The Windward Islands - Another year - another voyage - this time "down Island" which required all night sailing - standing watches and keeping on course. Our destination was St. Lucia in the Windward Islands whose unmistakable landmark was the twin peaks of the Pitons which we could see from a distance during daylight. These mountains rose up from the ocean floor and it was hard to believe there was an anchorage there. As we came around the bend we found a sheltered lagoon with a neighbor already anchored there - the famous ketch TICONDEROGA. With the turning basin narrow our captain dropped a bow anchor and tied the stern to a palm tree on the beach - a type of Mediterranean mooring. This lush patch was famous as the site where the Dr. Dolittle movie -1967 British version starring Rex Harrison - was made and relics of same were left there. Being at the wheel of a 90 foot schooner sailing down island has to be one of my greatest thrills made possible by the irrepressible Captain Ted Charles out of City Island in the Bronx.
tjs
(To be concluded)
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