New Year, New dinghy and family

Moorglade's Voyage
Ted Wilson
Fri 7 Jan 2011 21:18
Our position is 14:05.44N 60:57.82W
Some time has passed since we were celebrating
Christmas in Bequia, but we don't seem to have had time to draw breath, let
alone write a blog. Ted and I had a very informative taxi tour of Bequia on Tues
morning (28 Dec) including a visit to a turtle sanctuary. Challenger, our
driver, had lived there all his life and seemed to know everything about what
went on. We aslo managed to get to the post office to post cards and a package
for Jack, Ollie and Freddie as well as clearing out with customs and immigration
(also in the post office building). It had been quite windy the night before and
there were stories of boats dragging their anchors but ours held firm in spite
of being in an area with notoriously bad holding (but sheltered from the swell).
Back on board, courtesy of our helpful water
taxi Carty (he sorted out our laundry and brought bread as well) we set sail at
9pm to go to St Lucia, hoping to catch some favourable winds to the North
of Bequia and avoid the strong NElys and be able to sail up the East coast
of St Vincent and free off to the West of St Lucia. However we were doomed to
disappointment and Ted quickly decided that motor sailing as high as we could to
the West of the islands was the way forward. It felt like a long and somewhat
dreary night as we plugged along, with NE 4 winds doing the best we could,
finally arriving at Rodney Bay around midday on Wednesday. We tied to the
Liferaft and Inflatable jetty, as invited by Francis, with the intention of
trying to sort out the dinghy, but customs came by and shouted at us
that we should be going to clear in first, so we went to a temporary berth in
the marina to sort that out, only to discover they had closed for lunch.
When we were finally legal - a very simple process thanks to the prior
electronic advice of entry completed through the e-sea clearance scheme - we
walked back to Liferaft and Inflatables and discussed the options with Francis.
He had a dinghy in a bonded warehouse at the airport in the South so we arranged
to take a trip down the next day to see if it was suitable. Back at the boat we
decided it would be nicer for Guy, Kelly and Elsie to join us in the marina, and
so moved to a permanent berth, with 240V electricity.
The next day he picked us up at the marina and we
headed South down some roads still showing the effects of hurricane Tomas in
October. In one place the bridge was destroyed and the road had been rerouted
through the (now dry) river bed. In others the road was single file as parts of
the carriageway had collapsed. And we didn't go through the worst affected
parts! Apparently it rained torrentially for 24 hours during the hurricane,
which had only been forecast as a tropical storm, and several rivers re-routed
themselves through communities, destroying homes, land and crops. Many people
were killed and the relief efforts continue. The North of the island appeared
unaffected, although in the immediate aftermath the only way to get from North
to South of the island was by boat. However we made it through without a problem
and viewed his Avon 260, which we felt was a bit small. Fortunately he had a
280, which had just arrived at the dock, so his agent made every effort to
get it cleared through customs so we could take it back with us, while we went
for a lovely lunch in Vieux Fort. A computer crash at customs scuppered our
plan, so we came back empty handed and Francis sent someone down again the next
morning to collect it so we were finally able to take delivery just
before the customs office in the marina closed for lunch again!
The advantage of being in the marina was that there
are many long term residents that know what's going on, so we were able to book
for New Year's Eve at the yacht club - an interesting experience as most of the
people there were transient visitors like ourselves. Some, but by no means all,
had come with the ARC, and everyone had an experience to share. The food was
barbecued. It wasn't as posh as the restaurant next door, but we shared their
music, the fireworks along the beach were for everyone, and it was a fraction of
the price! The yacht club was at the beach so we travelled into town by bus and
walked the last bit through streets that had been pedestrianised for the night.
I fell in a hole before we had left the marina (and before I had imbibed any
alcohol) and had to retire to the showers to wash off the mud, but a certain
amount of dampness went unnoticed as it rained heavily during the walking and we
had to take shelter in front of a
bank.
We had intended to return to the yacht club for a
bring your own food, lunchtime barbecue on New Years Day, but there were too
many jobs to ready the boat for the family's arrival, so the day was spent
fixing Elsie's cot, cleaning, and moving all our stuff into the focsle in
anticipation of the next day. Ted had arranged a hire car, so first thing on
Sunday we headed for the supermarket to stock up with food that wasn't tinned
tomatoes and tuna and then it was off to the airport, accompanied by Lance, who
was flying home and had been put in touch through the Rodney Bay VHF
net.
Their arrival has already been the subject of a
blog, so suffice to say that after Elsie's first night there were suggestions we
might like to move to a space among unoccupied boats, but she soon settled down
and readjusted to the new time and has been having a whale of a time in the
dinghy (it sends her to sleep), on the beach (fearless in the face of big waves)
and in the pool at the marina. We have now moved out of the marina and are
anchored off Pigeon Island. This morning Ted and I had a walk around the island
(no longer a real island as it has been joined to the mainland by an artificial
causeway) while Guy, Kelly and Elsie played on the beach before returning
to the boat for lunch, and sleeps for most of the crew.
![]() ![]() Ted and Challenger at the fort on Bequia
overlooking the bay
Typical Bequian housing clinging to a
hillside
![]() ![]() Baby turtles at the sanctuary
Panoramic view of
Admiralty Bay anchorage. Moorglade on far side
![]() ![]() Entrance to Rodney Bay Lagoon
Vieux Fort anchorage
![]() ![]() Ted and Francis at the lunch
restaurant
Maiden voyage of new dinghy
![]() ![]() ![]() Guy, Elsie and Kelly in the beach
tent
Elsie fearless in the big
waves
![]() ![]() Elsie tries the sun bed for size
In
the dinghy
![]() ![]() Elsie steering to Pigeon Island
Nativity scene St Lucia style
![]() ![]() Moorglade at the Pigeon Island
anchorage
View from Rodney Bay Fort on Pigeon Island. Elsie's blue
beach tent on right of the nearest beach.
|