Day 458: Tobago Cays to Bequia – 09/04/11

Bob comes to pick up Bev, Moe and Stuart for an early morning snorkel/explore of Petit Tabac, the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ island.  I am too lazy to go but just steal Moe’s photos when they get back as the island is so lovely.

Photos:  Early morning on Petit Tabac

We arrange to leave at 9.30 am and five minutes before, I give a pseudo countdown to Crazy Horse and Ocean Jasper then we are off, CH then OJ following close behind. 

Photos:  Leaving the Tobago Cays, Crazy Horse and Ocean Jasper following behind

We motor for a while then get the main up and motor sail.  After about half an hour we are able to put the genoa out and cut the engine.  The wind is with us and once past the short choppy waves around Canouan, we fly the rest of the way to Bequia, averaging 8.5 knots.  It’s a great sail although I have to admit to spending most of it in bed trying to go back to sleep (and failing).

Unfortunately, Crazy Horse starts to smoke as we leave the Cays and they suspect her engine cooling inlet pipe is blocked with weed from where they were anchored.  (Bill manages to clear this later.)

We arrive in Admiralty Bay, Bequia and expertly attach ourselves to a mooring ball.  Immediately we are approached by one of the boat boys who tells us that the buoy we have chosen is not suitable for a large boat like ours and tells us he has a much better one further into the shore.  We slip the lines and prepare to follow him when the owner of the one we had moored go arrives and says the buoy is fine for us and asks for our lines.  As we tie back on, the second guy comes roaring back saying again that it’s no good for us and the two of them have an argument about it.  Apparently this happens all the time as they all vie for the same business.  We are not a heavy boat and Mike is quite content to stay where we are.  Moe negotiates a good price for us and we settle back to have some lunch.

Crazy Horse come in next and gets given the ball that the other guy wanted us to have and Ocean Jasper comes in a little later.

Matt, Rosemary and Anna come over after lunch to see if we want to have a little explore around town and takes me, Bev, Moe and Stuart over to the dinghy dock then shoots back to the boat to help Bill sort out the engine problem.  Port Elizabeth, the town at the head of Admiralty Bay, has most things that yachties need – chandleries, fishing supplies and supermarkets which are well stocked by small Caribbean island standards.  There is a good choice of bars and restaurants.

We straggle along the road in little groups, sometimes meeting up and sometimes disappearing from sight and hanging around waiting for other to reappear.  Rosemary describes it as trying to herd cats.

Photos:  Views of Port Elizabeth and Admiralty Bay, Bequia

We arrange to meet up with Crazy Horse for dinner at the Devil’s Table, an interesting venue built underneath the Yacht Club and into the side of a hill.  When we arrive, we find Annie and Jim eating at the bar and the crew from Ariane at one of the tables.

Photo:  At the Devil’s Table, Bequia

Here I have one of the best steaks I have ever had.  No special steak knife is needed and the ordinary one just slips through my perfectly cooked meat as if it is butter.  It is covered with a rum and peppercorn steak and is just scrumptious, as is the potato with garlic and gruyere cheese that comes with it.  We are a little disappointed with the music when it starts as it is more like soul/pop than the reggae we were promised.  However, as the bar starts to fill up with locals and people coming in to the bar rather than just eating, it livens up and the reggae starts.  The house wine is good too although when they run out of it and refuse to give us a different bottle for the same price as the house (which, for God’s sake, is only EC$9 different) we refuse to buy another bottle on principal.

Maggie and Bob arrive as we finish eating and join us for drinks although.  It’s a lovely evening but we are both tired and leave with Rosemary and Bill earlier than the others. 

 

Our position is:  13 deg 00 min N, 61 deg 14 min W

Distance so far:  24641 nautical miles

Day 457 : Mayreau to the Tobago Cays – 08/04/11

It’s just a short hop around the corner to the Tobago Cays and we are only a little late leaving.  As we approach we can see the gaggle of boat vendors waiting at the entrance, ready to pounce, but they are more interested in chatting together than bothering with us.

The Tobago Cays consist of 5 uninhabited islands – Petit Rameau, Petit Bateau, Petit Tabac, Jamesby and Baradal – a horseshoe reef linking all of them except Petit Tabac (where Johnny Depp’s character, Jack Sparrow, was marooned in the film Pirates of the Caribbean.  The whole area is a Wildlife Reserve and Marine Park.

Just outside the Cays we had seen a charter boat floundering around, dinghy swinging dangerously from its davits, main sail flapping wildly as they had the boom too high to straighten it out.  They obviously had no idea what they were doing.  As we enter the relatively narrow channel between the islands, we have a day charter boat on our port side so have no room on that side when the other boat suddenly zooms through on our inside in an attempt to overtake us.  When they realise that they can’t cut the corner, they then slow up to let us pass then overtake on the other side.  They are going way too fast.  There are snorkelers in the water and turtles around.  Plonkers!

Photo:  Arriving in the turquoise water of the Tobago Cays

We put our anchor down next to Crazy Horse and Matt immediately comes over to say hi and to organise a snorkelling session. 

Photo:  Matt comes to say hello

Mike wants to stay with the boat for a while – one of us always stays with the boat to make sure the anchor has settled – but the rest of us get togged up, me included, and clamber into Matt’s dinghy with him and Anna although we have to make Matt put away his deckchair first!

Photo:  Could you get any more laid back in a dinghy?

We drag the anchor up onto a pristine white beach.  I look wonderful in my swimming jacket as usual but heyho, at least I won’t drown.  I put my fins and snorkelling gear on and go straight off with Anna.  We immediately find two turtles and hover over the top of them while they sit on the bottom and feed.  When they start to swim, I follow one of them, the large one, swimming about three feet above him for about five minutes.  His grace is beautiful to behold.  While I struggle to maintain his speed he gently glides from left to right, occasionally coming to the surface to breathe.  He knows I am there but shows no concern.  It’s a wonderful experience.

Turning back, the others are hovering over another four turtles and I watch for a while before heading back to the beach as my mask has dribbled a little bit of water in and although I manage to empty it, some has dripped into my eyes and they are no streaming so much that I am swimming blind.

Once at the beach I strip off my disgusting flotation kit then realise that I have a soaking wet white tee-shirt on underneath.  Very clingy.  Very see through.  Not good!!  Anna lends me a less revealing one and I just have to go for it and strip off into it on the beach.  In Europe I wouldn’t bat an eyelid.  Here – it’s very different and I feel like a complete hussy!

Matt convinces us all to walk up the hill.  He uses the word ‘path’ so I don’t worry about the fact that I am barefoot.  ‘Path’ obviously means something different to Matt that it does to us girls, and as we struggle to climb over extremely hot stones, earth, grit, dried and prickly leaves and God knows what else, all you can hear as we climb is us griping.

We get about two thirds up the hill and barefooted Anna gives up (she did this yesterday in shoes so knows what’s coming – sensible girl) and goes back down.  The rest of us continue, Bev and I still griping, past scuttling iguanas, beautifully camouflaged in grey and white stripes against sun bleached tree stumps (although the pale orange crests are a bit of a giveaway) to the top of the hill.

Photo:  View from the top of the hill

We walk down the other side, not quite as hot as it’s on the slightly shaded side of the island but nasty underfoot as it is gritty and slippery.  Matt attempts to help me but I am so worried about dragging him down the hill with me if I slither that it makes me nervous.  However, we all make it down without injury and the beach is worth it.  No one else is there and we wander up and down looking for interesting things on the beach.  There’s no shade so I go right down to the end and sit on the rocks under a tiny bit of overhanging cliff for a while and sit and stare out at the beautiful hues of blue and turquoise, watching the waves crash over the reef.

 Photos:  Pictures on a castaway island

Both Bev and I have grave doubts about the trip back across the hill – barefoot remember – so Matt goes back for Anna and the dinghy and comes back for us.    Then suddenly two snorkels appear out of the sea – Maggie and Bob!  Fancy seeing you two here.  We spend a little longer just hanging around.  I kick at a bit of rock sticking out of the sand right at the back of the beach and it turns out to be a really brilliant conch shell with a really bright pink interior.  Suddenly from around the corner of the hill, we spot Eline and Oisin and shout to them that we are just on the way round to the first beach.  Jutta and Jochem are there and we promise to come back to the beach after lunch and our afternoon nap. 

Photo:  Curly hair, buoyancy jacket – such style!

When we get back to Jeannius to sort out some lunch, Mike has already attacked the banana bread and is not as hungry as us!

Lunch over, Maggie and Bob offer us a lift back to see Jutta and Jochem but when we get there they have already left to go back to Mayreau.  We continue on with the dinghy and find another island to explore.  I have to say it is beautiful here but I still prefer the wonder of the Tuamotus in French Polynesia,  Ahh.  Fakarava!  We agree that Jeannius is the best boat for drinks and invite everyone over to us later.  There’s just enough time to shower before they arrive, bringing their drinks with them.

  Photos:  The usual suspects having a drink or two

We have a lovely evening with everyone then I VERY quickly cook a spaghetti bolognaise but with soya mince, my storecupboard standby.

 

Our position is:  12 deg 38 min N, 61 deg 23 min W

Distance so far:  24619 nautical miles

Day 456: Mayreau to Union then back – 07/04/11

Annie and Jim arrive to check out our plans for getting Bev’s dad from Union Island and it seems to work out well that we take them and Diana (Jim’s secretary who came down for the wedding) as well as Diana’s flight leaves from there around lunchtime.

Before we leave though, Annie and Jim decide to ‘take the plunge’ in quite a different way – jumping into the sea from the dinghy dock in their wedding outfits.  We try to watch from the boat but Ocean Jasper, their boat, keeps swinging and blocking our view.

I make spicy pumpkin soup and another loaf of bread and at around 11 am everyone is on the boat and ready for the off.  It’s a bit of a bumpy old ride, with short, choppy waves as we are going through water only 20 feet deep for most of the way, but at least we do manage to get the genoa out and sail for a short while.

Annie takes my place as a client in the massage parlour and gets a shoulder rub from Moe who’s back rent is going up every day as I still have only had the one massage in nearly a week.  Diana, Annie and Jim sit and read my blog account of the wedding – it must be really weird to read someone else’s account of your special day as we all see and record things in our minds in completely different ways.

Photo:  Diana’s new work station?

It’s amusing to watch Jim sitting as a passenger on a boat for a change – I think it’s the first time he hasn’t been in charge at the helm since the rally started, but each time he offers to help Moe has already leapt up to do whatever it is he is offering to help with.  Sit down, man, enjoy the ride!!

As we approach Clifton, Union Island, the boat ‘boys’ approach, all having the best mooring available for us.  We are only going to be a few hours, not overnight, so one mooring is as good as any other and we go with the first one that arrives by our side.  At EC$80 (£20) for an overnight, his first price of EC$40 is rejected by Mike and he settles for EC$20 and a beer.  Bev and I have got the lines ready and quickly secure the boat.

Mike takes Diana, the luggage, Annie and Jim over to the Anchorage Yacht Club in the dinghy.  It’s right by the side of the tiny airport, so close in fact that the planes look as though they are going to land on the roof of the club when they come in.  When he comes back for the rest of us the dinghy engine suddenly conks out – a fuel blockage?  He clears it and we leap on fast before it conks out again.

We stop at the Anchorage Yacht Club for a drink (water for me as it’s hot, hot, hot).  It’s a lovely spot to wile away the time before Diana’s flight leaves.  Amazingly you have to get a key from behind the bar to go to the toilet.  I say ‘amazingly’ because the toilets are in such a state that I don’t know why they bother locking them.  I note with dismay that there is a cloud of mosquitoes actually in the toilet bowl.  I have never peed so fast in my life, admonishing myself at the same time for not putting mosquito repellent on my bum!

Photos:  Anchorage Yacht Club, Clifton, Union Island

Photo:  Black tipped sharks lie in wait by the side of the yacht club

Annie and Jim walk Diana to the airport for her flight and Bev and Moe get a text from Stuart saying he is on the ferry and it’s leaving, so they make their way to Ashton to meet him.  When Annie and Jim return, the four of us decide to go for a walk through town.

Mike and I were last on Union Island in 1999.  It seems a lot different now, more colourful, more organised and certainly more friendly, or maybe we are just more used to the Caribbean way of life and doing things.

Photos:  Colourful views of Clifton

We walk through town and up the hill getting half way to Ashton before acknowledging that perhaps the sun is a little too strong to continue any further.  The scenery as we walk is beautiful, the colours across the reefs that surround much of this island are stunning.

Photos:  Union Island

Photos:  Jim, Annie, Mike and I at the top of a hill

We walk back to Clifton where I notice a rather wonderful sign on a warehouse wall.  Anyone fancy a chubby little boy or some neck wings?   The mind boggles!

Photo:  Mmmm

We stop at a bar, small from the main street, but which seems to go back half a mile before opening up on the waterfront.  Jim notices their sign for ‘fine wines’ and orders a couple of glasses.  They have no wine.  Okay.  He orders two Bloody Marys.  No Bloody Marys.  Okay.  Gin and tonic?  Well, they make one, then a 10 minute search follows for another bottle of tonic.  Okay, so we have two drinks.  Hairoun beer?  After all, it’s local.  No, only Carib.  Okay two of those.  Any potato crisps.  No, but we can buy them from the supermarket.  No wonder the bloody place is nearly empty!  The upholstery on the bar stools looks as though someone has been eating it.  We only get a smile from the waitress when she presents us with the bill because she is going off duty although she does then offer to go to the supermarket for us to buy some crisps and comes back with Pringles.  Mind you, they are the most expensive Pringles that Jim has ever bought – or was that her commission on the top?

We suddenly spot Bev and Moe on the street and go out to meet them.  It turns out they have been looking for us as Stuart was brought from Ashton to Clifton to check in but they need Mike and the boat papers to ‘release him’ from Customs and Immigration.  Mike goes back to the boat to get them and Bev and I go and do a bit of food shopping.  Somehow we all manage to meet up back at the yacht club and Mike does the ferry service with the dinghy, then it’s off with the lines and we head back to Mayreau.

Maggie and Bob come to collect Annie and Jim in the dinghy and we all arrange to eat early at Righteous’ restaurant up the hill.  Stuart gets himself settled in and has his instructions on how to use the loo and the shower without sinking the boat or flooding it with something horrible then it’s almost time to go.  When we get to the dinghy dock, the sky turns to hues of orange then pink and purple as the sun sets behind the hill.

Photos:  Stuart watches Moe photograph Bev doing her ballerina pose at the end of the dinghy dock

Photo:  How beautiful is that?

We walk up that bloody hill, slowly, pretending it’s for Stuart’s sake as he must be tired after all his travelling but as he shoots on ahead, the pretence is lost.

Bev, Moe and Stuart continue up the hill while there is still some light so that Stuart can see the view from the church over the Tobago Cays.  Mike and I go to the restaurant to meet up with the crew from OJ but they are not there so we just order drinks while we wait for everybody.  I peer into the kitchen to see Robert preparing some food for tonight – he is sautéing conch in garlic sauce and it smells wonderful.  While we wait he brings us a small plate of it to try – it’s definitely what I will be ordering tonight.  Bev, Moe and Stuart arrive and we settle ourselves down at our table giving up on the others as they have been discovered at Dennis’ all ‘internetting away’ so they could be some time.  Eventually they arrive though and Maggie has video footage of Annie and Jim jumping in the sea from this morning.

Photo:  Robert, proprietor and chef, watches the ‘plunge’ video

We have a wonderful meal and Bev and I discover their cocktail, Caribbean Kiss, which is delicious although thankfully no where near as lethal as their rum punch which Mike and Moe drink, both being a little giggly and tipsy afterwards.

Photo:  Bob and Robert outside Righteous and De Youths Bar and Restaurant

We leave Bev. Moe, Stuart, Maggie and Bob behind and give Annie and Jim a lift back to Ocean Jasper.  Back on Jeannius we switch on the generator as the batteries need charging and delight in the air conditioning.  Mike sets the anchor alarm but I really hope we don’t need it.

Day 455: Mayreau – 06/04/11

We decide to have a lazy day today.  Matt and Anna come over to see what our plans are as they are going to the Tobago Cays this afternoon but as we will be picking Bev’s father up from Union Island tomorrow, it makes no sense to leave not so Crazy Horse leave along although some of the other boats have already gone there too.

We all hang around the boat for the morning waiting for the bread to finish baking then have an easy lunch of self assembly sandwiches and hot bread.  Delicious.

Maggie calls by and says that she and Bob have bought a whole red snapper and would like to share it with us.  They agree to cook it on Ocean Jasper (Maggie now has a healthy fear of our oven having seen it’s ferocity on the night of the hen party).  We agree to do rice and salad type stuff to go with it.

Bev gets to and prepares her dad’s room and bathroom.  Given that they haven’t been used for about 8 months and have been buried under fishing rods, kitchen equipment, safety jackets and any other debris that we rush to find a home for when we stock up and set sail for a passage, I dread to think what she will find lurking but she either finds nothing untoward or just keeps quiet!

She and Moe go snorkelling in the afternoon just over to the side of the beach, leaving Mike and I to our own devices.  This means that Mike sleeps and I make use of the good internet connection and get some blog done.  The ones with lots of pictures always take the time as it takes me forever to decide which ones to actually put in.

I make a banana bread in the late afternoon, the bananas having become really ripe almost overnight and make couscous salad and garlic rice.  Maggie and Bob arrive with the oven baked red snapper done to perfection and we sit outside in the cockpit just as it starts to rain although it never amounts to much.

Once dinner is cleared away and washed up by Bev we settle down to an evening of swapping photos.  Bob has some lovely ones at the wedding and reception and is busy making Annie and Jim a wedding presentation.  From what I can see of it so far, he is doing a wonderful job.

It’s rolly in the anchorage and even Jeannius moves around a bit.  We get a bit of stick but it’s nothing we can’t handle!  All in all, another great evening.