All that glistens ..........
Oriole
Sun 13 Mar 2011 14:29
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Admiralty Bay, Bequia. 13:00.49N
61:14.37W
We have been surprised to find
several cruising yachtsmen new to the Caribbean to be disillusioned with what
they have found here after their trans-atlantic crossings. In particular
they have found sailing conditions much rougher than they expected with strong
winds and big seas in the inter-island passages. We think that the
yachting press and the cruising rally organisers have probably done
little to educate their readers and clients about the realities of Caribbean
sailing. During the winter there are periods of days or weeks when the
persistently strong wind makes for very lively sailing conditions which for long
distance sailing downwind would not be a particular problem, but for
sailing hard on the wind in ocean conditions between the islands with
nothing separating you from Africa can be challenging. Fortunately the
distances are short.
 If it was always like this the world
would be beating a path to the Caribbean. In survival conditions the
camera stays in the dry, so no pictures!
There is always discussion among
yachtsmen here about the dangers of crime: - murder, mugging, theft,
robbery, burglary etc. We consider that the risks are small (we hope we
are right|) and that sensible precautions should be taken to protect yourself
and your property. No-one at home would leave their car unlocked or fail
to lock their house at night. However many yachtsmen leave their boats
unlocked and do not lock their dinghies and then are surprised when they
disappear, sometimes because they have not been properly tied up. We have
thought for a long time that there is more risk to life and limb from
the extraordinary behaviour of some yachtsmen that from murderers, muggers and
the like. For instance the guy who suddenly let all his anchor chain go
over the side in gale conditions in a crowded anchorage, the flagrant disregard
of many yachtsmen for the International Collision Regulations is scandalous and
on many occasions at sea we have had to give way to a yacht which according to
the rules should have avoided us. Many yachtsmen do not show anchor lights at
night which is exceedingly dangerous for other vessels entering or leaving
anchorages after dark and an unlit boat which drags its anchor will
not be seen by anyone else. Those who cross the Atlantic from the UK
whose sailing has been mainly on the South Coast often have little if any
experience of anchoring, and in the ARC fleet it shows and the antics of bare
boat charterers shows that perhaps the only qualifications required to charter a
yacht here is a credit card. Finally many locals and yachtsmen drive their
fishing boats and dinghies very fast at night without lights and only this week
a young Englishman was killed in Grenada when he hit an unlit obstruction at
speed when returning to his yacht after an evening out.
Enough of ranting. We have had
a very pleasant week in Bequia having recovered from being poisoned in a
restaurant on our first day. Various clans have been gathering and tonight
we sit down for dinner with the crews of four other yachts. We
have been walking, swimming and doing some maintenance and will slip further
south next week. The wind is piping up again after a period of quiet so we
should get some good sailing.
We are horrified to hear about the
unfolding Japanese tragedies, the power of nature is very humbling.
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