However, Denis, our weather guru told us that there was a partial weather window forming for Tuesday, a subtle reprieve from the 20 to 25 knot winds. Although Steve and Maria said it was too rough for them, we decided to take it since it looked like the next opportunity was a long way off. Lorna and Brian on Peace and Plenty decided to travel with us. We waited until 11:00 am to get the lowest winds and all in all, the 3.5 hours weren't that bad. We had the third reef in the main and very little jib out and although the waves were 2 metres tall, there were 8 seconds between each peak and because they were coming a little from the north, they really didn't bother us too much. We did have one squall with winds over 30 knots but we put even more jjib away and the boat sailed along quite safely. We had trouble finding good holding for the anchor, but we were settled, mopped up salt water in the cockpit and were celebrating a successful crossing by 5:30 pm.
Wednesday morning we dinghied into the marina through the returning high winds (25 knots) and cleared in with the health department, customs and immigration, picked up parts for the watermaker that were fedexed from Trinidad and had lunch. I, Laurie, lunched with Brian (Peace and Plenty), John Fallon (Stopp Knot), Al (Tarentela), and other men who had all dropped their wives off at the ladies luncheon that is held every Wednesday at an upscale hotel with a pool and hot tub! The ladies discuss no amps, volts or boat parts!! The men, on the other hand, talked amps, volts and boat parts!!
Yesterday afternoon, we along with Lorna and Brian, paid a visit to our dear friend and long time mentor, John Fallon on Stopp Knott anchored near us. We were happily amazed at his efforts to reconstruct Stopp Knott since the fire several years ago. The boat looks very good and he recently took company from NB to Grenada and back! Later that evening, we dinghied to Jamb de Bois restaurant inside the national park and were lucky enough to spend more time with John and to have a meal with his friend Edgar with whom we had enjoyed the Bequia Easter Regatta in 2010.
But now we find ourselves on Saturday evening, readying the boat to cross the channel between St. Lucia and St. Vincent. The short reprieve from the high winds is expected to happen from 8:00 am to later in the afternoon (Sunday) and as we type this we are sailing the boat to a little fishing port 2 thirds of the way down the island. We'll up anchor at 5:30 am and head south. The biggest problem will be the winds around the volcano at the north end of St. Vincent. We'll go 5 miles out to sea to decrease the effects. We hope to make Bequia tomorrow (Sunday) just before dark.
This morning, feeling we needed some exercise, we joined Lorna and Brian on a 2 hour hike across the island to a little bay called Cas-en-bas. back at the marina, we celebrated the hike with rotis and beers. The Bread Basket makes the best rotis in the Caribbean!
I have included a few pictures today of our hike to Case en Bas.
