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Ed and I took a cruise with my siblings and their spouses aboard Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas. My family is celebrating 50 years since we arrived in Canada by ship, so thought this would be an appropriate way to mark the anniversary.
There is a new cruise ship dock in St. Thomas in Crown Bay,with a nearby marina and mooring field. We saw an interesting facility for hauling boats, where the container is lowered into the water, the boat floated in, and the whole container lifted up with the boat in it. Very cool. On departure, the cruise ship captain (Dustin from Canada) performed a very tight turn passing very close to the boats at anchor. It must be quite the view from the cockpit to see a huge ship spinning around a few feet away.
In Antigua, we caught up with friends from home at Nelson's Dockyard, where Dr. Reg Murphy was giving us a short tour. Ken and Lynn have been living aboard Silverheels III for many years, the last several in the Caribbean. The link to their blog is on the right. We stopped for lunch at a local roti shop before admiring the beautiful yachts in Falmouth Harbour, near the Antigua Yacht Club.
In St. Lucia, Ed and I signed up for sailing lessons, as it was the only sailing excursion we could find. We sailed out of Rodney Bay, in the lee of the island, where the wind was blowing in the 28-35 knot range. Captain Ben and mate Brad of the 40 foot sloop Papagayo, were brave to take a group of seven guests, some of whom have never sailed, out in that kind of wind. Even with a double reefed main, and only a scrap of jib, we were flying along and heeling more than I would ever be comfortable with at home.
According to the crew, the conditions looked 'pretty good' beyond Pigeon Island, where the Atlantic waves come around the top of the island, so we poked our nose out beyond the bay for a few minutes. It was quite the introduction to sailing for the novices aboard.