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Larry's LogEarly Thursday, Ken and Vesta left for Union Island, where they would stay for just a day before continuing on to Grenada. From there, they would wait for a good weather window before continuing on to Trinidad. Diane had gone in early to do the laundry and so missed them actually departing, but I waved and wished them a good trip. I'm sure we will see them again in Trinidad. Diane got back with the laundry and we started putting it up around the boat's lifelines and the line I rigged specifically for laundry. She doesn't do the dry cycle because we're tired of having everything shrink when its all put on hot in the dryer. So the boat becomes a giant clothesline. It would have been OK except it kept raining on and off, so most of the clothes were not dry by the end of the day. We brought them inside that evening and would have to put them out again tomorrow. I don't feel comfortable leaving them out because of sudden gusts of wind and further rain. About an hour after lunch, I went in and updated the web site that I had been working on while Diane was out. I got there and realized I had forgotten some files so I would have to go back. We thought we might leave Friday but there were some other things we wanted to do ashore in Bequia as well, so we would probably leave Saturday, depending on the weather. That evening, we had a very nice chicken dinner and worked a bit on the PC. Our walk to the other side of the island the next morning was very nice, if a bit hot. I wanted to see some more of Bequia and walking to Friendship Bay seemed a good way of doing that. We caught a bus to the top of the hill going there and then walked down to the bay. Friendship Bay on Bequia (there's also one on Canouan, another small island south of here) is smaller that Admiralty Bay, where we were anchored and mostly undeveloped, except for a small hotel and bar. Since this was the off-season, the hotel was almost empty except for a group of 4 people who were going to charter a boat from Bequia. We met them briefly and had a nice chat before we continued on our way. The hotel itself was nice, if not quite the Hyatt. The rooms were small, had no air conditioning but all had a great view of the bay. The bay itself was very pretty, and although it was on the windward side, was protected by two points of land that formed it. The beach was deserted and from the hotel balcony, we could see that there was a reef all around the beach, as well as a large reef from shore to a small cay (pronounced "key") just off the western point. After walking around the bay a bit we started back. About half way back we met some of our friends who were walking to the bay. One couple, on Footloose, had been there on their last visit, but Lady M hadn't been there, so they were going to take in the sights. As we continued on our way, I got some nice pictures of the island and Admiralty Bay as we got closer. Once in town, we stopped at the office of the Caribbean Compass, which is a monthly newsmagazine for people sailing or cruising in the Caribbean. We went in to say how much we enjoyed the magazine. They seemed to really appreciate the feedback. We then did a bit of shopping, checked the internet and went back to the boat. By that time it was around 3:30, so we decided not to go to the beach. But at around 4, Mike from Kristali came by and invited us to drinks aboard their boat, a Southern Cross 39, which they had built from a bare hull and deck. I had wanted to see the boat anyway and of course we almost never turn down a party invitation, so we said sure. (Please understand that we had been to more parties in the last 6 months of cruising than we had been to in probably the last ten years of life ashore!) Diane hastily made an appetizer to share, got out a bottle of wine and we went over. Footloose was there as was a new boat, Driftwood. We enjoyed the evening and we saw Kristali. We were both impressed. The interior was teak, ash and oak and was finished beautifully. I told Steve and Connie that any boatyard would be proud to have finished off a boat in that fashion. It was definitely not an amateur job! I also got some ideas for improvements on Destiny, like a VHF with a remote mike and speaker in the cockpit. The problem with most standard radios is that you have to be below to hear them and must be below to transmit. Some people get around this by using a small handheld radio but the problem with these is that the range is less, due to low power, a small antenna close to the water, and the batteries tend to go down quickly. We had decided to stay in Bequia a few extra days rather than leave on Friday or Saturday since the wind was predicted to pick up. And it did; to about 20 to 25 knots with higher gusts. Although the next passage was only about 25 miles, there was no point in being uncomfortable. We would listen to the weather and figure out the next time to transit down to the Tobago Cays. That night, the wind really gusted and Diane had a hard time sleeping. I also woke up a couple of times. I would estimate that the gusts were up top about 35 or 40 knots. It gets like that because the wind goes up and over the island's hills and then accelerates down the slope. Its called the Bequia Blast. Saturday morning I went into town to try to find some miscellaneous boat parts, I had some success and as I was heading back through town, I heard Mike from Footloose called out. He and Jim from Lady M were having a beer so I joined them for a while. I went back to Destiny after my second; after Diane and I had lunch we did some boat chores before going to the beach. Diane made a shrimp dish with feta cheese that is one of my favorites for dinner. Its from a cookbook that put out by the Annapolis Rotary Club called Of Tide and Thyme. I think its available on Amazon.com If you get it, try the marble brownies too. |