Bequia, St Vincent and the Grenadines  

Today, Sunday 25^th August, the mate and I were supposed to be repairing our dinghy (…again…). This time it has two air leaks from the tubes and a water leak at the base of the transom. However we have just had a squall to match all squalls. Coming from nowhere, as they do, this one produced rain the likes of which it was hard to believe – and we’re from the UK!

Caribbean rain – lots of it!

SG at anchor in Bequia

Anyway, before all this, we have ‘escaped’ Rodney Bay in St Lucia and made our way to Bequia. We left at 0530 on Tuesday 20^th and arrived at 1900 (the kettle was on at 0503 and as we sat on deck coming to with tea 1 and waiting for it to get light, we heard someone raising sail and preparing to leave the bay. Skip looked over and said “no matter what time you get up there is always some b***ard up before you!” – Mate). The wind was hit and miss for our passage although we managed a good sail across the St Vincent channel and some of the way down the windward side of St Vincent. I’d been paying attention to ocean currents since our friend David did the same passage a few weeks ago. He reported at least 2kts of current against him approaching the southern tip of St Vincent. My reckoning was that, for our passage, we’d have this current with us and so it was – we were making 8kts coming into Bequia – feeling very pleased with myself, I explained to the mate the workings of the current information. The mate was delighted as this meant we got into Admiralty Bay and got the anchor down (almost) before dark!

The last two weeks of our time in St Lucia saw us finishing off all solar stuff, making sure the new bimini was OK, rebuilding the Duogen, upgrading the blue vinyl stripe on the coachroof, cleaning all the marine growth of poor Pierre’s bottom and engaging the services of Charlie who cleaned the entire underwater part of the hull for us, along with prop and prop shaft.

The mate, despite not feeling her best for our sail to Bequia (I did get up at 0500 and hadn’t been at sea for three months! – Mate) did confess that the bimini worked very well for her (phew – that’s a relief, I thought!). Our solar panel arrangement also worked very well. Up in Antigua the old panels would take all day to make up the maybe 40A used overnight and then it sometimes wouldn’t get there. The new system gets it all done by about midday, leaving the rest of the day to make water etc etc with the batteries in a happy absorption phase. We can also easily add in another 75W into the system if we need to (I fear Skip is falling into the “we need yet more solar” trap! – Mate).

Skip enjoying the new bimini as we pass the Pitons

Let me mention the Duogen. This wind/water generator wasn’t a happy beast at all over the last few months and we diagnosed the problem as alternator bearings. Vicky had brought new ones out for us but we thought we’d better wait until she’d left rather than giving her the pleasure of helping rebuild the offending machine. So after Vicky had left, I looked at the instructions – before my eyes was a set of instructions so involved that I felt it would have taken me and my friend Pete (we’re good at this stuff together) two days in a proper workshop/garage to get the thing rebuilt. I’d actually got a slightly wobbly pontoon and the mate… Undeterred we got started, the details of which I will not bore you with but they did involve engaging the services of a helpful man called Roger to press a bearing out (the old ones disintegrated immediately but left the outer race stuck fast). Roger then had to find another bearing for us as one of the new ones refused to go over the shaft. On and on it went, until after about day five (I’m sure it took longer than this!! – Mate), the Duogen was back on the boat and spinning freely. Down here, in Bequia, we’ve been using it in wind mode and it’s been quiet and efficient.

Just as I started to relax, the macerator pump went, again – and of course the dinghy started to leak. I’m starting to think that my lot in life is repairing boats in exotic places where it’s too hot and rains frequently – this cannot be, I said to the mate. The mate was busy plotting a visit to a clothing shop onshore. I thought I would go with her. We eventually found it – it was closed…

Our plan is to move on next week with one overnight stop on our way to Grenada, where we are booked into Grenada Yacht Club for a month, whilst the worst threat of hurricane season passes by.

Before we go, let’s mention a bit about Bequia. Bequia is a sailors’ favourite and I can see why. It is an attractive island with a huge, well protected bay. Its shops and boutiques are pretty and it just feels like a nice place (as long as you avoid the port area). I’m sure the mate will add in a little more about it… Right now, it’s stopped raining and I’m off to repair the dinghy … again …

Pretty signage at the dinghy pontoon

Whalebone arch (and whale jawbone on the bar) at the (closed!) Whaleboner restaurant

Bequia is lovely. It seemed to survive hurricane Beryl pretty well, although we were wondering why we couldn’t find the Bequia Bookshop – sadly it was buried under its tin roof. Port Elizabeth is the town bordering Admiralty Bay and it has a nice collection of boutiquey shops and restaurants along the seafront heading towards Princess Margaret beach (where we are anchored in 6.5m of crystal clear, turquoise water). The port area is a bit chaotic (especially at 1600 on a Friday with people, vehicles and goats) as many people commute between Bequia and St Vincent (and probably the other islands) but outside of this the island has a nice vibe. There is a strong whale theme (the island flag even has a whale on it) and they still have a whaling permit to take four whales a year but this seems pretty low key and some years they don’t take any. One of the best things about Bequia is Daffodil’s on the water, water delivery service – all you have to do is hail them on the radio and the yellow (obviously) boat will come out to pump fresh water into your tanks – amazing!

Glen delivering water to SG

It has a bit of an end of season feel as many of the restaurants close for a break at this time of year before the sailing season starts up again in late October/early November. There are also significantly fewer boats around as the hurricane wreaked havoc across the Grenadines and many of the islands are still trying to get back on their feet. Skip had read about the Treehouse Bush Bar in our pilot book and was keen to pay them a visit. The book said to call in advance to make sure they were open, so he did and was told that they were closed but we were welcome to come anyway. Very intrigued we packed some beers (just in case they were properly closed!) and set off up a stupidly steep hill in the blazing sunshine. It only took about 30 minutes to get there (the last 10 mins were through the woods which were nice and shaded) but we were very hot and sweaty! We were rewarded with a lovely view across the bay and some very cold Hairoun beers from the (solar powered as the place is totally off grid) fridge :)

View from the THBB

Enjoying a well-earned Hairoun at the THBB

As I have been somewhat tardy (again) with my editing it is 1^st September and we are in Grenada Yacht Club. I had forgotten just how hot Grenada is, but we can tell you all about it in the next blog…