6-30 The sail from The Pitons and along the west coast of St Vincent to Beqiua took the entire day. We were welcomed by a large group of dolphins, some jumping completely out of the water. Unfortunately they were traveling north so they did not stay with us long but the beautiful sight broke up the trip. We arrived just before sunset and cleared customs the next day. It seams that everyone we know here is set to leave in the next few days and we missed all the beach BBQs and get togethers. We reconnect with our good friends on Banjo and said hello to several others, picked up a few provisions and headed out after only two nights.
Today we put in a whopping 5 miles to reach Petite Nevis. I am always amazed at the incredible serenity of this place. We are almost always the only boat here! If you are looking to buy a private island this one is for sale for only $15,000,000 so don't wait to long or you could miss out.
Right after lunch we jumped in the water and swan a short distance to see a large variety of coral and sponges that are home to an impressive array of sea life. Today's spotted eel was one of the biggest I have seen.
We had a horrible experience in Canouan. Wind shooting through the mountains caused such a rough night that we got little sleep and our neighbors dingy capsized. The proverbial icing on the cake came the next day when we ran into the market to pick up a few veggies and were over ridiculously over charged. We will not return here.
Ah, Salt Whistle Bay.
What a lovely beach. We are here with Banjo, Out of Africa, and a few others. Where Out of Africa is...you can bet there is going to be a beach get together and we were not disappointed. Perfectly calm evenings let us catch up on lost sleep. All is good. Tomorrow flotilla moving to the Cays.
The water in the Tabago Cays is so clear that you can see the anchor chain clearly on the bottom, even at night if you have a full moon.
Snorkeling is excellent! We saw many turtles, puffers, stingray, even a 6 foot shark. I got into some type of Jelly and came away with stings that were quite painful but fortunately short lived. This is my second time now and it is really disconcerting when you feel like are in a bee hive. I have decided to invest a dive skin.
Out of Africa organized a BBQ Potluck on the beach and we had the most amazing sunset. There was a nice representation from around the globe with wonderful stories about the various adventures.
Because it was a bit rough, which is unusual for the Tabago Cays, we only spent two nights and the entire flotilla moved to Chatham Bay, Union Island. Out of Africa organized a night out at the local beach bar/restaurant which was preceded by games of Mexican Train Dominoes. A mile walk to the town the next day proved to be quite energetic with roads going up and down step hills.
This reef here is not the most healthy I have seen but might be some of the best snorkeling for creatures. We have seen several octopus. Do you know those pictures that you stare at and try to find the picture hidden in the background? That is what it is like to see an octopus sitting on the rocks. Like a chameleons it will blend into its background and can change to several colors. We have also seen many squid, lobster, spiney shrimp, nimble crabs, and much much more.
Moving around to the south side to Frigate Bay we saw a very healthy reef with a wonderful variety of fish.
We have truly enjoyed our time on the Grenadines and the people we sailed with.