Change over day

Oriole
Sun 7 Mar 2004 11:40
For the passage from St Lucia to St Vincent a fast reach is the norm, but we
had the calm before the next load of wind and motored half the way, and then
unusually had a lovely run down the normally windless lee side of St
Vincent. We anchored in Petit Byahaut, a little bay deserted except for a
small hotel and restaurant which can only be reached by sea.  A boat
appeared to take our dinner order and at dusk the light was lit on the beach
to show the best place to land so that there was a good chance of sitting
down to dinner without a wet bum!    The restaurant owner is a keen diver and
took us diving the next day, firstly into a cave inhabited by rare bats and then
down a narrow crevice to a vertical wall which fell away into an abyss hundreds of 
feet deep, and made us feel quite uneasy. There were more tunnels in the rocks
 to swim through and lots of interesting fish, coral and sponges.
With a forecast of strong winds and swells we abandoned the increasingly
rolly anchorage and sped across the 10 mile channel to Bequia and managed to
find a spot with good holding and good shelter in the top corner Admiralty Bay
which is noted for its vicious wind blasts in strong wind conditions.  For a couple
of days the weather took a turn for the worse and we engaged in shore
activities. Bequia hassome good restaurants and the take-away pizzas would
make Pizza Express lookto its laurels. Gill and Peter exhausted themselves walking
half the length of the island and the electronic gremlins which have recently infected
Oriole had a day off from Peter's attentions.  We sadly bade farewell today
to our excellent crew and the gremlins are heaving a sigh of relief.
 
 
                             Gill and Peter off home for a rest.
 
Although not yet flushed out, they are cornered thanks to Peter and their demise
is imminent.
The arrival of Robert and Dani who come in on the evening ferry from St
Vincent is eagerly awaited.
 
 
 The press was there for the arrival of the new crew
 
It does not sound as though the wind is going to give us
much peace for a while so Dani, who as far as we know is
a non-sailor, may get more than she has bargained for.