In Bequia

Having arrived in Bequia on Thursday of last week, this stop is one of our longest stays in any port.... five days now. One look above at Admiralty Bay, where we spent the first night on a mooring and since then on anchor, might explain the attraction. Rona took us on a tour of this island with her favorite taxi driver, Lency. Here he is with his cab; passengers sit in the back.

This included a stop at a large bay on the south side of the island in which boats can anchor. When we saw them rocking from 20 degrees on one side to 20 on the other we concluded that this anchorage was too "rolly" for us.

We also stopped at a place where they are trying to save sea turtles.

Their mom's lay the eggs in sand nests on the beach and if and when the eggs hatch, the babies crawl into the sea. There are many animal predators who like the taste of turtle eggs, and others in the water who like the taste of baby turtles. So only one in a thousand eggs grow into adult turtles. At this rescue place they put rubber tires around the nests to stave off the birds and go back when the hatching is taking place and bring the babies to their tanks where they grow for 4 -5 years before being released into the sea. They claim that about 35 percent of the turtles they save are placed back into the sea.

We visited Fort Hamilton, a small fort atop a hill guarding the Bay.

We did a bit of shopping for clothing and food before bidding Rona good by when she took the ferry back to St. Vincent. Rona took the ferry back to Bequia (45 minutes each way) but returned to spend time with us on two other days and we had lunch together at Jack's, a lovely seaside restaurant in Princess Margaret Bay not far from where we are anchored.
Below is Princess Margaret Beach...sometimes called, if you're not confused enough already, Tony Gibbons Beach. The view is from Jack's Restaurant.


Here is ILENE with a neighbor! Zoom camera makes them appear closer than they really are.

Our anchor is in 25 feet of water. Its amazing that you can see the bottom. We are anchored off the point of Princess Margaret Bay, one of the several bays within Admiralty Bay.

We have dined aboard the last few nights, and swam from the boat. Roger took a scraper and cleared barnacles from the propeller and inspected to insure that the sacrificial zincs are still in place, to be eaten by the sea water so that it does not eat the propeller.

We checked out the bookstore and two shops that make and sell the most exquisite model boats. Lene got a haircut. We came ashore and spent a few hours on the Internet and Skype and with this blog and the last posting.

We made friends with a British couple, Bob and Sue, a few ports ago and again here. They are sailing a Scandinavian boat, a Naiad. Having arrived here from England, they plan on crossing the Pacific and spending about 2 more years sailing before returning home to their 500 year old home outside of London. We invited them for breakfast aboard of mango pancakes and turkey bacon. They brought us the most delicious jar of blueberry and black currant jam.

We also met up with Tom (T.L.) and Harriet Linsky, aboard their Brazilian built catamaran, Hands Across The Sea.


We had heard of them and their 501(c)(3) foundation by the same name from the Caribbean 1500 and had contacted them then but had forgotten about it until we saw their boat. Their mission is improving literacy in the islands of the Eastern Caribbean by giving books to schools. We can volunteer in Grenada with tasks such as reading aloud to young children or painting rooms to be converted to libraries within the school. Even more importantly, we can be used back home to go to book sales conducted by Friends of the Library organizations to buy used children's books with our donated money or money donated to them by others. They pick up and box the books and have persuaded a shipping company to ship them down here for free or almost free. They have shipped many thousands of books to many schools on many of the islands here in the first two or three years of operations. We hope to make ourselves useful in some way. It was fun to hear about T.L.'s experience as an Olympic sailor in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. (I wish Roger felt more warmly toward catamarans. They seem to be SO much more comfortable and spacious than a monohull. But, what can I do?)


We plan on leaving Bequia tomorrow and sail to Mustique. We'll probably be there for about 3 nights and then move on to other islands in the Grenadines.