Up before the sun. Tidied up the ropes, and we were off into the Bequia channel by 0650 (after bathing Mum in vinegar because she ran in to some jellyfish on her morning swim). The channel was rougher than the leg down, but nowhere near as rough as we’ve seen it before, so it was a nice easy motor-sail back up to Barefoot, passing in front of a small container ship.
We found the tall ship again; she appeared to be anchored in Kingstown’s bay.
We reached the outer holding area for the Barefoot dock by 08:40, and the staff there motored out to us to bring ‘Lady Di’ up to the dock; quite neatly, but they’ve been doing it for years. Looked over ‘Mugari’, as she was tied up to the dock for maintenance work - nice interior, and a better layout than ‘Lady Di’, so perhaps we’ll take her next time.
Reached the airport with plenty of time to spare, had a roti upstairs and filled in all of the paperwork that is associated with departing one country, and entering another one, by air. Around noon, we headed down to the air-conditioned departure lounge (a fairly new change, somewhere in the past 5 years or so), ready to board our 12:40 flight.
12:40 rolled around, and the LIAT rep shows up at the gate. Everyone gets up (and it’s a full lounge, far more people than could fit on a Dash-8…), and the rep announces names for flight LI 761. Wait, we’re on flight LI 332, what’s this business with 761? Turns out 761 was an earlier flight that was delayed by mechanical failure, so 332 is now 761.
When will 332 be ready then? LIAT rep doesn’t know. Uproar. Perhaps 13:30. Uproar.
Around 13:00, ‘Would everyone for flight 332 please go back to the check-in desk’.
LI 332 is cancelled. Uproar. LIAT staff hide in the office.
13:10 rolls around, still no announcement by the LIAT staff as to precisely what is happening. A few of the passengers, including a diabetic (and man, she was loud) start haranguing the staff. Quite entertaining.
13:40 - LIAT staff still hiding, passengers still in an uproar.
13:50 - New tickets are issued; we’re now on the 15:10 to St. Lucia, which will then change in to another flight number to go to Barbados. We might see Bim around 16:15.
You have to love LIAT’s handling of this. All they had to do was state early on that flight 332 was being bumped for flight 761 passengers, that alternate arrangements were being made, and they were waiting for a phone call from head office. It might have kept some people a bit happier. Instead, they announced at 12:00 for all LI 332 passengers to go to the departure lounge, when they knew full well that flight 332 was being converted!
14:20 - Plane delayed. Expected 14:55. Now leaving Barbados.
14:35 - Duty Free shut up shop and gone home.
14:55 - Plane has arrived, pilot must be Stirling Moss.
15:15 - Still on the ground. Weather has turned, plane on approach is on instruments only.
15:20 - In the air!
Saw a strange patch of water off of St. Lucia as we approached the southen end; couldn’t have been more than a square mile or so of white-capped waves, while all around it was calm-looking water. No channel there, nor any reef that we knew of. Peculiar.
Ten minutes in St. Lucia as the plane renumbered from LI756 to LI755 and took on more passengers. Down in to Barbados, and through Immigration by 16:40.
Dinner at Gran and Grandad’s place - fresh dolphin steaks and rolled flying fish, christophene in cheese sauce and veg, followed by mince pies smothered in custard.
Goodnight.
