With Ken’s back getting better, the decision was whether to spend an extra night on the mooring in Young’s Cut and take a bus into town together, or just take off on the “monstrous” trip of about 10 miles across to Bequia. I had already walked to town the previous day (and took the bus back for the return 4 miles!) and had seen some of the area with my morning runs. We decided to just head out, and save the visit to Kingstown for another trip. From a sailing point of view, it was a great choice! We moved along at over 5 knots with just the jib out, with a {{gasp}} beam reach that made it to an almost broad reach! Wow, a trip that actually moved us along at a comfortable pace without being on our ear. It was also an easy trip for Ken’s still somewhat cranky back. It was one of those sails that puts a huge smile on your face!

Upon arriving at Bequia, we set up to anchor. The first attempt was a failure, as was the second attempt. I was gung-ho for a third, fourth and fifth attempt, but Ken was concerned about a sound coming from the windlass. He wanted to go to a mooring so we could investigate further. Fine by me, since a non-functioning windlass means I have the job of hauling up the anchor by hand. Granted, it’s exercise, but it isn’t much fun if you have to re-anchor repeatedly, as is not uncommon in Bequia. We got a mooring, so close to the dock that we didn’t need to put the outboard on the dinghy (sacrifice privacy for not having to put the dinghy together… a trade-off we could live with for the short term). Our testing of the windlass was inconclusive, but I think it was a function of how fast I was bringing the chain in with the anchoring attempts. Hopefully we won’t find out the hard way. Stripping down the windlass and cleaning it up is one of the jobs planned for this summer, anyway, and this confirms that.

Bequia is a very nice place to run/walk/hike. The roads are not very busy, and there are some interesting places to explore if you are so inclined. Just know that there WILL be a hill or two en route.

Saturday morning Ken and I went ashore to buy some groceries. There is a little supermarket that has the best flour we have seen anywhere, as it shares the building with a bakery. The bakery was closed, but I picked up my flour. We continued on back to the area where the fresh produce is sold. This is where I remembered one of the negatives of Bequia. Upon enquiring as to the price for mangos (yes, they were nice big grafted mangos) I was told it was $5.00EC per mango, but I could have a deal of $4.00. Per mango? There are trees dripping with mangos right on the island, and I can buy them on other islands about $1.00EC each, and they were asking $5.00EC. I can buy them cheaper than that in Canada, and the tree branches sure aren’t bending with them there! Other produce was pretty dear, too, so we bought a few “essentials” and moved on. We spoke with one of the staff at the bookstore, and she mentioned that sometimes a young guy sells them for $2.00EC per bag. While we were enjoying a lunchtime roti at “Sweety Bird” (fantastic rotis there, in our opinions) she called out to us that indeed he was selling them today for $2.00EC. When we saw him, we were told the price was $4.00EC. Normally that is a price I would not complain about at all, but the fact that the price magically doubled for us since we were tourists ticked me off. Keep your mangos, I have no desire to be screwed just because I’m not a local. Bequia is, in our opinion, expensive. I should have stocked up in Kingstown. One of the locals commented that some Bequians think the island is another Mustique (privately owned, and the houses are owned by the very rich and famous), and that it is open season for whatever you think the market will bear.

Sunday morning, we left Bequia for Canouan. Canouan is half private resort, half “regular” Eastern Caribbean. Even if the prices are no better for buying things, although I seem to recall they were a little more reasonable, we can be solidly anchored and there is great snorkeling there. Plus, it doesn’t have the reputation for thefts that Bequia has (although they do have a security patrol now). We voted with our keel. Bequia is not a place we will visit for any long term stays, and I will do my darndest to make sure we are well stocked up before we arrive.

Our trip to Canouan was pleasant, although it threatened to pour on us. We had some light rain once or twice, but only of a slight nuisance value; it caused us to remove our sunglasses for 10 minutes a couple of times. The anchor held first try, and we were greeted to the sounds of a beach party. The water is great for swimming and it is very uncrowded here. A few charter boats on their moorings (this is a charter base) and a handful of other boats anchored or renting moorings. We’ll stick around here for a little bit and get to know the island better, and if the anchorage does get rolly, we can pop down to Mayreau or Union Island, or even the Tobago Cays.

Well, I am now finishing and posting this from Mayreau. The anchorage in Canouan ended up being just a little too rolly, and the wind was doing some strange things. It wrapped around the island to come in from the NorthWest, rather than the ENE direction we had out of the lee of the island. In the middle of the night our drag alarm woke us up with a major wind shift, and yet again in the wee hours. The situation just wasn't sitting well with Ken and I, so we upped anchor (the dinghy hadn't been assembled so it was a quick procedure to head out).

We had another nice jib-only sail in the 18-23 knot winds on another beam reach (Damn, Skippy! We could get used to this!) moving along at over 5 knots again... that doesn't exactly break the sound barrier, we know, but with a number three jib alone, not too bad! And the trip was only about 5 miles to the island of Mayreau, anyway. We passed by the entrance of the popular anchorage of Salt Whistle Bay and decided to push on to Saline Bay, since Salt Whistle is rife with moorings and was looking a little more condensed than we felt like. We had Saline Bay all to ourselves, until a charter catamaran dropped anchor right next to us. The whole bay, and they felt the need to breathe down our necks. Yeesh. We were not heart broken when they left. We now have the company of about 5 other boats in the anchorage now.

We have sat through a 30 minute squall now with winds peaking at around 30 knots. The anchor is well dug in, and the roll is minimal. The forecast is talking about more squalls with this tropical wave until tomorrow morning, then things will settle into some slightly elevated winds for the rest of the week. it doesn't matter to us, we are a stone's throw from other anchorages and islands in somewhat sheltered waters.

Hmm, it's raining again... time to wash down the foredeck so we can collect some of the rain water in the tanks...