We departed Bequia and SVG early on January 29 in order to sail the distance to Marigot Bay, St. Lucia, to arrive in daylight. We would make no stops at the island of St. Vincent, but thoroughly enjoyed the view of its uniquely and dramatically steep western coastline, made even more famous by having Walliabou Bay featured in the film Pirates of the Caribbean. We sailed along the coastline just a mile or two offshore as morning fog passed over, cutting through the island's immense volcanic embankments covered in lush green foliage.

Close to shore in the lee of St . Vincent the wind calmed as expected behind the high volcanic peaks, and we had to motor for a couple of hours, leaving the mainsail up to catch fleeting wind gusts finding their way between the mountains. Being close to shore to best see the dramatic island features has other costs in addition to absent wind. Despite being in deep water, we had to watch for fishing floats – analogous to Chesapeake Bay crab pots - but the flatter water made it easier to spot and dodge the floats. Well, most of them anyway!

We knew we had missed spotting one when the thump, thump, thump of the float bouncing against the port hull announced our "catch". Dave quickly put the port engine into neutral to prevent the line attached to the float from fouling the prop – feeling lucky that it hadn’t already done so. In the calm winds we coasted to a stop while trying to figure out whether the port dagger board, sail drive, or rudder – or all three - were tangled up in the line beneath the boat . There was a long line now clearly visible trailing the boat attached to the dark colored float. Fortunately there was not a fish trap attached to it. The dark color of the float made it harder to see and avoid, which is the best excuse we could come up with for getting into this fix.

After failing to un-snag the line with a boat hook, it was obvious that the only way to clear the line was for Dave to go in the water and cut it loose. The calm conditions permitted doing this right where we were rather than attempt to anchor in a harbor using the other engine. We dropped the mainsail to prevent the boat from sailing away while Dave was in the water and over he went with mask, snorkel, fins, and a knife. He found the line was partly wrapped around the prop and was also around the rudder. It was still loosely tangled, indicating we had disengaged the prop just in time. Dave was able to untangle the line and set it free without needing the knife. We were soon raising the mainsail and getting back underway. Hopefully, it will not be snared by another boat--in hindsight, we could have brought the debris aboard to prevent that.

It was very windy and rough leaving the north coast of St. Vincent. We had a calmer sail entering the lee of St. Lucia, passing the Pitons, and arrived at Marigot Bay in time to simultaneously clear in and out of St. Lucia customs and immigration – valid for a 72-hour stay. Marigot Bay has changed quite a bit since our last visit here on a charter in 2003. A new high-end marina catering to mega yacht$ dominates the area and the anchorage seems to have lost much of its charm – so we didn’t hang around long.