Trip Update - 5th January 2009 Bequia, Grenadines

Nutmeg of Shoreham
Ollie Holden
Tue 6 Jan 2009 03:39


Position: 13:00:55N 61:14:24W

 

I took the dinghy up to the rotting pier just along the beach in Soufriere.  After leaving the dinghy in the care of a local “guard”, I went to Customs and Immigration in order to check out. You have to check in and out of most islands and we were heading south from St Lucia to St Vincent and Grenadines (SVG).  The friendliest official I’ve ever met stamped our passports and wished us a safe journey.

 

We left Soufriere at 0620 and motored past the Pitons in no wind.  Sailing here is characterized by the strong Trade winds that blow from ENE, and the consequent wind shadows on the western sides of the islands. 

 

Millie on lookout duty

 

After a couple of hours, we came out of the wind shadow and had a cracking reach across the strait between St Lucia and St Vincent.  The lovely thing about sailing here is that even if it is pretty boisterous in the open sea, you’re never far away from some calm sea and consequently after a great couple of hours the wind died and the sea flattened off as we came under the lee of St Vincent. 

 

Pirates aboard!!

 

St Vincent has a bit of a chequered reputation as there have been a few violent robberies of yachts in recent years, so whilst I think it is probably pretty safe now, we decided to sail straight past and head down to Bequia. 

 

An hour or two’s motoring through the wind shadow of St Vincent and we were out into the channel between St Vincent and Bequia.  Distances are small here, so you can pretty-much see where you’re heading before you’ve left.  We had a really cracking three-sail reach across the channel with 20kts of wind and spray everywhere.  Unfortunately Sarah felt a bit groggy so didn’t enjoy it as much as me, but fortunately it was only an hour and a half until we reached the shelter of Bequia and headed into Admiralty Bay.

 

Bequia is a yachties’ stronghold and the anchorage was chockablock with yachts.  It was especially busy because it was the day before New Years Eve.  We spotted various boats that we’d met before on both sides of the pond.  We anchored in 12m just off the Whalebone Bar, a place where the bar is made from a whale’s jawbone.

 

Nutmeg, Admiralty Bay, Bequia

 

Bequia is one of those places where the pace of life is pretty slow, the locals are friendly and accommodating of yachties, and there are bars and restaurants aplenty.  The main town is Port Elizabeth and you could walk from one end to the other in five minutes.  The main street literally runs along the edge of the beach, and there are palm trees growing everywhere.  You just dinghy into one of the many dinghy jetties, or pull your dinghy up the sand beach in front of the town. 

 

View from the main road, Port Elizabeth, Bequia

 

There are people selling fruit and veg from small stalls in their gardens, and I have never seen such a comprehensive set of fruit & veg in my life – everything you could think of, tropical and temperate.

 

Princess Margaret Beach, Bequia

 

New Years Eve was spent on Saeftinghe where we introduced our Dutch friends to Pimms and lemonade, whilst they fed us on Dutch cake with a name of something sounding like “Ollieboum” – very nice.  At midnight there was a superb fireworks display which we watched from the deck whilst the burning embers rained down on us – we were anchored just downwind!  Eric decided to add to the show by firing off his out of date flares – not sure the rest of the anchorage appreciated this, especially those downwind of us…

 

It has proved difficult to build up the momentum to leave this place.  We meant to leave today but somehow we found a reason to stay.  We are anchored with 4 or 5 other boats that we are friends with, including “Starblazer”, the English family whom we met briefly in NW Spain, and “Brimble” a Twister 28 with 2 kids aboard. 

 

We spent the afternoon today swimming between the boats.  The kids are gaining so much confidence in the water. The water is so clear you can check your anchor with a snorkel and mask – never thought I would be able to do that.

 

Swimming off the boat

 

We are aiming to leave tomorrow and head south toward Tobago Cays.  If Bequia is nice, this place is supposed to be amazing.  I need some new adjectives.

 

Sarah

 

An evening swim

 

Sunset, Bequia