Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
14.04.319N
60.57.157W

Another quiet rainy day on the boat. We dinghied to the marina to scout out a Fed Ex store for mail and then dropped by and said hi to DocNoMore, Wayfinder, and Foreclosure on our way back to the Palace. Then Buddy and Melissa off Indigo Moon dropped by to say hello to us.

All of the boat crews from DocNoMore, Indigo Moon, Foreclosure, Take Time and Gypsy Palace got together on Wayfinder for a potluck dinner later. We discussed our plans of the around the island tour set for tomorrow (Foreclosure had done this previously so declined our invitation) and our eventual plans for heading south.

Dale & I finally received confirmation that we had reservations at a marina in Trinidad from July 1 through the end of September. Once we get there, we’ll be in a better position to decide whether we want to extend our stay or go elsewhere. DocNoMore and Foreclosure will be in a different marina but in Trinidad too. Indigo Moon, Wayfinder and Take Time are planning on heading further south to Puerto LaCruz, Venezuela. There was much discussion regarding the declining atmosphere towards American cruisers in Venezuela, yet our friends seem very determined to go. Dale & I have decided that unless a hurricane forces us further south, we won’t be going to the mainland of Venezuela at all, regardless of insurance boxes.

Roger brought up a very interesting thought. Because of insurance stipulations, everyone is forced into a very small area in the south of the Caribbean. From a risk management standpoint, if boats could spread through out the Caribbean, the chances of a catastrophic loss to the insurance companies would be less. With everyone forced into a limited area, should a hurricane hit, it would be disastrous.

In spite of the seriousness of our conversation, we had a good time and will be watching out for each other on our way south.