Kiting at Union Island

Walter here...

We had a good, quick sail over to Union island, with strong winds well
behind the beam. We had the lines out, but no bites.

Union Island is a wonderful spot. I had misgivings when I got here
with regard to the kiting, but they were unfounded. It has blown 20
kts consistently since we got here. I am working on backroll
transitions and making the biggest possible splash. I am in flat water
for a change, and liking it. If I want srf, I just tack out a narrow,
shallow channel in the reef.

The rest of the crew are enjoying a relaxing time reading a
snorkeling. There were a few good finds in the book exchange at the
local yacht club. (yes, there is one, and it is pretty nice..

The town is quaint and colorful, supplies are available and Dawn
spotted a few lobster in a nearby reef a week ago, and we need to try
to catch them.

The Grenadines second trip around...

Below you can read words written by our Guest Blogger, Walter. Pictured here is Walter and Dana. We have been out of Internet range for the past 5 days, so there's lots to read and tell. We first met Walter onboard his own boat, "Madness" over a year ago when we arrived in Bermuda after the Atlantic Crossing. We have spent much time with him while sailing these islands, but sadly his boat is on the hard up in Boston this winter...

First Entry
Sorry for the delay, but we didn’t have the connectivity I though, so I am writing this not knowing when you will receive it. Sooooo…..

God Damn them all, I was told
We’d cruise the seas for American gold
We’d fire no guns
Shed no tears
Now I’m a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett’s privateers

Instead the brave crew of the Halifax shop “Antelope” were treated to 6 years in prison for having tried to capture an American prize. If you are interested in figuring out just what the hell I am talking about, you should find the lyrics for Stan Rogers’ “Barretts Privateers”. In fact, just try to find some Stan Rogers music to appreciate some sea chanteys; and if our experience is any indication, they should be enjoyed under an nearly full moon with rum punch followed by smuggled beef and root vegetables with christophene, a Caribbean vegetable delight.

That was our dinner song tonight, and quite a song it is. I think we need to learn all of the words by the end of the cruise. Not everyone agrees, but I I persist singing it all of the time, I think they will learn through osmosis, unless they just toss me overboard.

Our cruise is going quite a lot better than the sailors of the Antelope’s did. We headed off from St Vincent to Bequia in the company of Unabated, Alan’s boat, and a sister ship to Madness in fact and in spirit.

Bequia was very quiet and low key. We went ashore for provisions; mainly beer. We did some lovely snorkelling that featured golden spotted eels, which are really just snakes that live underwater, according to Dana. We also spotted some Moray eels that elicited pretty much the same response.


The next morning we headed over to Tobago Keys, the first kiting spot on the itinerary.

There is a saying among sailors that whenever two boats ply the same water there is a race. Our trip across from Bequia to the Tobago Keys was no exception, except that there is a strange variation on the usual theme. Each of the contestants is completely and utterly convinced that the other won the contest. Alan has a pretty convincing photo of the stern of Cat Tales, but we have not yet resolved the dispute.

I was conflicted during the “not a race” not knowing whether to cheer for the boat that I was the helming or the sister shop to my own boat. I thought that we had a good view of the stern of “Unabated” the entire trip, but while we will talk about it for years or even generations, we don’t have the ambition to determine the real answer.

One thing we know for sure, that if we eventually stumble on some fact that establishes “Unabated” as the winner, Cat Tails has the excuse that we caught a perfectly delectable Bigeye Tuna’ and had to engage in the ritual of thrashing about taking in sail, reeling in the fish, landing and bleeding him. He made a fine dinner for all.


Also, Unabated suffered a mechanical failure that might in some circles mean that she failed the contest, but as we are sailors, we do not hold this against her. It did make for some excitement when her auxiliary engine did not propel the boat forward as intended, and she had to be short tacked up a relatively narrow passage to the Tobago Keys. Alan sailed her to anchor with me running alongside in Cat Tales’ dinghy in case she needed assistance. (She did NOT), We spent a few hours sorting out the failure of a driveshaft coupling. I think this may have been frustrating for Alan, but it was good fun for me rigging a Spanish windlass to force the propeller shaft back into the boat. It was a good swim and as good as any other way to pass the time.

More about the Tobago Keys tomorrow.

ttyl

Second Entry
Tobago Cays

After fixing the mechanical challenge on Unabated, we had our dinner of Bigeye tuna, salad, rice and pigeon peas and retired contented.

The next morning, we headed out to check out the kiting spot and the local reefs, When I say local, I mean that they were right there next to the boat.

The snorkelling was very good, with sightings of a white eel, cow fish, juvenile and adult angels of the French and Grey varieties, damsels, red lipped blennys, a 5-6 foot nurse shark, lobster, etc. etc.

The kiting was pretty good too, but with weak winds, only 13-16 kts, but enough to get a session in. I did befriend a nice Frenchman, Herve and his wife Gwen. We did some downwind kiting by launching a kite, putting the kiter on a dinhgy, and delivering him out to sea for a run back.

The boat has been visited by a small parade of boat boys (I am not sure that this moniker is politically correct, but it is the accepted local term) selling their wares to the tourist. They offer bigeye and yellow fin tuna, Florida lobsters, local jewellery, tee shirt and the like. I think they can see that Cat Tales is a long-term cruiser, and not a likely buyer for their wares. They focus more on those who are her for a week, and on a vacation budget. They may have been pleasantly surprised when Dana demonstrated that we are on vacation by buying some tee shirts.

Tomorrow we head for Salt Whistle bay, a short sail to the west.

ttyl

Last Entry
Saltwhistle Bay

We woke up to a pretty windy frontal system passing through. It was blowing about 25 knots and raining, and I had to be restrained from heading to the beach for some kiting.

There was some excitement in the morning when a charter boat dragged anchor and ended up on the rocks. She was holed and taking on water. Lauri quipped “Gee, it is a shame that the first boat you bought had a hole in it”, referring to the likely response of the charter company when the found out where the charterers had anchored the boat. (They were not in a location that was likely to meet with the approval of the charter company.)

In spite of the strong winds, I was shanghaied into crossing over to Salt Whistle instead of rigging the kite. It all worked out quite well though, as the wind held all afternoon, and I was able to exhaust myself trying to get back to my skill level of just a few months ago.

Herve and Gwen also sailed over, so I had some company kiting. I found out today the they are on sabbatical and bought a catamaran to cross the Atlantic and cruse the Caribbean. Later we met Alex, Caroline and Maria, who are very good kiters that pushed us to try more than we might have otherwise. This other group is here from Sweden on a chartered boat for a few weeks.

I hope they will be here tomorrow.

ttyl
Walter from s/v Madness (Guest aboard Cat Tales)

Back in Bequia today

Lorna and Brian sadly got away without incident on Saturday and we have learned that they arrived safely in Canada with laundry done.

Dana and Walter arrived on Saturday evening an hour and a half earlier than planned, so it was nice to pick them up at the dock in the daylight. Oddly enough, a friend of his who owns the same type of boat as Walter (Pearson 42) had planned to be in the area around the same time. His partner, Becky happened to be on the same flight as Walter and Dana, so we've been having a nice time with sundowners and snorkeling already with Becky and Alan. After a beer run and a few groceries, "Cat Tales" and "Unabated" will sail later today to Tobago Cays where Walter will put his Kite Surfing equipment together and kite surf while we snorkel. We had such a great time in that area with Lorna and Brian that I know they'll also love it!

We'll be out of range of email until about Wednesday when you can expect a guest blog from Walter.

Stay warm all!
Dawn

Video we promised

After a rough ride up here, we have just arrived in St. Vincent to meet Lorna and Brian's flight tomorrow. We're sitting in the cockpit after cleaning the salt off the boat, enjoying a couple of cold brewskies!

Here is the video we promised the other day when we were in Union Island!
Click here to see the video!

From the Jeffreys :)

Day 10 with the Jeffreys

Drinks out on a teeny island off Union Island was a perfect spot for a sunset photo!

We sailed around to Chatham Bay on the windward side of Union Island where we enjoyed a beautiful walk along the beach. Because so many locals arrived at the boat asking us to come in and enjoy their restaurants and bars, we decided that it was only fair to buy a cold brew at each one of them.

Hey, don't worry, it wasn't that difficult! Later on we had dinner at Seckie and Vanessa's Beach Bar which was wonderful fresh fish and conch with a buffet of salads and vegetables. All the time wiggling our bare feet in the sand under the picnic tables! Check out the cat that decided he liked fish too!


In the morning, we headed for Salt Whistle Bay for 2 days. We walked up the steep hill and visited a local restaurant for fabulous meal of chicken with all the fixings. Dawn was able to get the recipe from the cook again so it can be replicated onboard.



We walked the beaches, drifted along the beach with our noodles and did some snorkeling.

We haggled a boat boy for a lovely large red snapper and cooked it up for dinner using the recipe we got from a restaurant in Union Island a few days prior. It was THE BEST FISH EVER! This is now Lorna's new hapy place. Off to Tobago Cays we went for one more night where we snorkled and saw a ray and lots of beautiful fish. It is definately time to purchase an underwater camera to help show you the aquarium like environment we were able to swim in.

This jack fish was caught on the way back to Bequia today and will be dinner tomorrow! Tonight, we'll head into shore and get a fix of Mac's Pizzeria!

Sailing in Union Island

We're heading over to the other side of Union Island in a short while. We tried to get a video up for you but it just wouldn't go. We'll save it until later, cause we have to turn this off and get sailing!! We'll be out of Internet range for the next several days. Stay warm - from the Jeffreys and Corbetts.

Lorna and Brian saying hi from the Grenadines

To all who wondered…we made it! Sorry for the delay in our report, hopefully you’ll understand. The trip down was long and drawn out but otherwise uneventful. Flying from Barbados to St. Vincent in a Dash 8 was one long drone but we were in the front seats facing the back of the plane. That meant we were first off the plane. This was an interesting first time experience. It was dark and I asked the attendant which way to go and she said “straight up to the building” so away we went. I saw a young lady standing outside some glass doors with people inside so in we went along with all the other passengers following us. It turns out this was the departure lounge! (They would have followed us off a cliff like a herd of lemmings!) One of the security guys showed us back out of the building and along a darkened section of the pavement past a sign under a palm tree that read “Arrivals”! Who knew that in St. Vincent straight up meant off to the right on a 45 degree angle? All was well after that. One short taxi ride ($25.00 EC / $12.50 CDN) and we were at the Young Island Dock. It was a pretty sketchy area, so the driver was going to wait with us but one quick call on the VHF and Laurie was in sight with the dinghy.


Now we are off to Bequia and the sail was awesome. We saw many sail and power boats going both ways. It is a busy spot to be in. We anchored in Bequia and swam and relaxed and toured around town picking up a few supplies and a great lunch at the Green Bolley; a chicken roti and a beer or two. We were back on the boat for a light dinner and a very early bed since the night before was so late. It feels so good to be back sleeping on a boat.

The next morning we are off to Tobago Cays a short sail of 2 hours and a very pleasant sail. Hardly got the deck wet. We anchored and Dawn and I (Lorna) went swimming to see the turtles. The sea turtles are huge and so docile. They have marked off area in a grassy zone for them and you can swim fright over them and I saw a star fish about 2-3 feet across. Really something! The coral reef was very close and Laurie took us over in the dinghy for a swim. We probably saw 100 varieties of fish and water was so clear and very warm. Then we took the dinghy across the bay for a walk and a swim at a beautiful beach with palm trees on the edge of the water. It looks crowded but not busy at all.


Today we were off to Clifton Harbour in Union Island. We walked around town and had a wonderful lunch of red snapper with all the fixings. The cook gave Dawn her recipe and she’s hoping to buy some red snappers at some time and replicate the dinner! There’s something to be said for eating where the locals eat! Each dinner was only 15 EC which is about 7.50 Canadian. On the waterfront, the same meal goes for over 80 EC a plate!!

At the time of publishing this blog, we were unable to upload a few of the better pictures, so please check back later and we'll try to add them. This was a 2 hour project!

Company has arrived!

Please enjoy this video of our trip to St. Vincent yesterday from Bequia. It was onlya 2 hour trip, but it was rolliking to say the least!
http://www.flowers-cove.ca/CatTales/bequia%20to%20st%20vincent.wmv
Lorna and Brian arrived right on schedule and we're awaiting banana pancakes this morning compliments of our day chef, Laurie!

The next video we put up, we'll try to give you a nice pleasant one, which is the way we live most days!

Off to St Vincent's Young Island Cut

As soon as we get Cat Tales squared away for sea, we're off to Young Island Cut. It's about a 2 hour sail when the wind is from the east, but of course it isn't; so we'll budget 3 hours with a northeast wind. It will be good to put some sail up anyway. It also should be a wet and bumpy sail, so Lorna and Brian will be coming aboard a rather salty Cat Tales.

Petit Nevis

We took off for a very little trip last Tuesday, just to get away and make sure all systems are working. We left the Admiralty Bay area of Bequia, and sailed around to a little island only a mile from the south shore of Bequia. For Cat Tales, it was a six mile journey. The island, Petit Nevis, is about a half mile on any side, and is an abandoned whaling station. Actually, the whaling must have happened quite a while ago, as there is no sign of any whaling ever having gone on. In the ‘70s, there was an attempt to develop Petit Nevis; but now all there is to show for it is a broken pier, a half-mile cemented rock wall that was meant to hold one side of a road, and a concrete block construction shack. That’s typical for all the islands, where grandiose plans melt away to nothing within a few months of construction. We were totally alone there for two days and two nights, snorkelling, snooping, and reading. The snorkelling was good, and we got to see a large tortoise on land. No booty ashore, and no fish on the line either coming or going.

While we were there, Dawn helped me cook up come callaloo soup, with callaloo, christophene, onions, garlic, seasoning, and a can of crabmeat. It was very nice and fed us two large meals. Dawn also made a perfect pan of cornbread, my favourite.

We came back here early Friday morning, and, during a trip to town got invited to the catamaran Morgan for sundowners and snacks. With four couples in attendance, it was a fun time.

Here is Sharda doing her "Vanna" showing us the very best type of west indies curry to use in cooking. She is an excellent cook and has prepared many traditional Trinidadian snacks for us.
Here is a pic of the fishmarket, where we scored two pounds of wahoo, probably for Sunday’s plate. We paid 9 EC a pound so it works out to about 9 Canadian for the 2 pounds, enough for a couple of meals.



We’re just carrying out small chores, waiting for Tuesday, when we go to Young Island Cut on the main island to await Lorna and Brian’s arrival.

Living Slow in Bequia

We are still in Bequia, living slow, while we await our first set of company. Just as well, as we typically jump into a higher gear for enjoyment after company arrives.

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!

New Year's Eve in Bequia

Dinner with friends in Bequia at Mac's Pizzeria. We all had the Lobster Thermadore which was delicious. It was the special for the evening for $90.00 EC a person which is approximately $45.00 Canadian. It included salad and dessert as well. Even though it was wonderful, I still need to get back there some day and enjoy their pizza, which they're famous for!


Here is one of the hard working cooks for our special evening! She doesn't look very happy to be working the evening shift!


As we walked along the waterfront, we stopped into a couple of bars and enjoyed this young group of pan players.


There were no chairs left, but do we look like we care? Both couples from July Indian and Nahanni River are pictured along side of me.


The arch of this entryway is made from the jaw bones of a whale! The restaurant and bar is called "The Whaleboner".


Just what we needed...one more drink at Doug and Wendy's boat, Nahanni River. The fireworks were nice, but not nearly as nice as in St. Martin last year! In turquois is Linda and her husband Garry is to the left of her.


Happy New Year to all!!