Hotels for Land Lubbers

Friday night, we had two couples over for sundowners and snacks: Mike and Linda of Casa Del Mar of Portland, OR, and Gary and Linda of July Indian, Port Stanley, ON. It was a really fun night, and the first true socializing since we arrived here in Bequia. Interestingly, as we were taking it easy and just having our own sundowner last night, a dinghy came up to us and, reading our stern (Saint John as our Canadian port of registry), said "We're from Saint John too". It was Brian and Paula of Magique; the boat that had so much trouble off Bermuda in November, 2006. Of course they came on board and we had a lovely couple of hours comparing notes on our cruising and reviewing our mutual friends at the RKYC. They're off to Mustique tomorrow, so we'll catch up with them again, down island.

Yesterday's off-boat excursion had us in Lower Bay, reviewing shore accommodations. Our intentions are to provide an alternative for anyone who might wish to spend time with us down here, but might be a little nervous to spend all of their vacation on a little boat. Of all the islands, we think Bequia might be the best for this. Although we did not find any "four star vacation locations" limiting this island to some of our old friends, the island has a lot to offer: long clean beaches, reasonable snorkeling just off the beach, hiking, a great number of great eating and drinking options, and easy access to us, who could anchor right off the beach.

Lower Bay is out of the downtown, and away from noise and congestion. There are nice places closer to the "action", but we would not recommend them because of the lack of beach, and some wastewater issues downtown. After checking out 5 of the most likely spots in Lower Bay, we settled on two:

Kingsville Apartments: 150 feet from the ocean, clean, nice interior sitting area, AC, fridge and kitchenette, sitting area, and quiet, clean grounds, with lots of flowers= $100 US, with 10% SV tax and 10% service chg.

Keegan's Guest House: on the beach, small, clean, mosquito nets, fridge but no kitchenette, some may have AC, interior sitting areas seem to be common for most rooms, rooms we saw were not as nice as Kingsville = $50-90, with 10%+ 10%.

A third, Coco's, is under renovation, looks promising, but is up a steep driveway.

Folks might wish to think about these, and how they may wish to use them. Anyone looking for a classier establishment should consider Sandals in Rodney Bay, where we could also just lay off the beach.

We put these out there for those still interested enough to be following our weblog and still considering some day joining us for a vacation. From this location, quick overnighters can be made to the Tobago Cays for 'real' snorkeling!

Last night, after our newest friends left, we thought we were low on battery energy (cloudy day with no wind), so I started the starboard engine. Immediately, we had a bilge alarm. The investigation resulted in me working all this morning, replacing a hose from the seawater pump to the heat exchanger. I had forgotten how hot and dirty it can be working on these little engines down here. All done, though, and all is well.

We're off to "De Reef" beach bar and restaurant this afternoon where many locals and cruisers find themselves on a Sunday afternoon!

Good Luck to Liz at home at Grand Lake who has a detached retina. We'll be thinking about you tomorrow as you head for Halifax!