Location: Young Island, St. Vincent
This morning, the soothing vibes of Ben Howard echoed through the saloon, but at this stage of the trip, almost everyone is up before waking up at our regular 7 am alarm call. You learn to live with the Caribbean; a persistent, near-6 am year-round sunrise is the light and warmth that is better than any watch or other devices at regulating your wake-up time. It is one of my favorite times of the day in the islands, as occasionally, shoreside roosters alert you to the cool, fresh air, calm waters, and some of the most polite morning people in the world. I understand and enjoy why we lose grasp of our lazy sleep-ins of the now much darker northern latitudes.
It was a quick turnaround at breakfast as one of those wonderful morning people, Jimmy, was waiting for us ashore to taxi us to our latest hiking adventure up to the crater of the active volcano on the island. The volcanic Caribbean produces so many wonders that we just could not tear ourselves away, leaving us to a late, late lunch at 2 pm when we finally made it back on board. What was left of the afternoon was utilized for study or recuperation and for me as vessel master to head to customs and immigration to fulfill all the formalities of heading to a different territory tomorrow. Young Island is spectacular, and Peter, Stephanie, Wallace, Josh, Roger, Tommy, and I climbed up its 250 steps to the rocky outcrop laden with multiple historic cannons and more volcanic geology. Our destination tomorrow, St. Lucia’s Pitons, hot springs, and botanical garden, will certainly open everyone’s eyes to the new wonders of our world. However, for now, the only thing that everyone was wide-eyed for was dessert cupcakes and donuts that I landed on the dinner table. I guess those ‘formalities’ I have to fulfill sometimes bring a bounty of goodies back to the boat.