bed too sick and weak to go outside to see. It was a really bummer of a New Year's Eve and we were ready to move along. 

Back in Marigot Bay

NYE Band

NYE Dinner 

Fireworks From Boat 

 

Bequia Bequia Bequia

 It's like the old Brady Bunch shows when Jan is sick of her older sister and says, "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha, that's all I ever hear." This is how we were beginning to think about Bequia. Every person we met in Grenada just went on and on about Bequia. We kept thinking (despite hearing about it) what's so great about this Bequia?

So finally on December 1st 2025 we were released from our hurricane hole by our insurance and we set out to start discovering The Grenadines. The weather wasn't as great as we hoped so the first night we only went about an hour up the Grenadian coast and anchored for the night to get the better weather window. Our marina was excepting about 100 boats from the ARC cruising rally to come in so we all got kicked out. Perfect timing for us as I was more than ready to leave. Most of our friends had been gone for a while. Halifax Harbour was rolly and at one point we looked over to our sailboat neighbor to see the man buck naked and driving his sailboat out of the harbor. It was a shock and something I wish I hadn't seen. Freedom I guess. 

Cruising Again

Naked Neighbor

Sunset at Halifax

After a rolly night we pulled anchor at 0745 from Halifax and made the 72 mile run to Bequia. We had calm 1-3 foot seas and 8-18mph winds. Pretty nice conditions. We went through a couple rain squalls that quickly passed and at 1609 we were dropping the hook in Bequia. Our friend Skip on Raja and Mary and Tom on Toga were here so we were excited to see everyone. 

Passing By Saint Vincent

Heading Into Bequia

Sunset Bequia

We started our first full day in Bequia slowly. Enjoying coffee and our new scenery before lowering the dink to check into customs and explore the town. Bequia is really well set up in that there are several dinghy docks around the town so you are always perfectly positioned for wherever you want to go. At the end of one is the trash, another has a chandlery and at almost all of them there are restaurants. We were charmed from the start and all of a sudden the Bequia hype was making sense. We took our time strolling the nice boardwalk that surrounds the anchorage and the town and at happy hour met Skip at a place called Jack's which has its own dinghy dock and affords great views of the anchorage. Really excellent first day. 

Strolling Around

Anchored in Bequia 

With Skip at Jack's 

On our way back from Jack's the dinghy motor decided not to start. There we were in the dark at the dock at Jack's with no motor. Fortunately some slightly tipsy boaters who happened to be our neighbors offered to tow us back which was super kind. I rode in their dinghy with them and Jeff sat in ours being towed. It's always something. We thanked them and told them we owe them some drinks and said goodnight. 

The next day we had someone come and look at the dinghy motor while Jeff tried to fix our salon a.c. which finally stopped working after constant maintenance in Cartagena and Panama. This day wasn't so fun. 

The next morning A.J the dinghy repairman came back with some parts and fixed the dinghy motor and just like that we were back in business and headed back into town to explore. Today we walked the opposite way from the commercial part of town, away from the restaurants into the more residential sections. It was beautiful and still surrounding the anchorage. We happened to discover (by smell) a good bakery where we got some coconut bakes and some raisin bread. Both were delicious. Back at the boat we took a cool refreshing dip till sunset then we cruised the dink down the isles checking out boats kinda like we were in Catalina. 

Residential Walking

Sheep

Bequia Neighborhood

Bakery

Sunset Dinghy Cruise

There is never a dull moment in Bequia and thanks to the Sea Sisters there are daily activities. Today was an organized pub crawl with a walk and lunch. Mary and Anne were the only two sisters I knew from Grenada but that didn't matter with spouses in tow we all set out to drink and walk and have some fun. Our first stop was what looked like a shack on the beach called the Lion Den where we got rum punch and beers. After a few sips of my rum punch I knew I needed to switch to beer if I was going to make it for the whole crawl. We made our way around and up through Bequia into parts of the interior before ended on a beach opposite the anchorage. The views were spectacular and the stops perfectly planned in order to quench our thirst. I even managed to make a friend at our second stop. One of the owners littler girls came right over to me and started playing with me and then eventually crawled on my lap. Her family seemed a little surprised by this but didn't remove her until the ice cream truck arrived to which I couldn't compete. 

Starting the Crawl

First Stop 

Beautiful Views

Passed By Goats

My Friend 

Second Stop

Lunch & Third Stop 

Heading Back Down

Final Stop- Jack's For a Drink & Float

After a thorough cool down in the water in front of Jack's we went back to the boat for a little rest and some dinner. Later that night there was one more event- live music at one of the restaurants. One of the men on the pub crawl was playing and some of the crawlers hinted at going. Double headers usually aren't our style anymore but this sounded fun. So with some coaxing and a lot of whining I got Jeff to agree and we piled into the dinghy and went in. The restaurant was packed inside and out and various bands played all while John (from the pub crawl) played keyboard and accordion. Cindy and Mike showed up and it was just the four of us from the crawl but that didn't matter it was a lot of fun and a perfect ending to a great day. 

The next couple days involved football watching and a visit from an a.c. servicer who finally said last rights to the salon a.c. proclaiming the compressor shot and no longer a member of our team. Anyone who knows me knows that besides my a.c. and Jeff there isn't much else that I feel passionately about on the boat. So this was a very harsh blow but not really surprising as we've been getting the poor thing serviced for months and months limping it along. C'est la vie. 

Something is always going on in Bequia and tonight's event was a dinghy drift. Everyone brought a snack to share and a drink of choice and we all tied together and just drifted wherever the wind and sea had in mind. It was nice to have a distraction after the a.c. blow. 

Dinghy Drifting 

With our time winding down in Bequia we decided to take a walk around, get lunch and do some final provisioning before we checked out with customs and immigration. There are such nice boardwalks in Bequia that follow the entire perimeter of the bay and you can walk for as long or short as you want. We decided to end up at Jack's for our final lunch. Full circle after meeting Skip there our first night. We both would admit that not only did Bequia live up to the hype but it exceeded our expectations and now we too will be proud to proclaim, "Bequia, Bequia, Bequia!"

Walking Around Bequia

Nice Boardwalk 

Lunch at Jack's

Anchorage