Our sail to Bequia from Carriacou was fabulous, last
Sunday. We left Tyrell Bay at 7 a.m.,
and after only one tack, arrived at the tip of West Cay at about 1 p.m. As a 40 nautical mile sail, one normally
budgets 8 hours for this trip, but we had steady winds from the east at 15
knots with just a little south in it and truly enjoyed the day. Peace and Plenty also did well, actually
passing us after the arrival at West Cay, as we carried on to tack back and
forth into the 2 miles to the east for the anchorage, while they rolled up
their sails and carried on immediately with their "iron jib" (engine).
Last weblog actually had us in Grenada proper, so we should
tell you also that the sail from St. Georges to Tyrell Bay was also quite
grand. We did have one outrageous slap
from the sea in the troubled area around Kick'em Jenny Rock, where the winds,
waves, tides, and sea bottom work together to maintain the name. We fell down one deep depression in the
confused seas, and it filled in with a vengeance from the east to slap our
starboard side and salt us up. No damage
done, yet apparent anyway.
We want to share one last picture of us in Grenada, taken at
a brewery-pub that was just opening up in a new location. We were actually hiking out to the place
where we were served last spring, when we stopped along the way at the future
location to inquire about how the renovations were coming along. Hilariously, both places were "kind
of" closed as they had made the big step that day in moving the taps. Still, they invited us in and we were among
the first customers. Of course, with an
empty pub, we got great attention, many tastings, and lots of stories. Indeed, I have written an article on the
place for the local sailing magazine, and am just waiting for some
clarification by email from the owner.
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| West Indies Beer Company |
Since in Bequia, both Lorna of Peace and Plenty, and Laurie
of Cat Tales are nursing bad backs and taking things quite easy. Indeed, on Cat Tales, the maintenance list is
growing in anticipation of better health.
Still, all four of us have visited two different favourite lunch spots,
done some limited touring, and even some snorkeling. One of the finds at the reef was a that just
defies cataloguing. Our books have pics
of scrawled cowfish - a yellow fish with blue scrawling, and a honeycomb
cowfish - a reticulated design that can change colour. We have to favour the honeycomb cowfish, as
it can apparently change to blue; but the design is more scrawling than
honeycomb, and nothing in our books explains the explosive yellow colouring
behind the eye. An exciting find for
Dawn, Lorna, and Brian.
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| Honeycomb Cowfish found on the reef behind our boat in Bequia |
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| Sharptail Eel |
Our plans are to sit here for at least another week, then
look for a weather window to sail both boats further north to Rodney Bay, St.
Lucia. We can always visit again on our
way back to Grenada at the end of the season.
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| Jambalaya, heading out for a sail |
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| Gift-store in Bequia |
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| Admiralty Bay in Bequia |
For those who are interested, we are seeing a lot of a
sailing cruise ship called the Mandalay of Zanzibar. There are a few websites that talk about it,
but the skinny on it is best told by Wikipedia.
Check it out for the interesting history of this beautiful three-master,
formerly one of the Windjammer boats. Go
to Wikipedia and ask for the page called RV Vema to get all the history and
some better pictures.
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| Yacht Mandalay |
