Apparently, Soufriere customs does not use SailClear, so you have to fill out forms anyway. 18 JAN 2018

16 December 2016
Anse Canaries (north of Anse Chastanet & Soufriere)
Reported by CSSN

A yacht anchored just north of the Canaries fishing village discovered their in-the-water, but cable locked dinghy/outboard had been stolen overnight. The thieves apparently used a crowbar to pry the cable/lock eye attachment from the dinghy transom. The theft was reported to the police and to Soufriere Marine Management Area (SMMA) officials.

Posted on Caribbean Navigator Facebook Page:
Pitons in Southern St Lucia.
At this time there are only five mooring balls, very close to shore, but still in 65 ft of water. One of the five is a bit more to seaward.

Arriving just an hour after sunset, we were reasonably confident that we could see the large white mooring balls with our new killer LED flashlight. There was no moon, and the halogen glare from the floodlights in the shoreside hotel facility made the approach difficult. Three of the four yachts already there had anchor lights but the shoreside glare, lack of moonlight and haze rendered our spotlight useless.

We’ve been there many times and the depths carry right up to shore.
Out if the mist appeared a local ” boat boy” in an inflatable dinghy. He has seen our nav lights from Soufriere and had zoomed around the point to meet us.

“One ball left,” he said and led us to it. Usually, the gentlemen in hard pirogues who hand you moorings in this area will leave paint on your topsides. This was an exception, and he was kind, respectful and appreciative of a cold beer and his normal fee, + a tip because we would never have found that ball in the dark without him.

While we don’t like to overpay the so-called ” boat boys” of St Lucia, $20 EC seems to be the going rate for mooring ball service. Chris Doyle’s guide says that he pays 10 EC ( take it or leave it). Unlike some islands such as Grenada ( minimum wage $6.50 EC), St Lucia has no minimum wage regulations for workers. Giving more than $10 or $15EC for a simple 10-minute task at a mooring is probably not to anyone’s benefit.

You’ll still have to pay the park boat for the ball in the Soufriere and Pitons Marine Protection Area when he comes around to collect at sunset.

At night there may be working barge anchored in the area as the hotel has ongoing construction. The barge has only two patio lights as anchor lights.

Watch out for a guy who calls himself “Dr. Feelgood,” driving a red skiff named “Jah Provide.” He intercepted us about 2 km south of Soufriere and talked us into retaining his mooring services.

He got us tied to a ball just off the rocks on the south side of the village (opposite side of the bay from the Bat Cave) and hooked us up with a taxi to some places we wanted to visit. Problem was, he quoted the cost to us in $EC, then come payment time insisted that he had quoted in $US. This is apparently a common scam in the area.