On the 5th day of the year, we can acknowledge a basic ritual on the boat. We tend to sleep until 7:30 and sometimes even later. We are comfortable in the relative coolness of the cabin – the temperature drops to at least 25 C – but when the sun snaps up over the top of the low Bequia hills and peeks into our cabin, it just gets too bright. We get up, I check the battery banks, and if we have enough electricity, I usually turn on the refrigerator cold plate to give the fridge a shot. The Mississauga Maritime Net starts formally at 8:45, and as propagation is poor and southern relays are few, they put me to work to attempt to contact maritime boats. We’ve left the boat to hike, to get gas for the dinghy, to get an economical and tasty roti, and to swim to the coral to look at the fish. Most of the time we sit and read. We have ploughed through books, good and bad. Here is a pic of Dawn, putting in the day.
We have also snorkelled to the beach with other boaters for a walk or for a beer at “De Reef”, a neat bar in the middle of the broad expanse of beautiful Lower Bay Beach.
Last night, after a day of lounging, and minor boat maintenance, we dinghied over to Nananni River, a 40 foot Leopard Cat, and had snacks and sundowners with 3 other couples. Dawn and I did our best to behave ourselves, drinking slightly diluted punches, then water, and leaving at around 10:30. The other couples did not go by our boat until midnight. I don’t know if we’re getting older or just smarter (this time anyway). Regardless, here are some pictures of us in the broad expanse of a Leopard 40 cockpit.
Above is Sharda and Dave from "Morgan" along with Laurie enjoying sundowners on "Nahanni River"
Above is Sue and Maurice from "Strider" and Doug on his own boat, "Nahanni River".
This ice bucket tells the story of sailing in a small boat...'everything must have more than one purpose or else out it goes!'
Today, we are on the internet to check the weather. On the south side of Bequia, just an hour or so away, is a little island called Petit Nevis, and we would like to explore it. However, we have a strong wind with some north in it, and we need to know more about how it might affect the new anchorage. Hopefully we’ll go either today or tomorrow, and get back to exploring new places.
A few days ago, a Canadian ham operator we had heard many times on the morning net, as well as the local VHS nets, sailed into the harbour. Vern, or VE7VRN, aboard a 46 foot, 20 year old Beneteau named “Jolly Friends”, is 85 years of age, and has been sailing around these parts for over 17 years. Like most hams, he came out of a technical background: he was a programmer in Cobalt, C, Fortran, and some of the other ancient computer languages. Vern does his best to get crews aboard his boat – he says he can’t eat anything he cooks or assembles, and at 85, can’t be expected to do a lot of foredeck work. Interestingly, he picks up crew by advertising on Craig’s List. After we dropped by his boat to introduce ourselves, he showed up on ours with his newest crew for a beer and a chinwag. We found the crew who answered his ad this time to be absolutely interesting – individuals, male and female, of different ages who crew on strangers’ boats all the time, to see the world and get their sailing fixes. We have been asked to be back here on Friday to babysit his boat while he takes in an overnight trip to tour St. Vincent. Here is a picture of Vern.
Here is Vern's crew. Both Maxine and Rip were very outgoing and personable!
