Bequia at its best.
Oriole
Sun 18 Mar 2007 23:35
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Admiralty Bay, Bequia. 13:00.19N
61:14.60W
Next weekend see the arrival of our last minute and
last NPCGs (non paying charter guests), at least we think so. Communication was
never one of Denis' best suits and no doubt we will be searching for their
flight arrival, we think Sunday, in much the same way that John chased his
Tuesday operating list late on Monday afternoons, for 30 years - maybe Dean
will keep him in order! So like a good retired anaesthetist Oriole awaits
the arrival of the just retired surgeon! We just hope they come to the
right island.
Sitting quietly at anchor in Bequia for a couple of
weeks is no hardship and we have been occupying our time profitably. There
are quite a few yachts around which we know so the social scene is busy.
The maintenance jobs are pretty well up to date but no doubt something will rear
its ugly head.
We took a guided land tour of St Vincent on
Wednesday which was hilariously Caribbean, although our sense of humour was
sorely tried. Unknown to our "highly experienced and well recommended
guide" it was Hero's Day which is a national holiday of greater importance than
Christmas. The ferry schedule did not allow our arranged rendez-vous, but
a last minute phone call (from us) re-arranged the meeting time.
 Fortunately the famous Kingstown
Botanical Gardens were open.
All went well initially, but our charming local
guide knew nothing. The day was saved by a free-lance French guide who had
been engaged to look after our non English-speaking companions. What she
did not know about St Vincent was not worth knowing, but even she was surprised
by the disorganisation of our Tour Company when we arrive at the main object of
the tour - the Montreal Tropical Gardens - to find them resolutely closed, as it
always is on Bank Holidays and Sundays!! We had been instructed not to
bring any food or drink for the day as the tour included stops at local
hostelries for delicious local snacks. But, being Hero's
Day absolutely everything was closed. We survived on some cheese
biscuits and a hunk of Cheddar cheese.
 "This is a Registered Fair Trade
Farm"
We showed no irritation at our guide's remark,
"Shame the gardens were closed". We could easily have done the tour
the next day when everything would have been open . To have complained
would have produced total incomprehension. "Dat's life mon" -
Caribbean life.
Meanwhile we are engaged in a daily series of dives
with the Bequia diving experts, and their schedule has so far run like clockwork
and we done two excellent dives. Today we were rewarded by seeing two rare
seahorses and our guide actually caught a small turtle which looked slightly
mazed by its observers until it was released to race off into the
gloom.
 Haircut in a beachside hut. A
practised hand with European hair is a rarity in the Grenadines.
On the megayacht scene, Mirabella V left St
Martin yesterday en route for the Azores and Genoa to prepare for the summer
season.
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