THE PITONS DID IT

The October Cruising World just arrived. Many thanks for the very nice plug for my guides in the story “Caribbean Gems.” I liked the article on anchorages, except I remember those same anchorages in the late 1950s and ’60s. I talked a little Irish girl I met in Carriacou into sailing with me to Martinique to pick up a charter. Then in Martinique, I talked her into joining the charter party as we sailed to Grenada. I think the reason she married me 53 years ago is because of an evening near the Pitons of St. Lucia. We were moored bow on, with a bow line tied to a palm tree. In those days, between the two Pitons there was a coconut plantation. At 1600, everyone disappeared, and after dinner, we were sitting on deck, in the pitch-black, with not a single light ashore. Then, in between the Pitons, a great, huge, full moon rose. My charter party, who were very experienced sailors, and I decided this was the most spectacular sight we had ever seen, or probably would ever see again. I think Trish decided that the only way she would ever see a scene like that again was to marry the crazy sailor.

Don Street Via email