We are sailing: Bequia to Antigua
Purple Mist
Skipper: Kate Cope
Mon 13 Feb 2023 22:31
14:05.497N 61:22.461W
We are sailing: Bequia to Antigua
Finally after 4 nights in Bequia the wind subsided and we set off for Antigua.
Marty the marina owner came over to wish us well, over the past few days we had been giving him ideas on how he could develop the place. Its good to dream with someone else’s investment. It has a lovely bar area that just needs to be stocked with some cool drinks.
Mani the dock manager also came over for a last chat and gifted us a huge bag of ice for the cool box. We concluded he really needed a VHF to take calls from interested boats.
We’ve also become friendly with the night security guard who has been checking on the boat. He did accidentally lock us out yesterday evening but was mightily apologetic once we had raised him with some loud whistles.
Just before we left an American couple stopped by. They were inshore J24 racers from New York and were very taken by Purple Mist. ‘Is she that new boat Kenny Read sails?’. I said not quite we were the earlier model. I have to say we have had a lot of attention everywhere we go really. Purple Mist does look so different from your average cruising boat that she certainly turns heads and has people wandering over to find out more about her. She has not been too tough to cruise in either. We have completely avoided having to use our lightweight anchor and the lack of dinghy is overcome by using water taxis or finding walk ashore pontoons. Inside we haven’t really missed having a fridge, hardly any fresh food has been wasted. We still have plenty of transatlantic breakfast , lunch and dinner supplies. We also still have plenty of transatlantic drinking water - we didn’t use anything like as much as we thought. The forepeak shower is basic and cold but has proved a useful way to freshen up , get the salt off and wash our hair. Finally I am really glad I made curtains and hatch covers to keep the sun out and mosquito screens for the hatches and companionway. The one night we didn’t deploy the mossie screens we both got eaten to death.
Todays nature documentary was the flight of the frigate. They are a bit like gannets and today were flying just ahead of the boat I think looking for fish that we were churning up . Every now and then they would peel off and dive in all very close to the boat. I’m not sure they were catching anything though the poop they deposited in the decks would suggest otherwise . I’m still not quite qualifying for a call up from David Attenborough as the pesky birds kept flying away when I took their photo.
The journey today is taken us close into St Vincent. We had a good view of the island and it’s active volcano
Then we passed St Lucia though it was in the distance and a bit hazy. We could see the Pitons the two distinctive volcanos on the south of the island.
Next island will be Martinique which along with Guadeloupe is part of France - one of those great trivia questions about which is the most western part of the European Union. We have already heard French Coastguard on the radio with their familiar hail of “Appellez les tout , ici cross…”
Today has been really hot , much hotter than the transat as the sun is behind us so no shade from the sails. We’ve deployed leggings and long sleeved tops as factor 50 Suntan cream is not enough. For the offwatch kipping the USB fans are essential. The sun is about to disappear and we are both quite glad to be cool again.
