We left Canouan for Bequia (beck-way) around 1130 after finally getting the (friggin') water pump fixed. The wind was blowing it's usual 15-20k (out of the NE this time) so we were hard on the wind. The sea was up so it was a bit of a slog. It took a bit of a toll on Ruth, but she sucked it up and made through like a sailing warrior!

Admiralty Bay is an enormous bay with a large number of boats. Without a working dinghy motor, we motored right up to the 'head of the class' - as close to shore as we could get. It gets crowded in there, but we managed to shoe horn our 45-footer in there for a short day-anchorage.

I immediately went into Customs to check in. Now bear in mind - we left Carriacou (Grenada) 3 days ago and spent 2 days at Union Island and 2 night at Canouan - both in the nation of St. Vincent/The Grenadines. So when I checked in they had some questions about the3-day discrepancy. Being an awful liar, I told them we spent last night in Canouan.

At that point they started asking me why I didn't check in at Canouan; did I know that ignorance of the law (or in my case, just plain ignorance!!) is no excuse; etc., etc., etc. The customs agent had me sweating bullets. Then he comes out with the fact that violation of this law is punishable with a $5,000 EC ($2,000 USD) fine! Then he lets me sweat some more.

I was pretty sure he was going to let me off....but I couldn't be sure. So part of my 'panic' was real, and part of it was to give him the mileage he was looking for from me. In the long run, he let me slide. But, wow! Lesson learned. Before going to Chatham Bay from Petit St. Vincent 3 days ago we passed a port of entry. But I got lazy cuz the weather was nasty and passed on it. Guess I know better now! Whew!!!

I picked up my kite from the sailmaker, and am only $800 EC ($320 USD) lighter! Ouch. It was a full day of throwing out the trash, doing laundry, and getting provisions from 4 different suppliers...plus bake 2 loaves of bread (and homeschool) on top of that. And everyone thinks we just lay around drinking rum all day! (OK, we do a bunch of that, too!!)

Tomorrow we will head to St. Vincent since we missed it on the way south. Then on to St. Lucia.

Announcements: It is still early to release this information, but Time Warp Cruising (TWC) is in negotiations with my friend, Gila, for her to come out and spend some time in late Feb./early Mar. with us. Gila is an old friend (the friendship, not the girl!!) from Miami and knows much of the Caribbean, so that could be a lot of fun.

And Jim Wood has volunteered to be a line handler/translator for our transit of the Panama Canal this Spring. Jim grew up in Panama, so hopefully he can help us find our way from the Atlantic to the Pacific. (Did you know the Canal actually runs north-south, not east-west? And just remember, you learned it here first!!)

TWC is still 'in negotiations' with our friends Jerry and Laura to come join us this winter. Details to be released soon.

And finally, something to think about....we may need help with the crossing from Panama to Galapagos to Marquesas in May. Keep it in mind if you have any interest. I'll be putting out a general call here shortly, depending on what transpires from all these confounded 'negotiations'!!