Christmas without the holly and blazing log fires
Moorglade's Voyage
Ted Wilson
Mon 27 Dec 2010 22:48
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Our position is 13:00.61N 61:14.64W
After Peter, John and Glen departed (only slightly
delayed) for England and their traditional Christmas celebrations, Ted and I
hired a car to try and see something of Barbados. Unfortunately the day we chose
the heavens opened and not only was there no visibility but the roads were
flooded and any sightseeing would have found us washed away. We did try and take
advantage of the car to replenish the cooking gas, but this also proved
unsuccessful. A combination of a complete inability to navigate, (virtually no
signs, and maps,it seemed, that didn't correspond with what signs or
roads there were) and the need to purchase a complete new system to be in with a
chance of getting further supplies as we travel towards the USA defeated
us completely. The next day we finally managed to locate the right place by
taxi, although it even took the taxi driver two attempts!
Barbados didn't really seem to be the best place
for yachts, so even though I hadn't managed to work my way through the various
rum cocktails at The Boatyard, and in spite of an invitation to a Boxing
Day dinner at the Barbados Cruising Club, delivered as a message in a bottle
thrown into the cockpit, we decided to depart on the 23rd for Bequia and sail
the 95Nm trip overnight. First we had the traumas of clearing out with Customs
and Immigration. Leaving the dinghy tied to its usual spot on The Boatyard
jetty, we walked up to the port, now full of cruise liners, rather than risk the
yacht again against the unsuitable harbour wall, and managed to complete
formalities in about 2 hours and with much additional form filling.
On our way back we commented to each other on how
the swell had got up, so imagine our horror on returning to The Boatyard to
discover that the swell had resulted in the dinghy destroying itself on the
jetty. Ted salvaged the outboard but the inflatable was beyond repair,
leaving us stranded and, because of the waves, beyond the help of any of
the other yachts to get back to Moorglade. Fortunately help was at hand in
the shape of a much maligned jet skier. I was very unsure about this as I
imagined we would have to go off the beach, as they were doing, and travel at
great speed, but we were able to board from the end of the jetty, beyond the
surf and the driver restrained himself to a most sedate (and dry) rate of
progress. I felt much more warmly about the pastime as a result! Back on
the boat we used internet, phone and cruising guides to locate a source of
replacement dinghies in St Lucia. Francis even said he would be able to loan us
a dinghy if the ones he was expecting hadn't been delivered before we got there.
On the strength of this we decided to continue with
our original intention, as Bequia has water taxis serving the Port Elizabeth
anchorage and nothing much was likely to happen over the Christmas holiday. We
left Carlisle Bay at about 19:30 - only 4 hours later than intended - and motor
sailed uneventfully to Bequia arriving at 13:30 on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day was noteworthy for the excellent
gifts from the family and also the phone calls back home and to Ethiopia to
exchange seasonal greetings, although in the case of Ethiopia they operate on a
different calendar and do not celebrate Christmas until the new year. Also an
excellent Christmas dinner of tinned ham (purchased earlier in the trip by
Peter) and spicy wedges (English potatoes purchased in Tenerife) with Barbadian
carrots and tinned peas, followed by a Tesco finest Christmas pudding. Later, at
tea time, there were Tesco finest mince pies and Stollen. So much for shopping
locally and reducing food miles!
Today we went ashore although a lot of shops are
still closed for the holidays. The fruit and vegetable market was an amazing
experience - only small but staffed by some amazing characters. The people are
so friendly and helpful, but they admit that the yachts bring much more revenue
than the cruise ships, which are too self contained. Tomorrow we are hoping to
take a shortish taxi tour to the most interesting bits (can't afford too long a
trip!) We will leave shortly before midnight for the sail to St Lucia, hoping to
arrive at Rodney Bay around lunch time.
 Goodbye to Peter, John and Glen
Carlisle Bay anchorage, without swell from
The Boatyard jetty
 Before the rains came on the tour of
Barbados
South coast of St Vincent en route to Bequia
 Carving the Christmas
ham Christmas
dinner Moorglade
style! Not
forgetting the Chridtmas pudding
 Port Elizabeth anchorage - cruise ships just
visible at back!
Anchorage from a different
angle
 Apparently Bequia ia famous for model boats and
presented the queen with a model of the RY Britannia |