Paddling into the strong wind - you better not stop or you will go backwards

Its been such uncertain times hasn’t it….. the one incredible thing about this pandemic has been that it actually doesn’t matter which state you are in, in the USA, or if you are in Europe, Australia, India, or some tiny island nation…. we have ALL been in the same boat.  We have all struggled with the same thing.  Here is a gorgeous photo of a traditional cruise ship in St.Lucia to cheer you up.

 

I remember one time we were anchored in St.Lucia, it was our first time to the island, as it was one of our stops as we sailed north from Tobago up to St.Maarten.  St.Lucia is one of the most stunning islands, but all the islands are gorgeous.... they all just have different personalities.

 

 

Now St.Lucia is one of the first islands we got to that had a real supermarket that resembled something from home…. And we discovered that if we anchored over in this one corner of Rodney Bay, we could take the dinghy ashore and it was only a really short 100 yard walk to this supermarket.

 

Now I do love a crowded palm tree beach, but not so much a crowded bus with no air-conditioning in the Caribbean.  With this supermarket within arms reach, we didn’t have to catch a squishy crowded bus, and we didn’t have to walk for miles, carrying all of our purchases in the HEAT. That sort of luxury is always appreciated by yachties who are living without a car.

 

So this supermarket had all sorts of imported fresh fruit and vegetables, and meat that we hadn’t seen since we left South Africa.  It was very exciting.    Although our dwindling funds meant that we couldn’t spend too much, and we also had no refrigeration on the boat, so we could only buy what would last on the kitchen counter for a few days.  Maya was very excited that the supermarket also had kiddie shopping trolleys.... WOW, what a novelty.

 

Now when we were in St.Lucia the Christmas winds were blowing really really strong….. those Christmas winds come up every year, sometime around or just after Christmas and it can get very blowy…. Not the most fun conditions on a boat…. And especially in the Caribbean where the sailing condisitons are mostly very perfect and idyllic, so when the wind blows, its not fun…. So it meant that we spent longer in St.Lucia, than we had intended.  Since our money was running out we were really trying to get to St.Maarten where we were told we might get jobs.

 

So sitting on the boat, rocking and rolling in those strong winds, bored and getting a little cabin fever was not unlike our present situation.

 

We ate a lot, cooked more and ate more ha ha.

I remember one day though, I took the dingy ashore, on my own…. Went to the supermarket, got all of our goodies, walked back to the dinghy but low and behold I couldn’t start the dinghy.

 

No matter how hard I tried, it would not start. I am not mechanic…. He was over there on the boat…. So I called out into the wind to try to get the captains attention….. hoping that he might swim in and help me, and eventually came out to yell across to me to start paddling….. OH NO I remember thinking…. The wind was blowing SO STRONG and now he wants me to PADDLE the dinghy into this wind.

 

It took me about 20 minutes of paddling like crazy…. You couldn’t take a break, because every time you stopped paddling the wind would just pick you up and push you backwards all the distance you had just covered was gone ha ha.

 

My husband was in the cockpit of the boat, laughing at me. Well I did eventually get there, and he did eventually fix the dinghy engine….

Here I am rowing the dinghy on a calmer day.... photo taken when my husband wasn't so busy laughing at me.

 

I guess this whole pandemic has been a bit like that.  If we stop paddling now, before we actually arrive to safety, we might just go backwards.  Love how these St.Lucian guys rigged up a sheet of plastic to save their arms from paddling.

 

 

So stay calm everyone.  Travel times are coming back soon!

Here is a cute photo of my daughter and I swimming together off the boat in St.Lucia.

 

Here is a fun video I made during lockdown when I was talking about my paddle struggles in St.Lucia.

Paddling Into the Strong Wind in St. Lucia 

 One love x