First stop – the bloody boxes. We get one load in the car (the lightest stuff obviously) and take it down to the boat after lunch, just in time to stop the cleaners making up the bed. Although the boat still being worked on, we arrive at a time when there are no workmen aboard and are able to throw the stuff onto the beds in the bow cabins and leave.
We then go over to CRC to pick up up Heather and Joe. Quite what we would have done without their help I have no idea. With my back still not right, I am incapable of lifting anything heavy and Heather is strict as hell about not letting me anyway.
Mike and Joe make multiple visits to Jeannius, laden up to the roof but eventually everything is back on board. In the meantime Heather and I finish clearing up the house – it looks completely different without all our boxes!
Back on the boat, we start to unpack all the boxes which belong to Penny and attempt to get those stowed first so that we can return them tomorrow then get ourselves cleaned up to go over to Cane Garden Bay where Joe treats us to a lovely meal at Myetts.
I wake up with my back feeling better than it has done all week. One night on my lovely bed seems to have done the trick but I still want to make sure that it is clicked back into position so at 7 am Mike and I head out for the chiropractor hoping that my information about him starting work early is correct. It is. He calls me on the way over and agrees to see me half an hour later.
He’s good and produces a good few cracks. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Mike wincing at the noise but my back is happier for it and my walk is noticeably more comfortable afterwards.
We pop over to the supermarket afterwards to buy the ice cream to replace the stuff we had scoffed at Mandi and Kirstie’s then drive over to do a last check of the house before returning all the boxes to Penny and Peter.
The workmen are still doing things on the boat so Heather, Joe and I go to do the provisioning while Mike goes to do the checking out. Finally, everything is ready and at 3 pm we throw the lines off and leave the dock.
We set a course for heading straight down to St Bart’s but within a few hours the winds change direction and strengthen and we are soon fighting 30 knots straight on the nose. Heather and Joe start to feel seasick and after valiantly fighting it, Heather gives up and feeds the fishes, tied to the boat by the lifeline on her lifejacket. If she moves, a fresh wave of nausea comes over her so she spends the next 18 hours lying on the cockpit cushions, unable to eat or drink. Joe feels almost as bad but manages to lie in the relative comfort (if you ignore the noise factor) of the stern cabin.
Mike and I are not immune to the discomforts either and I swallow sea sick pills too. Checking the forecast, there seems to be no let up in the weather and Mike makes the decision to head for St Martin. It’s always a difficult and uncomfortable trip there, but is no worse than the course we had set. However, the wind and sea state makes the journey that usually takes us no longer than 15 miserable hours, takes just over 20. It is the worst that we have ever had and we arrive in Simpson Bay exhausted. At least Heather can eat and drink again as the horrible feelings disappear almost immediately we put the anchor down.
As we are all so exhausted, we decide to spend the night at anchor and take the short trip over to St Bart’s tomorrow for a treat. An unexpected night at anchor is wonderful and we all have a good night’s sleep, waking up refreshed.
Although it is still relatively uncomfortable, the motor to St Bart’s is short and Heather and Joe’s delight in arriving in the early morning sunshine at Gustavia is obvious (as is mine).
Heather and I take full advantage of the showers on the dock then wander off with Joe to do a spot of shopping (in my case, the window variety). As all the shops start to close for their long midday siesta, we look for a taxi to take us over to Tom’s Beach at St Jean for lunch at the Pink Parrot but all the taxi drivers seem to having their lunch and I have to get the tourist office to get one for us.
The setting is as glorious as ever, and we have a lovely, and as usual, expensive, meal there.
Photo: Lunch at the Pink Parrot, St Barts
We have the usual fashion show with nubile young women arriving at the table showing off the clothes available at the shop attached to the restaurant but they induce Joe to treat Heather to a couple of things before Heather and I wander down the beach.
Photos: Tom’s Beach, St Bart’s
With full stomachs we walk down the road to look at the rest of the shops then call our taxi. Having had a late, blowout lunch, dinner is a quieter affair on board.
Tropical Storm Irene is steadily making her way west and Mike is very keen to get out of her way so the next morning we leave quite early. Back out in open sea, although we now have a better angle to the wind and are able to sail rather than motor, the sea is still uncomfortable enough to prompt the return of the sea sickness for Heather and Joe. This is miserable enough at the best of times, but worse when you are on holiday. The next two days pass immeasurably slowly for them both. Joe watches unhappily as we pass each island – St Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St Lucia and St Vincent, none of which we have time to stop at if we are to have time in the Grenadines, especially the Tobago Cays. The unscheduled stop in St Martin and the weather and the fact that their time is limited are all factors.
In the end, they take the decision to stop at Bequia rather than pressing on to the Tobago Cays. Unfortunately the weather is miserable when we arrive and Bequia seems to be shut. All the shops and restaurants which the guide book says are open until September are closed. Watching the predicted path of Tropical Storm Irene has worried Joe. They are due to fly through Puerto Rico on their way home and TS Irene is predicted to become a hurricane as she passes over. Having made the decision to leave a day early in order to get through PR before she arrives they manage to change their Liat flights from Grenada to St Vincent and on to San Juan.
They leave the next day on the early morning ferry to St Vincent. And so begins the nightmare journey home for them, one which is to feature one Liat fiasco after another and which takes them nearly four days to get home.
As for us, after such a miserable day’s weather yesterday, Sod’s Law gives us a brilliant day of sunshine and I wish Heather was still here and sailing with us to Mayreau and the Tobago Cays to swim with the turtles off Baradel. Another time hopefully!
Photos: Calm seas and a gentle breeze on our way to Mayreau
It’s a lovely passage down to Mayreau and the sea is like a millpond. Arriving mid afternoon in the tranquil waters of Saline Bay with only half a dozen boats, a bit different to the last time we were here back in April with all the WARC boats for Annie and Jim’s wedding. I feel quite nostalgic and lonely for a while but a glass of wine and a nice meal aboard, gently swaying in the beautiful anchorage, mellows me out and I relax and enjoy my surroundings.
Photos: Saline Bay, Mayreau
Photo: Sunset from Mayreau (Union Island in the background)
Always enjoy your entires Jean.
ReplyDeleteglad you are traveling again.
DIane aka toast from ttol