Bequia

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Thu 15 Dec 2011 00:45

13:00.17N 61:14.67W

 

Slipped out of Chatham Bay around 9.30am and made our way north with very light, very un-Caribbean winds cutting through another surprisingly smooth sea.

 

We had debated visiting Tobago Keys to see the turtles again, but we glad we had decided against this when we saw the huge lumbering form of a cruise ship anchored off the nearby island. We can only imagine that it would have been chaotic and very unpleasant there today.

 

Progress was mixed as although we could just about make our heading to Bequia, the wind was so light that we were reduced to quite a bit of motor-sailing to make up the time on the 30 mile trip. Again no sea-life apart from one very large turtle miles out at sea, although we did come across patches of weed and sadly, a lot of plastic flotsam at times.

 

We dropped anchor in Bequia around 2.00pm and had lunch then had a bit of a panic as we realised that we needed to clear customs and immigration before they closed at 4.00pm (or so we assumed). This meant launching the dinghy and putting the big outboard onto it, which was the first time we had even touched the bigger engine since we returned.

 

We managed to get this all done and shot into the town and arrived with barely 5 minutes to spare. But everything takes an age here and although we had already done a lot of the tedious stuff using ‘e Sea Clear’ online, it still requires someone with a rubber stamp to produce 5 copies of a document that I had to sign and date. Then across to immigration who were very helpful but a little confused as we were clearing in and out and the same time! (Our plan is to sail north tomorrow night to St Lucia, as the winds are forecast to turn into brisk northerlies on Friday).

 

Another refreshing swim and supper on board followed by an early night.