04/12/16 - LAND!

My night watch from 0000-0200 on the morning of the 4th if December was the most exciting night, probably of my life. It was quite cloudy but you could see more boats around. We were around 25 miles off shore when the cloud lifted and the lights of Martinique and St Lucia emerged. I was so excited and literally could not stop smiling! I had such a feeling of pride but also of relief.

I could hardly sleep after my night watch finished but at around 6 o'clock I was woken as we were about 3 miles off shore. We saw an amazing sunrise and the pitons of St Lucia and fort of pigeon island were in full view. As we approached Rodney Bay various boats in their way out would shout out 'congratualtiond' or ' welcome'. This gave me goose bumps and brought a smile to all our faces as we all realised that we had really made it. A man in a dingy can out to greet us and take some pictures of us and the boat as we crossed the finish line. We were welcomed by the ARC people at 07:11:22 as we officially arrived in St Lucia. As we approached the marina some fishing boats were coming out and they would all congratulate us, welcome us and give us a cheer. The boats in the marina also blew their horns and people came out to say hello and cheer us in which was very special and very welcoming. We finally docked and I jumped onto dry land which felt very strange. We were then welcomed by the ARC people with a basket of fresh fruit and cold rum punch which was pretty good, even at 7:30 in the morning!! However, the best part was the fruit as we hadn't had any for about 10 days so we all tucked in to 2 bananas each! It was the most amazing feeling but also very overwhelming. I was so relieved to finally be on land and to go for a shower although we had to clear the health check, customs and check in which took over 2 hours first.

After we had recovered and reconnected to the world we set off for Bequia and St Vincent for a bit of cruising before heading home. It was so beautiful and it was lovely to swim in the warm sea, pig out on passion fruit and meet some amazing people. Overall, whilst there were tough times it was an amazing trip and a great experience which I am so grateful for.