|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Larry's LogThe strangest thing about the weather that day though was that, for a while, we had wind from the southwest. I asked Ken about it later when they came over. He said it could mean a hurricane was coming. He was kidding, of course, but it was strange. After Diane got back from shore, a guy passed by selling some lobsters. Diane called him over, hoping to trade something for the tasty crustaceans. I didn't think she had a chance but she managed to trade 2 cans of Brinkmann Farms cans, 1 chicken and 1 chunk beef, for 2 large lobster! We had those cans from when Diane was provisioning in the States before the trip! Needless to say, I thought it was a good deal. After a swim, Diane steamed the lobster, we ate early and got ready for Ken and Vesta and Nancy and Ed from Solent to come over for drinks. We had originally just invited Ken and Vesta, but later, Ken came by and said he forgot that they told Ed and Nancy on Solent that they would go there, so Ken had invited them to our boat (for us!). Diane said it wasn't a problem and called Nancy on the radio and said it was fine. So everyone met on our boat and we had a very enjoyable evening. The next day we just spent on the boat. We were still a little tired from the walk to Spring and we just spent a lazy day reading. We did though, go to a party on Great White Wonder that evening that, as usual, was great. We always met new people and that night we met the couple from White Tiger, a C&C catamaran (one of only 6 built). I asked about her since I was now intrigued about cats in general and this one was a very heavy cruising cat, but again, very comfortable with a tremendous amount of space. The next morning, we were still trying to decide about whether to stay for the regatta. The weather was very good was we would have a nice trip south if we left soon. But the regatta sounded pretty good and we decided to stay for a least the first day or 2 and then decide when to leave. We went to shore for the Caribbean Compass' Writers Brunch, which we were invited to since Diane had written a book review (that I reviewed and edited) on Nigel Calder's new book. We had gotten it when we were home last. We originally weren't going to go since it hadn't been published yet but there were 2 cancellations and Sally, the editor, had told Diane we could come. The food was pretty good as it was held in a very good restaurant near the paper's office (Bequia isn't too big anyway and Port Elizabeth, the main town) is only 2 main streets and about 6 blocks long). We enjoyed it since many of our friends were also there (they also wrote for the Compass). When we got back, we were too stuffed to do much of anything so the rest of the day was just reading and relaxing. I had bought another Patrick O'Brian book, but I was almost finished with it. I might buy another before we left Bequia. The bookstore here is the only one in the Caribbean where I've seen his books for sale. Friday morning was the first race of the regatta and we went out in the dinghy to watch the start and hopefully take some pictures. Fortunately it was pretty calm otherwise we would have gotten very wet since the start was out about ½ mile from shore. We came back to Destiny just before lunch. Later, we went into town for the party at "De Bistro" restaurant. Some friends who were racing were there and they had done fairly well. Saturday we went to Friendship Bay for the local boat races. The regatta program said the race started at 9am but when we got there at 8:45, the boats were still rigging. Evidently, they publish 9am say that so the race will start "somewhere" around 10. Well, I enjoyed taking pictures of the boats on shore also although Diane was a bit bored at first. But then they started to launch them at sail out to the starting line. I thought they actually started from the beach, like the Yoles in Martinique, but that's not the case. They are launched about 5-10 minutes before the start but there is a committee boat and mark that forms the actual starting line, just as with the yachts. We saw the guys from the day we first photographed the local boats in Hamilton and wished them luck. The owner of the boat, Alvin, was very nice (it was his mother that we had visited on our walk to Spring) and he gave us some beers (at 9:30 in the morning). While they rigged their boat, Tornado, I took some more shots and finally some as the races started. Then they started and I took some more pictures of that. With a digital camera, you don't worry too much about "wasting" film but unfortunately my camera doesn't have much of a zoom lens so I couldn't get too close to the action. After they left the beach and headed out on the racecourse, we just waited around and walked up to the resort there on Friendship Bay. We had been there before but never when it was so crowded. Still, the small lounge they had overlooking the bay was empty and afforded us a quiet place to relax and enjoy the view. We also saw the boats go past the bay as they continued on their course. I took some more shots as the finishers came in. Our friends on Tornado finished first in their class! We congratulated them and then went over to the spot where the sponsors had set up some tents with refreshments. Alvin was again very generous and gave us some coupons he had gotten for drinks and a lunch. I told him I had gotten some good shots and would give him a CD with the pictures of his boat and the entire regatta. We walked back up the hill to catch the bus (open air pickup truck with benches along the sides) and went back to Port Elizabeth and then to the boat. It had been a great experience. Sunday the local boat races were starting from Friendship Bay and ending in Lower Bay. There were no yacht races but there was a large beach party in Lower Bay. There were also several other activities, like a sand castle competition and a crazy craft race. Our friend Hutch had built a "boat" for the crazy craft race. He had entered last year but it sank before finishing! He had high hopes for this year. At 1 little before 11am, the sand castle contest was judged and a really clever one of an iguana won. I took pictures of all of them and then the crazy craft race started. Hutch and the other competitors launched their crafts and the race was on. Since they only had to go in one direction (and downwind) they all had square sails. Hutch initially had a problem with his sail as his was "reefed" but he took down the entire mast, and put it back up in the "full" position. After that, there was no stopping him. He didn't even need the rudder (good thing as it was just dragging behind). He pulled ahead of the others and won easily, with a friendly dinghy then towing him back to shore. A little after that, we went back to Destiny for lunch and then went back to Lower Bay to watch the local boats finish their race. We saw Tornado come in and yelled to them how they finished. They called back they had won again! These boats were really athletic to sail and I was sure they were all tired - it had been a long race. Diane went snorkeling near the beach at Lower Bay while I took some more pictures. After I finished, I brought the dinghy up on the beach and went to congratulate the Tornado crew. One of the crew, Junior, was just lying on the sand in the shade - he was tired, but Alvin and Kingsley were up and around, talking to the other competitors about the race and having a beer. Alvin's wife came by a little later and we talked to her for a while. The family had lived in Canada for a number of years but moved back about 7 years ago. We told Alvin that we would take some more shots of the race tomorrow and then give him the CD with the pictures at the awards ceremony. I hoped that I had gotten some good ones for him. Monday morning we went to Lower Bay around 9:30 so I could get some shots of the boats starting off the beach. Again, it was a very light breeze and bright sunshine. When we got there, the boats were just about ready with their mainsails up. From the water, the sight of all those white sails with brightly colored hulls was great. I let Diane drive while I took the pictures. At just around 10, the first class started and we just held on to a moored fishing boat that seemed to be the other end of the starting line. As before, the boats left the beach a minute or so before the start gun and then crossed the line. Several classes started but Diane was nervous about being so close so she let go of the moored boat and moved away a bit. We weren't blocking anything where we were so I told Diane to go back to the moored boat. We were there just before the fifth class started, which was the one Tornado was in. They were just starting (with about 8 boats) when Diane suddenly decided that we might get hit (which wasn't going to happen unless the raceboat missed the line, and on a reach that would have been hard to do) gunned the engine in reverse and then jerked it into forward. I went flying to the bottom of the dinghy and scraped my elbow badly. Luckily I managed to hold on to the camera and it wasn't damaged but of course I missed any opportunity to get a picture of Tornado's start. Well, I did get some pictures of them leaving the line and going out onto the course after Diane regained some composure. After that, we moved around to the other side of the line, near the committee boat, and left the engine idling while I got some shots of the remaining classes. We then went back to the boat where I cleaned up my elbow and made the CD for Alvin and one for the regatta organizers. We had asked the Bequia Sailing Club if they would like some of the shots I took and they said OK so I made one up for them as well. We hoped to get a Mount Gay Red Cap but they had said that they were in short supply and they might not have enough. |