Diving and Snorkeling Saint Lucia

Alas, I was not clever enough to catch both JP and Susan making their dive on the wreck Lesleen M in Anse Cochon, Saint Lucia; that is JP in the far right of the photo, with a couple of their fellow divers.  We all three went on the expedition, since they could dive and I could snorkel.  There were two dives and two snorkels, with lunch in between; we went with an outfit called Dive Helen out of Marigot Bay, where we are on a mooring ball for a few days.  It was really a great day; it rained off and on, but that makes the changing light on the reef more interesting.  We will be here until tomorrow, or at least that is the current plan, and then will make a long sail to the west coast of Saint Vincent.

On Sunday, we went to the last day of the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival (now just called Saint Lucia Jazz - this was the 21st year).  The lineup included a young performer called Melanie Fiona - she is from Toronto, but her parents were born in Guyana - and a group called The WESPE POU AYITI Project, then the fabulous South African Hugh Masekela.  The final two acts were Toni Braxton - I don't think she was having her best day, but she had a LOT of fans in the mostly Caribbean audience - and Diana Ross, who really makes clear the difference between "Star"  and "Superstar" - or, as JP said, "legend".  She is 68, still has an amazing voice, incredible energy, and real joy in performing.  It was a privilege to see and hear her.  It was dark by the time she came on stage, but here is another photo from the concert; that's Hugh Masekela.

We have not done many boat projects since arriving in Saint Lucia, but JP and Susan did take apart the carburetor for the dinghy engine (which was not working) and after cleaning it, put it back together AND got the engine working again.  They used a YouTube video that described how to do it for the specific engine we have - how cool is that?  We have chosen the new upholstery for the boat interior and are in the process of ordering it and arranging for it to be shipped to Trinidad; we seem to need something like 60 yards of fabric for the project.