On December 26 we motored a short distance into Rodney Bay lagoon to permit Dave to go up the mast in more settled enclosed waters than the Bay could offer to change the main halyard. Rain had begun to fall (again!) but fortunately it stopped long enough for Dave's trip to the top and down. After this we purchased some dinghy gas at the mega marina, also located within the lagoon, and then departed for what would be a short sail along the coast to the Pitons.

We arrived at Soufriere Bay, near the town of Soufriere in mid afternoon . (Soufriere—"sulphur mine" in French) is a popular name in these volcanic islands for bays, volcanoes, towns, and even rum.) Soufriere Bay is the first Bay north of Petite Piton and the view looking south is stunning. The Pitons rise near vertically out of the sea to almost 3000 feet and are the trademark of St. Lucia.

Similar to Dominica, boat boys are prolific in St. Lucia and one insisted on helping us with a required mooring ball (anchoring is generally prohibited in Soufriere Bay, a nature reserve). We elected a mooring in the area next to shore of the “bat cave”. Donna had already figured that any bats would keep the mosquito population down (i.e. being eaten by bats before they could eat her). We never saw any bats or a cave, but the skeeters didn't show up, either we’re happy to say. We didn't need any assistance in picking up our mooring, but relented knowing that we could say "Lucius" was already helping us when the other boys inevitably arrived to offer other needless services . So we spent EC$16 doing something we could have done ourselves and still had to pay the official charge for using the mooring when the park ranger passed by later in the day. We figure one way or the other we are supporting the local economy. But we certainly couldn't complain about our location - just a few yards off an uninhabited shore with a reputation for fine snorkeling on one side and an unobstructed view of the Pitons on the other. Dave splurged on some Piton beer for the occasion.

We went ashore to look around and deposit our trash and later snorkeled the northwest shoreline which, despite its reputation, we found to be largely unremarkable in that area. The shoreline closer to our boat within the bay appeared to hold much more promise with a large amount of fan coral but the water was so stirred up and cloudy that we had to abandon our attempt to see anything there. Maybe next time! The following day, Monday the 27th, we went back ashore to clear out of St. Lucia customs. The previous day was Boxing Day and is an official St. Lucian holiday. Since Boxing Day came on Sunday this year, the "holiday" defaulted to Monday, so we had to pay “over time” for the customs official. A minor sum, however, amounting to around US$5.