Mine is a strange existence at the moment. My brain is telling me that I am in the Caribbean, that I’ve had a week of incredible sailing, that it’s not 2 degrees below freezing and raining sideways (except in the squalls!), and that the scenery is simply amazing. However, it just doesn’t seem real. Life here is so good that I cannot bring myself to admit that I’m not dreaming! It’s like if I start to take this all for granted, I might just wake up.

We woke early this morning to the most amazing view. When Javin the boat boy told us he had, “...a reeeal good moorin’ for you“, he wasn’t lying. We are moored under the larger of St. Lucia’s two famous Pitons, just yards from a sheer rock face with crystal clear waters beneath us. Time for a quick shower off the stern and we’re away, bound for Bequia.

After a confused morning the wind finally decided to give us a beam reach all the way to St. Vincent, where we participated in some gentle surfing, reaching 11 knots for a second or two! After sailing traditional wooden boats for some time, this was quite exciting! I even felt the need to switch off the autopilot and gather every scrap of boatspeed when a catamaran started to overtake us. After 30 minutes or so of race helming and sail trimming Nigel and I were most put out when she slipped off into the distance...until we noticed the water chugging from her engine’s exhaust...cheaters!

A couple of hours of motor sailing and we were into the channel between St. Vincent and Bequia, where we encountered the notorious “Bequia blast.” The sails were soon trimmed and the engine turned off for an exhilarating reach into Admiralty Bay. No sooner had we sighted the bay then Nigel said that he could see a small boat in the water ahead of us. We couldn’t believe it when a small figure in a RIB bounded over to us in the lumpy sea blowing a whistle! It was Kenmore Henville, Bequia’s local boat photographer. We had read about him in the cruising guide and now here we were waving wildly at him whilst he took pictures of us!

An old acquaintance of Nigel’s, “African Pride” showed us to a mooring buoy and finally we had arrived. Time for a wander ashore for a look around and a Pina Colada at Frangipani’s before the customary “landfall fry-up” and crashing out for the night.

Bequia has to be the most beautiful place I’ve seen so far and I look forward to getting to know it better. Maintenance tomorrow, time to get busy...

Cheers all,

Ryan.