We left Martinique on May 10, bound for St. Lucia. It didn’t go so well.

We’d sailed about 2.5 hours when our port engine started smoking. This was after bashing into the waves and even burying under one particularly big wave. Then we started losing speed with just the starboard engine running (we shouldn’t have lost speed), so we were thinking that something had gotten wrapped around the prop.

So we turned around and stayed at an anchorage on Martinique. It was lovely and peaceful.

I chillaxed on Seahike for a bit, then dove down to check the props, both of which were clear. If something had been wrapped around them, it had come off, possibly when Michael ran the engine hard in reverse.

The smoking engine was due to a broken impeller. I replaced it.

So we were good to go again, but we waited one more day for the weather to improve a bit.

Here are some pictures of Martinique as we left and the anchorage where we stayed two nights.

We left for St. Lucia (Take Two!) on the 12th. This time our trip was entirely successful. Here’s a picture of our sails while underway (below left). It looks like there is next to no mainsail up, but it is just the vantage point (although we did have two reefs in it).

We wanted to stay ahead of this particular squall (below right). We did.

We arrived at Rodney Bay just in time for the boat guy to come by so we could buy some fruit from him.

We stayed in Rodney Bay for five days, then sailed to Soufriere, St. Lucia on the 16th. It was a lovely sail. Best of all, the most beautiful rainbow welcomed us! It kept getting prettier and fuller as we approached. What a great way to be greeted! Not to mention the spectacular Pitons.

There is very little to see in Soufriere, but we did go to a small locally-owned bar to get a beer while we waited for the Customs and Immigration folks to return from their lunch break. We met a super nice guy there and had a lovely conversation with him. He is from one of the other Caribbean Islands but lives on St. Lucia now. He lived in CA, USA for several years (maybe 11?), and his son went to college in CO, USA (where I was born and raised.) Small world!

There is a small town square which is the perfect accent for the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption. In the center is the Freedom Monument, a sculpture by Ricky George that honors slaves who helped defeat the British in 1796.

We sailed to St. Vincent on the 19th. We sailed through three squalls, but we had one reef in the mainsail, so Seahike was happy when the wind picked up, as were we.

We weren’t greeted by a rainbow this time, but by a pod of dolphins, which is equally as exciting!

We arrived at our first anchorage by Chateaubelair, St. Vincent in the late afternoon. It was lovely!

We didn’t do anything on land in St. Vincent except check into the country. I wasn’t feeling well, unfortunately. So, we hung out on Seahike for a few days then sailed to the next island: Bequia. Our friends Cathie and Greg (who’d we met in February in St. Lucia) were in Bequia and we were looking forward to hanging out with them again!

Here are some pictures of St. Vincent from Seahike on our way south. It has a stunning shoreline.

First views of Bequia, followed by the sunset from Seahike at anchor.

We had dinner with Cathie and Greg our first night in Bequia. Such fun!