Commodore
April 7, 2021

Off to Laborie an unspoilt fishing village further south

The weather is so calm it makes it perfect conditions for heading to the southern tip of the island. We will be heading straight into the wind, so we will have to motor. The guide book gives a good write up about Laborie, being a genuine fishing village unspoilt by tourism.

Once again in the middle of our breakfast the Canadians came paddling by, they came on board for a drink, they had just paddled back and forth across the Soufriere bay which is a very long way. Turns out they head home to Rodney Bay today but are going via Laborie as they are taking the windward east coast route back. They are visiting their French neighbour in Rodney Bay, who is on holiday in Laborie with her daughter, she is great friends with the young Canadian girl.

Sailing past the Pitons

It took less than an hour to get to Laborie, requiring careful navigating around the reefs entering the little harbour. We are the only yacht here, great for us as it made anchoring so much easier. I don’t think many yachties come here as you have to head straight into the trade winds. We took JeldiJeldi to the beach, and got settled for a relaxing afternoon reading the papers. It wasn’t long after having started my monthly catch up call with my sisters (two in South Africa and one in England) that the Canadians found us and joined us on the beach. The French lady had a paddle board which kept the kids entertained as they would dash out to go and see the turtle whenever its head popped out (we think it was just one big one out there).

The Canadians finally headed home after coconuts and ice creams, and we stayed and chatted to the French lady, Sophie. She is the managing director for Alliance Francais for the whole of the Caribbean. She moved to Martinique to join her partner who is from there, but landed up getting this job which she couldn’t turn down, so they live apart and see each other whenever they can, which has been difficult during lockdowns. He is a double gold Olympic Medalist for fencing! They are both divorced and have kids from previous marriages. She has worked all around the world in her previous job and is a fascinating character.

They had booked to go to dinner at one of the few restaurants serving, so we joined them for a very good chicken supper at Mama Tilley’s. She brought along another lady who was staying at her hotel who was obviously rather lonely. She was a rather sad English woman who looked like she had way too much botox. Turns out she was a travel journalist for The Week and the Telegraph, but is currently doing the marketing for Hotel Chocolat here on the island. So of course she knows all the directors that Rowan knows.

We had one little drama heading home, we managed to lose the key for JeldiJeldi, we went back to the restaurant to see if we had left them there, checked the bins where we had thrown away our rubbish and we were just giving up when we found them on a wooden ledge on the dock, near the boat. Someone must have found them and put them there for us. We always say that everyone knows exactly what is going on everywhere, they don’t miss a thing. What a relief, we felt very reassured about the pleasantness of the town. They do all seem incredibly friendly and helpful.