After sailing away from Barbados, we immediately set the sails as the wind was in our favor to sail through the night and in the morning were delighted to wake to Caribbean skies and a warm easterly breeze. After we had our coffee and breakfast, we had an introduction to sailing with our Captain John Svendsen. Regaling us with stories of the past and how the sailors today operate this traditional sailing vessel. We had a few visitors along the way, one being a couple sperm whales and later in the evening some large octopus. We ended our evening with our Captain’s Cocktail Party where we met the Sea Cloud’s key staff and Captain John Svendsen had thoughtful words for our journey ahead. After a fabulous dinner, Expedition Leader Paula had a surprise star-gazing night on the back deck with the skies opening up for all to see.
2/22/2024
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Sea Cloud
St. Lucia
We dropped anchor in Soufriere Bay beneath the majestic Pitons. Both Pitons (“Gros” – 2600’ & “Petit” 2500’) are designated world heritage sites and are sentinels guarding the entrance to Soufriere Bay. Our excursion began inside the caldera where the hot sulfuric gasses and molten waters and rock are still quite active. St. Lucia is 238 square miles with a population of 180 thousand and is the birthplace of two Nobel Laureates. The official language is English, but everyone speaks the vernacular Creole French. Our next stop was the Diamond Botanical Gardens. Plants of every sort abound in profusion. The bamboo, the national plant of St. Lucia, can grow 8 inches a day and reach 30 feet. Our next stop was Hummingbird Beach. The snorkeling was good and is set against the sheer rock cliffs which contains the famous bat cave. We also enjoyed the hospitality and refreshing cold drinks at the Hummingbird Beach Club. Today’s lunch was a delight: pasta swirled inside a 100-kilo wheel of reggiano parmigiano cheese until fully coated. At night, our captain gave us a wonderful farewell toast to send us off safely to our homes. We boarded Sea Cloud as strangers and left as mates.
