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Tall Ships, Spies & Torpodoes
How are Tall Ships and Saint Lucia connected to Canadian Naval history? One of the more dramatic events in Saint Lucia’s history occurred on March 10, 1942 in Castries harbour. The story starts three years earlier…………………………. In May 1939 the tall ship Gorch Fock, a German naval training ship, visited the Saint Lucian port of Castries. The ship’s company of 200 were welcomed by friendly Saint Lucians eager to show off their beautiful island. Unfortunately Saint Lucian officials were not aware of their true agenda. The German officers and trainees were not just interested in photographing the iconic Pitons, they had a plan to carefully document military and naval installations.…
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Eye of the Wind – Epilogue
Our friend Bill, after seeing our first pictures of the Eye of the Wind (in Soufriere Bay) chose the term “magnificent”. On reflection, magnificent turned out be most apt but perhaps not in the way one might have expected. The sailing was indeed, magnificent. The Eye of the Wind is a 114 year old steel vessel. While meticulously maintained, she still shows her age – including a “patina” of rust in spots. Also, as Captain Moritz pointed out, the pictures you see with full sails are only for brochures. Sails are optimized for the wind conditions. With steady 20 to 25 knot winds (at times gusting up to 38!) we…
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Parlez-vous……..?
Martinique not only is part of France, it is fiercely French. It seems as though you can only get here from a place where French is spoken. One of our co-guest/crew members on Eye of the Wind had to fly through Montreal to get back to St Louis, Missouri. Those returning to Europe had no option but to fly to Paris. Typically when you go to a beach in a tourist location and you will hear a United Nations of languages. Not here, just French, In fact we have never been to a place where so few people speak English (or are unwilling to do so). Good thing Jennifer and…