Pirates!

Lady Corinne
iain and gaynor macalister
Fri 19 Mar 2010 11:36
Hello everyone, we've had a lovely few days with lots of sailing. After Tobago Cays we went to Bequia for one night and then set off the following morning for Wallilabou (Wah-lee-la-bou) on St Vincent. It was a great sail and the first chance to see St Vincent as when we passed it on the way down it was nighttime.  It appeared to be much greener than the other islands we've visited. This is a good thing as there is a real water shortage everywhere.  As we neared Wallilabou we were approached by boat boys who wanted to take our stern line ashore and tie it to a coconut palm, once we were in the bay. The competition is fierce and of the two who offered their services we went with the first, after pointing out to both of them that, until we had taken a look inside the bay we weren't promising to use either of them.  It got quite heated after we had appointed one and the other guy came alongside and was being really nasty and making lots of ugly threats.  All this as I was trying to get to grips with maneuvering in a fairly confined space, amongst other boats in a manner that I'm not used to and LadyC doesn't have a clue about.  It involved coming into the bay and spinning the boat around so she was stern to the beach, then reversing ( not something the old slapper does well) into a space between two other boats, dropping the anchor at the right time and place while the boat boy takes a very long line ashore, wraps it around a tree trunk and brings the other end back to the boat so it can be tensioned to hold the boat stern-to the beach. I'm afraid he got a verbal pasting from me which was a shame as everywhere we have been the people have been very friendly but I think it was just that these guys are desperate for any money they can earn from the boats around and they do compete with each other vigorously.
We were now on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean for sure, we passed the rock where Captain Jack Sparrow finds the bodies hanging from the arch of rock and the village they created around the Quay, where his boat sinks and he steps ashore from the mast, remains largely as it was when they filmed "Dead man's chest"  Apparently Disney just rented the whole bay and I would imagine the effect on the economy was glorious.  All the locals speak very fondly of the time the crew and cast were around and it would seem that they all enjoyed a fabulous time with Johnny Depp being  taken very much to their hearts.  We spent two days there and apart from walking up to a refreshing waterfall and then going by dingy to a deserted beach for a picnic,nothing much happened,it was blissful  We got up at 0600 this morning and tiptoed away form the picturesque bay and out into open water once again.  By 1300 we were off the Pitons at the South end of St Lucia, having enjoyed a bracing sail with  20 knots of wind 80 degrees of the starboard bow for about 6 hours, and are now heading back into Rodney bay.  We left there after hauling out to repair the propeller and I had told Captain Gill, the local guy we met on the beach with the windsurfer, that I would call him on our way back up to see if he wants to come for a sail with us. After that we're heading for Martinique where we hope to be able to stock up on reasonably priced wine,beer and food and meet up with the crew of Brigante and more adventures to the North.
 
Hasta Pronto
 
LadyC and her swashbuckling crew