Adventures with David & Gail

Vessel Name: Wildest Dream
Vessel Make/Model: Caliber 47 LRC
Hailing Port: Dallas, Texas
Crew: David & Gail Dodgen
Home Page: http://www.sailblogs.com/member/wildestdream47
15 June 2013 | Dinner Key Marina, Miami, FL
20 May 2013 | Dry Tortugas Nat'l Park, Florida
18 May 2013 | Dry Tortugas, Florida
14 May 2013 | Puerto Isla Mujeres, Q. Roo, Mexico
10 May 2013 | Lighthouse Reef, Belize
05 May 2013 | Guatemala
01 May 2013 | Ram Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala
26 April 2013 | Livingston, Guatemala
23 April 2013 | French Harbor, Roatan, Honduras
20 April 2013 | Le Bight, Guanaja, Honduras
18 April 2013 | Vivorillo Cays, Honduras
10 April 2013 | Providencia, Colombia
01 April 2013 | Providencia, Colombia
23 March 2013 | San Andres
22 March 2013 | Off Nene's Marina, San Andres, Colombia
12 March 2013 | Red Frog Marina. Bastimentos
10 March 2013 | Boquete, Chiriqui, Panama
10 March 2013 | Cruiser Casa, Panama City
10 February 2013 | Panama City, Panama
02 February 2013 | Red Frog Marina, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Recent Blog Posts
15 June 2013 | Dinner Key Marina, Miami, FL

My how time flies!

My how time flies! – Well, I must confess to being a little overwhelmed and getting mixed up into the real world pace again faster than expected. Here it is mid-June, we have been back in Miami for almost 3 weeks, back in our house for almost a week, and I have not updated the blog. My sincere apologies! [...]

20 May 2013 | Dry Tortugas Nat'l Park, Florida

Back in the US, kinda!

Back in the US, kinda! - We are on US soil! There is no immigration or customs office out here so there is no way to clear into the US. So we are kinda' illegal aliens! But we are flying our Q flag and no one seems to care. Or maybe they don't know what it means. Anyway, we are getting closer to [...]

18 May 2013 | Dry Tortugas, Florida

Isla and beyond!

Isla and beyond! - We stopped in Isla Mujeres to officially clear into Mexico, wait out some weather and do some provisioning. Actually US immigration really doesn't care about where we started from to reenter the US, and they don't ask for a Zarpe so we could have gone on to Florida without stopping [...]

14 May 2013 | Puerto Isla Mujeres, Q. Roo, Mexico

The last flag!

The last flag! - Having skirted along the outer cays and atolls of Belize, we headed north to Mexico. I went to the flag bag that we have been using for the whole trip to store our courtesy flags for each country and it only had one flag left. It was the Mexico flag. All the others had been used and [...]

10 May 2013 | Lighthouse Reef, Belize

Belize it or not!

Belize it or not! - Sorry. I could not resist! We planned an 18 month trip and we are now into the 18th month so it is time to head home. We have about 800 miles to go with Belize and Mexico yet on the itinerary. We could go nonstop or we could take our time. Or we could stop a few places as we [...]

05 May 2013 | Guatemala

Guate!

Guate! - The ride into Guatemala City, or Guate for short as the locals call it, takes you along the Rio Montagua river valley as it winds is way up to the mountains. The Rio Dulce is at sea level and Guate is at about 6000 ft. so the climb is steep at times. Plus it's mostly a rural two land road [...]

Unique Bequia

20 July 2012 | Bequia, the Grenadines
David & Gail
Unique Bequia! – The little island of Bequia (Beck-way) in the Grenadines deserves its own blog. It is largest island ion the Grenadines and probably one of the best island destinations in the Caribbean. We have again enjoyed our stay here. We visited here in June 2000 with Mitch and Carol, and our friends, Thad and Nanette, during a charter. It was in the end of our charter week and we, of course, had a short time to stay before turning in the charter boat. But it has been one of the most anticipated stops on our trip and it has not disappointed.

We did an easy 8 mile cross from the Blue Lagoon on St. Vincent with light winds but washboard seas due to the famous currents that run between these islands. We had current with us and against us with big rolling seas behind us most of the way. So, we just mozied across with the mainsail and engine while we ran the fridge and made water.

We pulled into Admiralty Bay and took a mooring close to town because it’s easy and has good security. The island and the town seemed much bigger and taller than we remembered but the older hotels and restaurants along the water front were familiar. The bay is huge with a big area tucked up into town and into the east wind. So except for the ferries and island freighters making wakes as they transited the bay, it was calm and very peaceful.

Once we got settled, we decided it was haircut day in Bequia. This was our second attempt at cutting each other’s hair. It went relatively well, although for David cutting hair is like trimming plants, once he gets started it is hard to stop him. Gail did end up with some hair left and she is happy with her new shorter do!

We walked the town and checked out a few places the first afternoon but really took it easy. Our friends, Adri and Daryl, were also anchored here so they related their adventure of sailing straight from Rodney Bay, St. Lucia to Bequia. While we had taken seven days to get here, they did it in one overnight crossing of about 70 miles.

There are many things to do here but the main attraction is the diving. We had full tanks and were anxious to get in the water again. We chose a good dive site recommended for divers on their own called Devil’s Table at the northern entrance of the bay near a navigation marker for the reef. So the next morning we were out around 10:30 and ready to go. But when we hooked up to the dive site mooring, the current was running out to sea at a good clip. We decided to give it a try and if too bad to come up and cut the dive short. Like in a big city when the wind blows, we ducked down behind some big rock canyons and were almost completely out of the current. Check the Photo Gallery for some of the critters we saw. It turned out to be a good dive as long as we stayed in the protection against the current.

The second place on Bequia to see is the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary on the far northeastern end of the island. It didn’t look that far on the map so with Adri and Daryl in tow we took off across the hills for a walk. Of course in reality it was farther but not outrageous, and in the long run, very worth the effort. Orton King has made it his retirement job to save as many turtles and return them to the sea as he can. In about 12 years he has released about 2000 green and hawksbill turtles. He gets them off the beach as hatchlings and nurtures them until they are 3-4 years old. Since they can live to be 200 years, they are really still babies at that time. The survival rate in the wild is about 1 in 1000 but he normally saves about half of the hatchlings he can collect. Both of these species and most sea turtles in general are endangered so his efforts are noteworthy. He also brings the school kids to his place and educates them on the benefit of his work and plight of the turtles. If you are thinking about making some donation to some cause this year, consider his sanctuary. Check www.turtles.bequia.net. It cost about $10 per day just to buy fish at the market to feed the turtles he currently has in the pools. Our little entry fee paid for a couple of days. He could use any help. Check the pictures and you cannot help feeling for these beautiful creatures.

Next, it was said we must go see the cliff houses in the Moonhole on the far southwestern end of the island. You can only really go by dinghy since there are no more tours, so we dinghied over across the bay to check these out. It reminded me of the Arapaho cliff dwellings in New Mexico. The architect put together these free form homes inside a huge arch in the wall or the Moonhole. But it was abandoned when a huge rock fell through one of the bedrooms. Don’t know the whole story but was very interesting to see and imagine living in one of the homes.

Lastly, we also decided to make a walk over to the south side of the island and check Friendship Bay. This is on the windward side and not recommended for long term anchoring but looked like a nice and shorter walk than to the see the turtles. Well, again, it was a longer and tougher walk up and down some steep hills. But with Adri and Daryl again to keep company and share the experience, it was a good walk with beautiful views of the bay and across to Mustique. Throw in picking up some free mangos along the road side, it made the day very successful.

We have given Bequia its due and gotten some good exercise as well. We could stay for a longer time but other islands in the Grenadines are calling. So we’re off tomorrow to another of our most anticipated stops that we remember from 2000, the islands of the Tobago Cays.
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