We had a great time in Bequia. It is one of our favorite places. As the guide book says it is " isolated enough to remain relatively unspoiled but lively enough to be stimulating and entertaining."

We took a taxi out to Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary. Brother King takes turtle eggs and rears the turtles so they have a better chance of living in the wild. We were shocked at the low number of turtles in comparison to our pre-Covid visit in 2018. However, it was reassuring to see it is still a destination for taxis bringing cruise ship passengers and thus money to buy food for the turtles.

We walked back to Port Elizabeth, a 2.5 mile hike. We passed several East facing beaches covered in seaweed, there was no sargassum on our previous visit. Sargassum seaweed on the east coast of all Caribbean islands is a real problem. A committee has been set up to work out how to productively use seaweed and not just as fertilizer. We walked up to Fort Ruin Outlook and had a fabulous view of Port Elizabeth.

I love getting out and just exploring places on foot, which I did several times in Bequia. I made it over to Friendship Bay, Lower Beach, and to the top where the radio towers are.

We had fun doing the scavenger hunt for food and other provisions. Doris Fresh Foods is always a delight to visit. This tiny store was crammed with the most variety of foods we've seen in Caribbean. There was no shortage of fresh, locally grown veggies and fruits. It is coming into mango season and I was able to have my favorite dessert mango and passion fruit.

A picturesque coastal path - The Belmont walk - runs from town along the southern edge of Port Elizabeth to Princess Margaret Beach. Small hotels, Restaurants and Bars are spread out along the walkway. One night while having dinner at the Fig tree restaurant, we watched people run the gauntlet of the walkway when the spray from the swell was really bad. It provided lots of entertainment, guessing wether they we going to get soaked or not.

We spent 11 days in Bequia due to weather. We wanted to leave earlier but there was no wind and lots of swell, so we waited. We left late Sunday afternoon heading for Rodney Bay, St Lucia (80mls) doing an overnight passage. We had a magnificent sail halfway up St Vincent where we got caught in the wind shadow, and turned on the motor. We picked up wind crossing from St Vincent to St Lucia, losing it again in the wind shadow of St Lucia. We arrived in St Lucia at 8.00 am got a berth at the Rodney Bay Marina, checked in at customs and immigration and had much earned big breakfast!! It is a treat to be in the marina with hot showers and unlimited water, and the boat still - no rocking and rolling.

We did an island tour, as we thought that was the easiest way to see the Pitons in the south end of the island, Castries and other tourist icons.



Our taxi driver, Paul picked us up on Friday morning and showed us around the island. It was fun. Lunch at the Belle View Creole Restaurant, Soufriere, was delicious. They have a policy that taxi divers eat free if they bring business. It had a steady flow of people as a result.



We visited the sulphur springs and viewed from afar as they were inundated with cruise ship passengers. On the way back, Paul took us down the back roads as traffic is a huge problem esp. Friday afternoon in Castries. It was pleasant to see the countryside.

I have been on several hikes. I climbed Mt Picard 639',- southern entrance to Rodney Bay - in some places I had to use the rope to pull me up- definitely a challenge but the view was worth it.



I also went out to Pigeon Island national Park - north side of Rodney Bay -where I climbed signal peak and Rodney Fort. It has been a treat to not use to dinghy to get to land, instead just hop off the boat and walk.



Next stop is Portsmouth, Dominica (95 miles) - another overnight passage. We plan to leave tomorrow. Again we waited for a weather window, this time the winds were high with swells. Looking forward to sailing.