Bequia and the fighting lobsters
Salila
Peter Ablett
Tue 17 Apr 2012 16:02
13:00.61N 61:14.46W
14/4/2012
So we left Rodney Bay in St Lucia almost as early as planned, 0530! That was quite an achievement as we had been to the "Jump Up" at Gros Islet the night before, and had a Tiger Frightener or two at the marina bar on the way home. Rob and Mikaela from Beyzano were there, and Keith and Heather from Sookie had arrived from England just minutes before we left and were persuaded to join us too. For them it was about 4 o'clock in the morning, but they managed to stay awake.
The jump up is a street party that happens every Friday, and there is a good mix of locals and tourists. There are dozens of stalls selling drinks, local food, some of it very unusual, and gifts. All accompanied by really LOUD music. Good fun.
The sail down to Bequia was uneventful, although we had to use the iron mainsail most of the way. It was a pity we couldn't stop at St Vincent, there's a pack of guard dogs there I'd like to say hello to again...
We made good time, and were looking for a place to anchor by 1600. According to the Pilot book the moorings here can be suspect, so I opted for the safer, and cheaper, option of using the Rocna. Last night we had dinner aboard Gumption, the nice Americans we met a week or two ago. They'd taken a mooring ball, and had snorkelled it to report it was brand new and very secure - pilots get out of date.
Bequia is lovely, but it's obvious the season is drawing to a close. They have a regatta at Easter, and everything gets quiet after that, even Doris stops baking bread.
And the lobster season ends on 30th April, so I thought it was high time I had my first taste this trip. I hailed a passing boat with a trap on the bow, but they were after fish and had caught nothing. The fishing this year is very poor. When I went ashore I asked around, and was told "Flex" is the lobster man, and a kind local called me over when he appeared. Word had got around that someone on a catamaran was after lobster, and he'd already been over to Salila. So a deal was done and I acquired 2 fighting crustaceans together with a very attractive sack to keep them under control. I was assured I could keep them in the water hung from the dinghy till ready to leave "no one will touch them". And they didn't. (Talking to another local he maintained they have almost no crime here "because if they do we beat dem and send them away". It doesn't always work though as a boat here was broken into a couple of days ago and all the elect nicks went walkabout.)
So Marci christened my huge pot that is too big to fit in the oven (yes I should have checked before I left the UK), and we had lobster a la Salila. It was very nice, but kinda confirmed my view that it's over rated.
So tomorrow morning (18th) we are off to the Tobago Cays, somewhere I've wanted to revisit since Larry and Fi took me there a few years ago.
Here's a snap of the bar I'm using for wifi, I can recommend The Fig Tree for all things, except the mozzies.
