15 November 2018 Saline Bay, Mayreau
It was a windy, but sunny day, so we went for a walk around the island. This is the fourth or fifth time that we’ve done this route, but I still managed to lose my way a little. It’s nice to walk along the beach on the windward side, but somehow, I was suckered by a path and we ended up squeezing through thick bush.
I found my way back to the beach and we worked our way across to Saltwhistle Bay. As usual, it was cram packed with charter boats. It’s a pretty bay, but I couldn’t stand to have so many people so close to me. I have photo of our first boat, Glencora, anchored in isolation in the bay in 1994. There are just too many boats in the West Indies nowadays. (Bah Humbug!)
From Saltwhistle Bay, we struggled up the steep road and visited the charming Catholic church at the top of the island, from where there is a great view of the Tobago Cays. There’s also an interesting water catchment facility consisting of two concrete slopes leading down to two huge tanks. Being at the top of the island, there would have been plenty of water pressure in the houses down the island. They’re not used any more - I guess that the island has a huge desalination plant now.
On our way back to the boat, we stopped at the Combination Café and had a Lobster sandwich - they cost £10 each, but they had plenty of lobster in them. We chilled out for the rest of the day, letting our huge lunch settle.
16 November 2018 Saline Bay, Mayreau
It looks like we’re finished with Tropical Waves for a while. Today was lovely and the forecast looks like more of the same for the next week. We pottered about in the morning - Glenys continued with her Sisyphean task of painting the cupboard doors. The grain on the plywood is deep and the paint isn’t quite covering it, so she’s having to rub down in between coats -it will probably need 4 or 5 coats of paint.
I tightened our lower shrouds. I had the rig professionally set to the correct tension in Trinidad, but when we’re beating to windward, the downwind lower shrouds are a bit too loose for my liking. I went around all four shrouds and tightened them by half a turn - we’ll see how that goes. I went for a snorkel in the afternoon on the rocks close to where we’re anchored, but I didn’t see anything special.
17 November 2018 Saline Bay to Bequia
The weather looked fabulous, so after breakfast, we pulled up the anchor and sailed to Bequia. The wind was 15-20 knots from the ENE, so we were beating into 1 metre waves, making it a bit tough. After a few sail changes, we settled down to 2 reefs in the main and just the staysail and even then we were heeled over past 20 degrees.
It’s only 25 miles to Bequia, so we were dropping our anchor by 14:00. As usual, we anchored off Princess Margaret Beach at 13°00.17N 061°14.67W in 6 metres, good holding sand. The wind was swirling around as we anchored, with the anchored boats moving about, so it took us two goes to get the anchor in the correct place in the crowded anchorage. At one point, we looked like complete newbies with Alba facing 180° to the other boats, but we settled down within ten minutes.
We hadn’t been to a shop for a few days, so we hopped in the dinghy and went into town. I like Bequia, it’s a laid back, colourful place. Glenys stopped at one little vegetable stall, where there were clear plastic bags filled with water hanging from the ceiling over the fruit. It’s a way of keeping Houseflies away, something to do with the refraction of light confusing the fly’s vision, so they buzz off. The lady on the stall was convinced that it works.
18 November 2018 St Margaret’s Beach, Bequia
Being a Sunday, we had a fairly quiet day. We went over to Devil’s Table to go snorkelling. There was a dive boat circling around and the driver pointed out a small buoy/bottle marking a wreck about 80 metres directly north of the cardinal pole on the reef. There’s a sturdy mooring attached to the top of the wreck which is about 5 metres under water. The bottom of the wreck looks to be about 20 metres.
We spent ten minutes diving onto the wreck, which was interesting, but it’s all a little too deep, so we went back to the reef and picked up a mooring next to the cardinal marker. The reef varies in depth from 3 metres to about 15 metres and looks a little boring when swimming on the surface. However, it’s very colourful and full of sea life when you dive down.
I’ve been hunting for Scorpionfish and Frogfish for the last week, so I was delighted to find a couple of Spotted Scorpionfish. I spent a happy 15 minutes diving down and taking photographs - the camouflage is incredible and they are very patient, allowing very close approach.
After lunch, we did a few chores, running the water maker and to her great relief, Glenys finished off painting the cupboard doors.
19 November 2018 St Margaret’s Beach, Bequia
Today's plan was to catch a ferry across to St Vincent, but while we had breakfast, it was raining heavily and the forecast was for unsettled weather all day, so we abandoned the trip. Instead, we pottered about doing a few jobs - I screwed the fittings onto the cupboard doors, while Glenys painted a couple of other doors in the front heads.
The weather never cleared with little squalls coming through giving gusty conditions, so we lurked about, sheltering in the afternoon. Glenys send a big bag of laundry off with Daffodil, who come around selling fuel and water and also wash & dry clothes. They’ve been providing a fabulous service to cruising yachts for decades - we used them when we were here in 1994!
20 November 2018 St Margaret’s Beach, Bequia
We were up fairly early and dinghied into town to catch the 08:30 ferry, but unfortunately it left at 08:00 and the next one was at 09:30. The security guard said that the ferry website has been wrong for over a year. Faced with a wait of at least an hour, we went for a walk up towards the windward side of the island, which was pleasant, but sweaty.
The ferry left bang on time. I was like a little kid, all excited to be on a big ship. As we rounded the corner of Bequia and headed out towards Kingstown, we hit the big swell coming from the east and the motion of the ferry became alarming, rolling from side to side at 20 degrees. Many of the locals immediately lay down on the benches, but thankfully, we now have iron constitutions and didn’t suffer during the 1 hour passage.
Kingstown is a quaint colonial town, a bit run down, but with some interesting buildings. We wandered around the three main streets, poking our heads in to the various shops and the markets, buying a few things here and there. We ended up walking over to the churches. There’s a pleasant Anglican Church, which is being restored and, just across the street, there’s an amazing Catholic church, which is an eclectic mixture of architectural styles. I believe that it was completed in the 1930’s.
We grabbed a couple of rotis from a street stall and caught the 13:00 ferry back to Bequia - 2½ hours is enough for wandering around Kingstown.