It’s been a fun week with several steps forward. Last Saturday night we went to the newly opened cinema in Castries. It has eight screens, the smell of popcorn in the glossy atrium and large posters of soon to be released films, just like any cinema in the world. The guy taking the tickets seemed a little puzzled that we should take our seats before the film had started as there was still ten minutes to go and indeed we were the only people in the auditorium at that time. It started to fill once the film had begun and people continued to pour in well into the film- Lushuns are not good with time keeping. The air conditioning was super cool and another outing would definitely require cardigan and socks. There was a fair bit of audience participation especially when baddies got their comeuppance or a ‘sister’ gets one over a bloke i.e. Yo sister, you tell him, Uh Huh! Sending and receiving texts and phone calls also seems to be acceptable but it is done quietly. All in all an excellent night out and it was good not to miss out on Harry Potter, next time it will be Jeff’s choice.
The window man bought us his sample window and door, all hand made out of greenheart. Everyone agreed they were of a high standard so he got the next 40% of his money to complete the order.
We have purchased a water pump for the house. We need this as we have no mains water and will be relying on our huge water tanks to fill with rain. The pumps are not always available on the Island so buying it when we saw it will save heartache later on when they disappear again.
As you can see from the picture, the ring beam is complete and stud walls are in place ready for the eaves. The house is looking huge after Jeff toiled away removing all the bamboo poles and formwork. This is really hard work, normally done by the labourers but they are both of sick this week with rainy season flu. The electricians have done all their work on the first 2 floors ready for the plastering, the plumbers on the other hand are no where near finishing, probably because they have to re do a lot of their work. They are also bad at not turning up for agreed periods of work and then they supply Jeff with a list of things they need for the job but forget half the stuff and Jeff has to go get it again and again. This drives Jeff round the bend and these guys don’t know how close they are to a one sided chat behind the shed.
I have kept myself busy with boat work. A top to toe clean was needed to get rid of the layer of sand that comes all the way from Africa and is then dumped on our boat when it rains. I also did all the chrome work and got rid of any rusty bits. This was in honour of the new awning that we had made in a light material to cover the length of the boat. It is so much cooler now and we can have all the hatches open even when it rains. It is a bit tricky to get it erected and at the moment the front doesn’t look quite right but the guy who made it is coming over to see what adjustments can be made.
We are still hoping to get the rudder bit from somewhere. Norway seems favourite at the moment as our friend Truls is on the case and thinks he can get it in four weeks. Still too late for the kids sailing holiday but good to know it will happen eventually. Truls has also kindly agreed to us using his boat now and again for the odd day trip. Our day of rest tomorrow is a driving trip to the north to discover new places. Tonight, Mama Sheila has invited us to a surprise birthday party for her son, Van Dyke, who turned 50 last month. These parties consist of mountains of food and fresh fruit juices, lots of family members and friends sitting around chatting and then someone bravely sneaks in alcohol and drops some of the hard stuff into the juices for those who partake. Mama Sheila is a seventh Day Adventist and is dead against alcohol and foresees a lifetime in hell for those who imbibe, but we take our chances anyway!

It rained for 48hours! Not much work happened on the lot, so we think if this continues we will quickly get behind schedule and our hope to be in for Christmas will be a pipe dream. The guys did manage some inside/undercover work and cleared out the bamboo from the underground water tanks, so they are now ready for plastering and then painting with a special sealant. The boss is keen to get a roof on so that even if it rains everyone can continue to work. At the moment they all rush off with heads covered and then settle down for some serious domino playing. The beginnings of a ring beam can be seen in this week’s picture. This will eventually hold the roof up. The makeshift scaffolding is precarious and dangerous looking, but the guys say it is safe and easy to erect. We have the plumber on site tomorrow as he has to find some of his pipes that have been covered in a small landslide. He needs to connect them in case we have more rain and more mud slides. He is also going to complete the pipe laying in areas that are to be plastered soon. He is a rotten plumber so Jeff has to stand over him and correct the mistakes as they inevitably happen. Nice guy though and is a willing worker who doesn’t seem to mind the daily boll***ings!
Last night was the night of the flying termites, zillions of them, all of which seem to be dead or gone today. Last week it was the night of the flying ants. There have been some huge beautiful butterflies around, not captured on film yet but the picture of the 8” caterpillar above could be him in his youth.
We didn’t get to carnival as it was pouring with rain and six hours of dancing in wet clothes wasn’t that appealing. Maybe next year.
In the mean time like everyone else in this part of the world we keep a close eye on the weather reports and check out the National Hurricane Centre web site daily. Nothing untoward so far thank goodness.

It has been a bit stressful this week. We took on too much and as a result feel a bit frazzled. The boat has an electrolysis problem where the rudderstock enters the hull. Bavaria have a back log of spares to deal with and they can’t be sure of getting us the bit we need before they break up for the whole of August. It is such a shame as we were hoping to get down to the Grenadines when John and Fi are here in three weeks time. The travel lift is out of use in Rodney Bay so we were going to be thwarted whatever happened.

In the meantime we thought it about time we got ourselves St Lucian driving licences. This required proof of a valid UK licence and proof of land ownership and all the documentation for the land licence. We had a medical and produced the photos they required, paid them the money (£60) and were then told that the machine that takes the photos and makes the licences was broken and that we would have to listen to the radio to hear when it was mended. As it had been broken for some time there would be a big queue, so don’t rush in straight away. That was a semi-success, so in a buoyant mood we set of to enquire about residency. A helpful lady gave us forms and a long list of documents required for the application. Luckily we had most of them from our Alien landholders licence and the birth and marriage certificates were filed on board. Next day we set of again to return filled out form and documents, all of which had to be photocopied and stamped (with $11.50 worth of real stamps) This application will take about three months and during that time we are to expect a telephone call from the police who will want to interview us and we should set aside about 2 hours to do this. The next thing on the list was a visit to immigration. Jeff’s allowed time of 6 months stay in St Lucia would run out in August and as the boat is unable to sail as far as Martinique to renew it he had to ask for an extension. St Lucian immigration officers have the same demeanour as they do in the States, so this was the worst of the visits we did. Lots of grovelling, form filling, photos, photocopying and eventually they keep his passport. He has to pick it up next week and he may have an extension of 6 months granted. This is all done in hot, crowded government offices with everyone vying for attention. Not grumbling really, this is the life we have chosen!

Today the third floor was cast. There was a frenzy of last minute activity by the electricians, plumbers and builders, doing the bits and pieces they had forgotten and cutting it really fine as the large concrete mixers and huge pump positioned themselves for a very slick (no pun intended) operation of pouring grey lumpy goo all over the formwork. It was pouring with rain before and during the operation but stopped just when the concrete needed to be kept moist. So Jeff had to then hose it down a few times to prevent cracking. The plan now is to put up the columns to support the roof so the roof will go on before the sides. This will make things easier once the rains really begin in earnest, or September, which ever comes earliest!

We were excited about the wood from Guyana arriving. Little did we know what palaver this would be. Firstly, the container had to be bought to Marigot Bay but the truck was unable to make it up the steep winding hills so it was decided that it should be unpacked in the car park at the bottom of the hill. A customs chap has to be in attendance and the seal cannot be broken until he arrives. Customs men will only do this after 5pm when their overtime starts and then they like to stretch out the process to make it more profitable .It is now dusk before the doors are opened and a truck full of men arrive to unload it and it is put on the back of another two smaller trucks and taken up to our lot. Sounds simple? Do not be fooled, this took hours. Two of the truck loads were scattered over the road because the truck was overloaded and that put the whole operation back as it was reloaded, in the meantime the other truck couldn’t get back down the hill to get the next load. The contract we had was to have everything delivered to site, so we were not responsible for the extra workers or their pay, that was the business of our wood agent, who was off Island but his wife was there to organise everything. She had to leave after a few hours and paid her men before she left. Unfortunately once she left they decided they wanted to be paid more as the work was harder than anticipated. Jeff eventually offered more to their leader, which he agreed to, but the guys stacking it on the lot pushed for even more and eventually Jeff put his foot down and they left. The next day our own team set about getting the stuff stacked and in the afternoon Mr Brown, the guy with the truck, got hold of five more labourers to unload the last third of the container. Unbelievably these guys also demanded more money as they neared the end of the job and once again Jeff told them where to go. It was all very stressful and cost more than it should have. The wood is good though, lovely colour and quality. We now have to deliver some of the wood to the guy who will make the doors and windows. He is on site tomorrow to do a final count and then he will make an example of each window and door before we pay him the full amount.
This is a two-part blog as it is now a few days later. The window man has been and prices agreed. A time scale has been put in place, so it will be interesting to see how that holds up. We are getting near the time to cast the next level, so Jeff and I spent a few hours yesterday sweeping out the building and clearing away all the off cuts of wood. It all looks very neat and tidy.
In the afternoon I went of with Doreen to the south west of the Island to pick up some bar stools and chairs for the restaurant. They had been hand made by a local joiner in a lovely red cedar wood. The joiner’s wife had a great garden and she was most generous with giving me cuttings and small plantlets. So today’s job is to get them into the ground in a quiet corner of the lot. Jeff had a pleasant afternoon waiting for us at the Chateau Mygo bar in the company of the barman and a couple of the water taxi guys. The world had definitely been put to rights by the time we returned.