After Dominica, we traveled 100 nautical miles south to St. Lucia, stopping overnight in Martinique. Both days we sailed on a close-haul. The first day across the Martinique Passage the seas were 6 feet, and we took lots of water over our deck. Thankfully the seas across the St. Lucia Channel were just 2 to 3 feet, making for a great sail that day. By the time we arrived in St. Lucia, we had only 6 weeks left before we needed to be in Trinidad. Although we had been enjoying the southern Caribbean, we had generally been disappointed in the number of protected anchorages since departing Antigua. Both Dominica and St. Lucia each had only one good anchorage, and the anchorage in Rodney Bay was prone to surge. Due to this and the fact that we wanted to spend 2 to 3 weeks in the Grenadines, we stayed only 8 days in St. Lucia. Like in Dominica, the people of St. Lucia were friendly, and the island as a whole had a good feel to it.
Most interesting during our stay in Rodney Bay was our visit to Fort Rodney on Pigeon Island. Once a separate island, it was now joined to the main island by a causeway. During the colonial period, either due to war or as a result of treaties, Caribbean islands were exchanged occasionally between European colonial powers. St. Lucia hit the all-time record as it changed hands 14 times between the French and the British. Standing on top of Fort Rodney, it was easy to visualize the two navies at one time playing �cat and mouse� around this small island. Also of interest was the fact that for awhile during World War II the United States had a squadron at Fort Rodney, as it was feared that the Germans might expand the war to the Caribbean. |
