Bequia, St Vincent, St Lucia
18 January 2017
Photo: Soufriere rainbow
As we were leaving Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown, we passed a young lady on a jet ski that would not start, she informed us her friend had gone for assistance, but we radioed the Coastguard and saw them approaching. Happy she was being attended to, we carried on our way. We had two reefs in the main and Yankee as we sailed in lumpy seas across to Bequia arriving at Admiralty Bay at 08:00 the following morning. Brian went ashore and cleared us in after breakfast.
The constant wind of 18 – 25 plus knots is something we have not been used to for a while, the Mediterranean, also known as the Motoranean, has a lack of wind. We have noticed in the Caribbean most boats sail around with one if not two reefs in their sails.
Admiralty Bay was a very busy anchorage, with local, cruising and charter boats of all shapes and sizes. We woke up on the second morning to find a catamaran had sank, one hull underwater, at anchor close in to shore. When we left several days later, they were still trying to refloat it.
Bequia was a nice stop, given the rolly anchorage we had in Barbados, we were thankful for the lack of roll in Admiralty Bay. Ashore there were walks around the waterfront and across to Friendship Bay, the waterfront had a selection of cafes and bars, along with tourist shops, small supermarkets and takeaways. If you wanted to, you can get most things done without leaving your boat. Local vendors cruise around the bay offering fruit, veges, bread, fuel, water, ice and laundry services. We enjoyed the walk over to Friendship, chatted to a Canadian guy who lives there for 4 mths of the year, and had dinner ashore.
We left Admiralty Bay on 30th January, with two reefs in the main, we motor sailed across the first 5nm of the passage to St Vincent. This can be a notorious piece of water with winds in excess of 30 to 40 knots, so we went with some caution, however the wind gods were kind to us and we sailed in relatively pleasant 15 – 20 knots. We watched as the seabirds, swooped down to catch the flying fish we were disturbing as we sailed along, you could almost hear them say “You disturb them, we will eat them”. At 12:30 we were stern lined to a tree in Walilbou Bay, St Vincent. On our way into the bay we were approached by two separate dinghies with locals wanting to show us to a mooring, we had read in the cruising guide to only use locals with the appropriate credentials, we very nearly left the bay as both were very insistent. However we decided to stay and were happy we did. Walilbou Bay as it turned out was Port Royal in Pirates of the Caribbean and the locals were very proud of having had Johnny Depp in the bay. Ashore there is still some of the old set, along with some props, scene schedules and other memorabilia. We had dinner ashore and chatted to a few of the guys watching English soccer in the bar and then retired back to the boat.
The following morning we left and headed to Soufriere, St Lucia. The town is in the shadow of the Grand Piton, 786m high and Petit Piton, 739m high, two towering monoliths of forested lava, very impressive. We picked up a mooring, 54 ECD (east Caribbean dollars) a night, the bay is a marine reserve and anchoring is prohibited. Again we had guys chasing us in dinghies wanting to assist, for a fee of course, and young boys wanting to take garbage or just asking for soft drinks. This was all reminiscent of Indonesia, but when told politely “no” the young boys left.
The check in process was easy with the Customs and Immigration offices on the waterfront, by the dinghy dock. As it was New Years Eve, the town was getting ready for the celebrations with stalls being set up along the waterfront. We stayed and had a drink, then went back to the Dol, watching the firework displays from the boat. The following day we walked to the Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens, about 20 minutes out of town. It rained, sometimes quite heavily on and off during the morning, it was tropical rain forest territory, but it was warm. There is a small entry fee for the gardens, extra if you want to sit in the mineral pools, however the gardens are pleasant to stroll around. After lunch we took the dinghy around to Piton Bay and snorkelled in the marine reserve. The corals in the reserve were mainly soft corals and there were plenty of fish, but not the vibrant colours of coral and fish we had seen in the Pacific, still it was worth a look, dive tours are available to other sites. You can also hike up the Pitons with a local guide, but with constant rain squalls, which made for impressive rainbows, we decided it was not for us.
We left Soufriere on 2nd January and motored up to Rodney Bay, this is where Garry is leaving us to head back to New Zealand. Rodney Bay is a large open bay, with a lagoon that includes Rodney Bay marina and surrounding complex. Whilst ashore walking around and having coffee, we met up again with Kerry and John “Lurata” who had been here for a week. They gave us information on what to see and do. The night before Garry left, we took the dinghy across to the Pidgeon Island reserve and had dinner at a little café, Jambe de Bois, limited menu but a quaint, artsy place. We hired a car on 4th and headed to the south of the island where the international airport is. We stopped for lunch at Sandy Beach, Vieux Fort, a mecca for kite surfers and watched a couple of people out kite surfing in the bay. After dropping Garry at the airport we headed back up the east coast to Rodney Bay, along winding, pot holed roads with great views.
On one of our trips into the marina, we met Klaus and Margaret, Starship, and caught up with their news and travels since leaving Barbados. On Tuesday 10th January, after the rain had cleared, we took the dinghy ashore to Pidgeon Island reserve and walked around the remnants of Fort Rodney, an 18th century English fort, used in battles between the French and English. From the lookout you can see Martinique 25 miles north, the 360 degree views from the top are stunning. The entry fee for the park is 18 ECD each, open till 17:00, after then you can have dinner at Jambe de Bois, open till 22:00, without paying the entry fee. We are getting used to again having 12 hours of daylight, with darkness descending at 18:00 each evening. At the moment it makes the nights seem very long and the days short, but that is just where we are. It is also nice to have turtles swimming around the boat regularly.
On Thursday 12th January the wind and swell changed making the anchorage rolly and uncomfortable. As we were booked into Rodney Bay marina on Monday 16th, we decided to go in a couple of days early.
The marina has a selection of cafes, restaurants and a bar, along with a bank, mini mart, good chandlery and tourist shops. Inside the lagoon and a short dinghy ride to another dinghy dock there is a shopping mall with a large, fairly well stocked supermarket, although the local guys in the small boats still come around selling there fruit and veges and Suds laundry pick up and return, garbage is collected from the boat daily. There is also a ferry across to Martinique from the marina. Whilst we were in the marina, the alternator and smart regulator were finally fixed, having failed as we left Tenerife, mainsail off to the sailmaker to have the batten pockets stitched, zips have been replaced on shade covers and clears, stainless steel has been polished, Dol has had a good wash down, although with all the rain in the nights she was pretty good, and other jobs on the To Do List have been completed.
After 10 mths away and several thousand miles, we are heading back to New Zealand for a couple of weeks to spend time with family, friends and grandchildren, stopping for 4 days in Houston with Barb and Frank “Destiny” on the way.