Time to Move On Again!

After six glorious days floating and relaxing in Friendship Bay, Bequia, until just before Thanksgiving, we decided to strike out on what we dubbed a “camping trip”. Since we had to miss the Tobago Cays on our way north from Grenada this trip, we decided to revisit that lovely set of islands for a few days of world-class snorkeling and exploring.

It was an easy day sail back to the south to the Cays, where we anchored in the gin-clear water among some twenty or so other boats. The Toabago Cays is a National Park for the St. Vincent and Grenadines, as it is one of the most spectacularly beautiful areas we’ve ever seen. It is a reasonable large area so we didn’t feel crowded at all. The Cays, or islands, are enclosed by a horseshoe shaped reef which protects them from the brunt of the Atlantic, just on the other side of the reef system, due east. It seems very odd to see large waves approach from the open ocean from the east, then watch them hit the reef and dissolve into mere ripples as they approach your boat. Because of this reef, the anchorage is very still and quiet although the wind continues to come in, unabated at a good clip. This allows for a bug free anchorage and a constant cooling breeze.

One thing we remembered from our visit here last Spring, was that there are many large sea turtles in the anchorage. They seem to “welcome” each boat into their chosen spot by coming near the boat, surfacing to get a breath, then diving below the surface into the safety of the depth below. Then, several times during one’s stay, they would resurface, from nowhere, to “check us out” then scurry below again as if we’d frightened them. They truly are curious and beautiful sea creatures.

Early in this season’s travels, we reunited with a couple of boats we’d just begun to know last season. When we arrived in the Tobago Cays, we found them again and settled in near them at anchor. They had traveled with us to Friendship Bay, Bequia, and were part of an original consideration for a Thanksgiving get together. They had gotten itchy to move from Bequia before we were ready, and had moved back down to the Tobago Cays since they had missed them as well this year. Once we settled in, we were all together for cocktails and dinner aboard the English monohull Magic (Dave and Donna) with another English couple, Linda and Tim (of Matsu) to plan a Thanksgiving round up. Interestingly, Dave and Donna had been living in Minnesota for several years prior to coming sailing, and had found Thanksgiving to be one of their favorite “adopted” holidays.

The Thanksgiving party was planned as a pot luck on Matsu, a beautiful 50’ wooden monohull. One couple had found a turkey breast and was bringing that, Suz and I made a lovely chicken & pasta salad, Another couple made some bread and hummus for appetizers, The host and hostess made some delicious chicken pot pies with stuffing as well as a superb cranberry/sweet potato/bread pudding and some chocolate brownies for dessert. There were mashed potatoes and gravy as well as some cranberry relish. All inj all, it was the traditional American style Thanksgiving pig-out. Everyone left for home thoroughly sated and was ready for bed before long.

The following days were spent reef snorkeling and hiking the cays. We swam with some nurse sharks at one site and saw a school(?) of small squid at another. Each snorkel place was special in its own right and we felt glad that we made the decision to go “camping” back down in the Cays. It really felt like we had gone to a National Park for a good re-connection with nature.

Friday morning we decided to head over to another of our favorite spots, Salt Whistle Bay on the island Mayreau. The others were still deciding when and where to head and wound up following us as we left the Cays. Once inside Salt Whistle bay, we found the anchorage to be untenable with rollers, so we rounded the small island to different bay and found calmer waters for the night’s anchorage.

In the morning, it was decided that a return trip to Union Island was the right choice for clearance out of the country, even though we would be back-tracking an additional 10 miles or so to get clearance. As Union Island, and its port town of Clifton, is not one of our favorite spots and we regretted returning to that port, even for a short stop. We arrived at Clifton and proceeded to clear customs and did some quick provisioning for some necessities like beer and bread. We were back aboard before noon and quickly began our windward slog into the waves back toward Bequia.

This trip turned into what we have to term a real “exhauster”. The wind and waves were coming from the worst possible angles and sailing or motoring into them both made for a very long and uncomfortable passage. When we finally arrived into Admiralty Bay, Beqia in the dark (something we never like to do!) around 8pm and were glad to take a mooring ball for the night as we both were near exhaustion after the long day. Anchoring in the dark can be quite the experience as it is never quite as comforting as planting the hook in the light and “seeing” that you are securely down. Therefore, a ball was the right answer after that tough day bouncing about. We crawled into bed soon after a snack and slept hard all night long.

We planned on stopping in Bequia for the night, as weather was kicking up for the next few days, allowing us only one short window to get north before weather forced a possible week-long delay in northbound travel. When we arose early that morning, we were not sure we felt ready for another day of pounding through the seas, and considered waiting for the next good window to move on. Yet, after a cup of coffee and a clearer head, we decided we had been on BEquia long enough already and should push on , knowing that if the trip became to bad, we could always turn around and return to wait out the storm. The trip to St. Lucia, two islands up the chain proved much kinder than the one the previous day. Although we had to go further, and across a large open-to-the-Atlantic passage, we maintained good speed and direction to minimize the larger uncomfortable swells.

Since St. Vincent, the in-between island, has a reputation among cruisers for being somewhat unfriendly and somewhat sketchy in terms of security, we decided to forgo a visit there and sail past it to the former French Island of St. Lucia. We all arrived in St. Lucia after a long, but more pleasant sailing day where Mother Nature really displayed some of her finest works. As we passed th beautiful Piton mountains, rainbows abounded as squalls surrounded us, in the distance, with dramatic dark clouds, while whales rose off our port side close enough to nearly touch. We were so surprised to see them that unfortunately they were gone before our cameras could be turned on! We arrived into Marigot Bay on St. Bequia near dark after a much more relaxing day “out there”. We will head ashore here to clear into the country before heading north to Rodney Bay later today. Our intent is to stay in Rodney Bay for a few days as it is a major cruisers hub for food provisioning and boat repairs, the former we need, the latter, thankfully, we don’t. We have only had to make minor fixes on the boat so far, nothing unusual. We hope this trend continues as floating problems cause major concern since one never knows to what extent the problem may manifest. As an example, on the long arduous trip from Union Island, Suz, during our periodic checking of the engine compartments, found a water drip in one engine. We shut down that engine and since the seas were so rough it was decided to forgo restarting it until we could go below without upchucking to inspect the source of the leak. Since it was not a major spraying, we knew it was not likely something major, so it could wait until the morning. That morning we found a hose clamp totally loose on a part the marina had replaced for us this summer. The installer had neglected to tighten a hose clamp and this allowed for water to seep through the fitting. A quick tightening and we were ready to go once again. Simple fix, good news. These kind of repairs quickly surpress the anxiety of a blown engine block which is also considered during times of uncertain repair needs. As non-mechanic types we like these easy fixes!