Saturday, January 18, 2014

A Crappy Trip

We've just put the Keys on a dinghy to head to shore near Young Island on St. Vincent to catch their plane back to Grenada.  We've enjoyed their company and loved showing them the places we've discovered down here in the Windward Islands.

It has been very windy but the reef around the Tobago Cays keeps the waves down.  We enjoyed a morning swim there with the turtles and then retired to the boat for lunch, beers and naps.  We were pleased to get an invite for sundowners on Calmos - Gordon and Tina - who had enjoyed Glen's Beergaritas the night before at Mayreau.  Gordon bought Calmos in Uraguay and has sailed it around to the Caribbean - all the while he and Tina hold down jobs at home in Europe.  Tina's hummas was excellent.
Murphy the Dinghy waiting patiently on the beach

At Saltwhistle Bay

Tobago Cays turtle

Tobago Cays spit with Blue Pearl out there somewhere

The sail to Bequia was quite spectacular.  We had too much wind so we reefed the main.  We were comfortable enough and made good time - even though we couldn't quite make our heading so had to motor an extra 1.2 miles to our destination.

You can spend a long time in Bequia enjoying the salty history of the island.  We only spent 2 nights but got a lot done in a short time.  Enjoyed beers at the Whaleboner - where you can sit in a chair made from the vertibrae of a whale.  Bequia is allowed to take 4 whales a year using traditional methods but thank goodness they average less than one per year.  Met the lovely family who own and run the Whaleboner - their history on the island connects back to the plantations and all that goes along with that.

Bought some questionable produce from the Rastas.  The papaya was tasteless and the mangoes were over-ripe.

The next day we hired Jose - a Bequian lifer - to take us on an island tour.  We saw the remains of Fort Harrison, an old sugar plantation, the turtle sanctuary and then onto the spectacular views from Mount Pleasant (or UnPleasant - can't remember.) Jose was very informative.

Taking the quick trip down

Turtle sanctuary

Old friends... really old.  Nice hats, though.

Admiralty Bay - see the WindJammer?

Fish and Chips at Jacks Beach Bar - Thanks Deb and George!

Crib - the smile on Glen's face is forced.  Bad cards.

Today, before kicking the Keys off the boat so they can continue on their winter adventure, we realized that we had not practiced any emergency drills.  So, before we left Bequia to come to St. Vincent we practiced the "head doesn't work any more" drill.  It is the least pleasant of the safety drills on our boat.

Once we got to Young Island, George and Glen managed to rip impossible hoses off impossible fittings... found the most delightful blockages... and with a minimum of cursing managed to put the whole thing right.  Turns out George is quite skilled in the Crappy Arts... something we didn't know.
No plumbers butts!

On to more adventures!!

So the Keys' Windward Island holiday is complete; although ending on a crappy note, they have seen some pretty spectacular places.  We are looking forward to following their further adventures on their blog.

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