16th April

We finally left Rodney Bay early and headed to Bequia on a very calm day. We knew it would be a long mototr but the prospect of a smooth passage across the chanel to St Vincent was a very welcome thought after the last trip. Unfortunately the tide/current was against us and we had a very slow passage across. It was made wortthwhile when we spotted to lots of pilot whales. Both were a mother and her baby. They are magnificent to watch as they glide through the water. They were with us for about 10 minutes before they went under and reappeared much further up channel about 15 minutes later when they were just dots on the horizon.

All the dilly dallying of whale watching left us short of daylight. We didn’t want to go into Admiralty Bay in the dark and so opted to go into Wallilabou on St Vincent. We hadn’t particularly enjoyed the stop on the last trip and unfortunately on this occasion we ended up wishing we had just kept going.

As soon as we were in the bay the boat men arrived. One guided us to a mooring bouy and helped us attach stern llines to the shore etc. While all this was going on we were being harangued by another 3 or 4 to buy souvenirs, fruit, fish , did we want bread?. It was really irksome. Anyway we bought some fruit and sent the others away. Shortly after that another guy ‘Garfield’ arrived. We had just gotten into the water for a cool down and so asked himto leave. He just stayed there saying he’d something to show us. John said for him to come later. He appeared a bit stoned or drunk and was quite beligerant. Anyway John went ashore to do the customs bit and who should appear back at the boat but Garfield. I told him to go away but he was gonna show me what he had come hell or high water. At that another boat boy came over and took the bag of stuff from his boat. Well he went ballistic. Started shouting and abusing the lad. Went after him (although he was struggling to row) and tried to hit him with an oar. Course the youngster just baited him even more. By then all the boat boys were joining in trying to get Garfield to calm down and just leave it for the day. The whole thing grew and people on the shore were trying to calm him down but they were being hit with his oar as well.. Other yachties were staring at the scene and getting concerned. Eventually one of the guys onshore managed to calm him down and brought him back to the boat. By this time I just wanted the whole thing to die down. There was a sort of apology from Garfield but the look was very growly. Suffice to say we didn’t go ashore later and left very early the next morning after a thoroughly unpleasant experience. In fairness the other boat boys were very supportive of the situation we were in and did try to keep him away. One guy said that Garfield had lost it to crack and rum all in all a scary combo!

17th – 22nd April

Moving swiftly on to Bequia: We had a great few days here. It is a beautiful bay at Princess Margaret Beach and on this occasion was very quiet.  We had met couple who lived in Edinburgh  when we were in Rodney Bay and they were there again. Ken and Joni were also there having had some good diving in the Pitons they had arrived shortly after us.  It is great to have some company on the journey as at times you just run out of things to say to each other. (I know some of you will find that hard to believe!)  We had some lovely long walks and great swims. We also went to a quiz night at one of the local bars and believe it or not found ourselves the winning team.  The prizemoney usually goes to a local charity so we donated ours to a small literacy programme that has been started by the local bookshop for schoolkids.  Had we stayed longer it would have been fun to offer some time for the reading workshops. (maybe next year)

We also took a trip by ferry over to St Vincent with Ken and Joni.  The whole Wallilabou experience had left a bad taste in our mouths and we were eager to convince ourselves that St Vincent isn’t really like that.  The ferry was an old Norwegian one that has obviously been sold on.  The crossing only took an hour and we stayed inside in the air conditioned lounge (it was bliss).  Once ashore we were approached by a taxi driver offering a tour of the island.  We did a bit of haggling and told him where we wanted to go.  Robert turned out to be an excellent guide.  He was an intelligent and articulate man with some interesting Rasta views and beliefs.  The countryside was very beautiful and extrememly lush.  There are some huge mansion around the area of Kingstown and it is well developed.  Once out of the main areas you can see a lot of run down shacks etc.  The people we met and spoke with were all extremely gracious and friendly .There is a great deal of politics on the island as the current president is happy to have dealings with Venezuelan government and others.  They are pouring money into a huge new international airport development as well as funding lots of other projects in the area.  Anyway by the time we left we were all agreed it had been a good experience and that it was worth another visit another time.

22nd – 25th April

Mustique (not only for the rich and famous)

We had a great sail over to this island.  It is owned and managed  by the Mustique company.  The whole area appear manicured.  There is little or no scrubland land, grass is strimmed all over the inhabited parts of the island.  The houses of the rich and famous are mostly very well disguised into the background.  Some however are open and so ostentacious its obsence.  We picked up a mooring bouy (200 EC dollars for 3 nights which is fine if you stay the 3).  The condition of it was immaculate.  It had stainless steel chain and rotating swivel rings and was secured to the seabed by huge blocks of concrete.  Best we have had anywhere.  The water was the clearest turquoise and the shoals of fish were all around us.  There was a feeling of peace from the time we tied up until the time we (reluctantly) dropped our lines to move on.   It was just a beautiful 3 days.

We took a walk from the main bay that took us over 3 hours.  At times the track was challenging but we visited the most beautiful beaches – Obsidian, Macaroni and the views from above them were stunning as you could make out all the shoals and reefs around the island.  They have claimed many a ship before today.    We watched light aircraft take of from the tiny airport before finding ourselves at  The Cotton House which is one of the exclusive places on the island.  We stopped for light refreshments and rehydration purposes only!   The service and setting were just idyllic. The celebs apparently rarely come out of their ivory towers which is a shame as it is just fab.

The snorkelling has been terrific as well.  We have spotted more varieties of fish than throughout the whole trip.  John is into learning out what kinds they are as Joni had a book of i.d. info. it begins to open up a whole new world.

We also took a taxi trip round the area and had the homes of folk like Mick Jagger, Shania Twain and Tommy Hillfinger pointed out to us.

Mustique as you may gather from the enthusiastic bletherings is high on the list of favourite spots.  Everyone is so friendly and you feel so safe here it just great.  We have been nippng over most night to join Joni and Ken for a game of cards.  They are great fun and have a lot of patience when teaching us new games.  We haven’t introduced them to Beanie just yet.  It really helps pass the time in the dark evenings.  They have been a great help with the generator etc as well.  Great how people come into your life and your the better for the experience.

25/26th April

Reluctantly dropped lines and motor sailed over to Canouan.  Managed to find a bank ashore.  Mustique doesn’t have a bank – can you believe it?

It was also expensive to have drinks etc so we had run out of cash and needed to get some before moving into Tobago Cays as there is nothing there apart from shoals and turtles. ‘Why’d you need money ‘ you may ask – well there are boat boys there who come and charge you for anchoring in the marine park.  You pay willingly as they are trying hard to conserve a precious species.

Ashore I was yet again struck by the incongruity of this island.  It did a deal with the Raffles chain and sold a huge part of the island to it in exchange for some housing for local people.  As a result there is a fence between the two areas.  The housing for locals is varied.  There are some good stone built properties but there are a lot of run down ones as well.  There  are big dvelopment plans afoot for administration and community buildings but when they will happen who knows.  There is a small airport here which runs regular flights. Apart from Raffles and the Tamarind Beach hitel ther seems little else.

We had a visit from a boat man last night selling some fish.  It was really upsetting to see so many of the differnt types of reef fish we had been snorkelling with over the last few days lying dead in his bucket.  Couldn’t bring myself to buy any but took a couple of tiny lobsters instead. He only wanted about a £5 and a beer.  Really nice though he came by this morning to see if we had enjoyed them.  The locals are friendly and not obtrusive here so its quite relaxed if not a patch on Mustique.  The plus was that we finally got a skipe connection and managed to have a couple of lovely l;ong blethers with folks back home.  Really made my day. Unfortunately didn’t managed to get Gareth who seems to be out running day and night in preparation for the Belfast marathon this comng weekend. Feel really proud of his committment to it.

Generator is currently behaving hence time to do the blog – fingers crossed it continues till we at least get to Trinidad.