The following morning (Tue) after rapid showers ashore and more food we set off south from St Vincent for the island of Bequia ( pronounced Bekway ). A nice downwind sail with, for me, a decent sized sea in the gap between the islands. After a trip of around 4 hours we reached Admiralty Bay where we anchored some distance from the beach and the town (20 min's dinghy ride) but still a good private location. This bay is a big anchorage (minimal rolling) with lots of room for all sizes of boat and we observed helicopters landing on decks and cruise ships pulling in for days out. On land I was struck by, and continued to be so until we reached St Lucia some 10 days later, the lack of commercialisation aimed purely at the tourist. This was where real people lived, children went to school and locals shopped -- no Sandals resorts or big hotels around here at all. Initially a shock but much appreciated as we spent our next 2 days in the local environment. Battling the competition in the fruit market, locating the best local supermarket , and finding our way across the island to Hope Bay for an afternoon, together with sundowners on the beach and general relaxation made this a lovely spell. It also resulted in a decision to not travel further South than Mustique (the next island) because of the sailing distances involved to get to Tobago Keys (around 35miles) -another good decision. We met up with friends on 'Wild Alliance' and spent a lovely evening aboard their spacious pirate-looking yacht.

Overall Bequia-Admiralty Bay was a lovely place, great anchorage, beautiful scenery, nice beaches, busy but essentially unspoiled - in my view

 

Having truly relaxed it was time (Fri) to move on South to Mustique - the famed island of the multi multimillionaires. A few hours later we are anchored once again on the side of a luxuriant but almost manicured island with large mansions peeping out from the sides of the hills in all directions. Alongside the anchorage major supply ships were regularly arriving, shuffling location, and being unloaded at a substantial pier. Alongside the pier was "Basil's Bar" another famed institution in all the guide books, apparently. Once more it was clear that commercialisation was minimal - no hotels in sight - but clearly apart from locals providing services the majority of the island is developed for beautiful homes with wonderful aspects. Golf carts!!! are the main source for transport of the tourists. Beaches near the anchorage were lovely but difficult to access via dinghy because of coral and rocky areas protecting them. Mark and I went for a walk to lagoon bay and found an inland lagoon and walking area full of mechineal trees ( bark, leaves, fruit, sap all poisonous to humans - they often paint them red) as well as some lovely beaches. Another day we passed the local church in full song before finding a local library and beautiful play areas and the regularly used airport and indications of a golf club ( my clubs were at home).

By now the clear water was irresistible to Nat who was happy to jump in on her own and swim backwards and forwards to the beach for exercise - there was also some nice snorkeling areas nearby but I was incapable of managing the combination of mask and breathing tube without more practice in a shallower water.

Mustique as an anchorage was a bit 'rocking' ( first night was awful) but did settle down, water was lovely as was the island and the beaches. Super place if not a bit incongrous with all the riches and minimal apparent commercialisation - maybe a bit unreal but I liked it and very different from Bequia..

After a couple of days here it was time to turn North and make our way up to St Lucia allowing time for some stops on the way and maintaining some flexibility for weather issues if any. So on Monday 13th we headed off, back past Bequia and to the top half of St Vincent - a 5 hr sail. It soon became clear that we would be fighting the wind all the way and the sea conditions were reasonably 'interesting' - overall a tough sail. We were very happy to arrive at Wallilabou - meeting a boat boy well out to sea (Godfrey) who we agreed would take our stern line when we had moored. Wallilabou is the location of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' film and many parts of the set remain solidly built - also more importantly a bar and restaurant are available. Mark and I went for a shower which was viewable from the road, had cold water, and chickens wandering around - but we still thoroughly enjoyed the flood of fresh water to wash away the salt covering we had acquired.

When one moves from island to island it is sometimes country to country and customs and immigration issues have to be dealt with on arrival and then departure. Here, in Wallilabou we were about to leave 'St Vincent and the Grenadines' for St Lucia and the nearest emigration facility was the Police Station in Barrouallie a town about 1.5 miles away. The town was 100% locals and we were the only 'white people' throughout the whole trip to Barrouallie. These are not rich towns in any way but it is fascinating to see the taxis racing around carrying people to work, while other men congregate in the bars early morning as the children go off to school in full uniforms. It is also fascinating to see all the shops selling digicell phone cards and regular use of mobiles - or maybe I am just naive. Everyone was very pleasant and buying eggs from a local house caused major amusement to the women stood around - good eggs too ( for Mark's quality omelettes).

While some will say Wallilabou is false ( because of the film sets) I say - no-one made that anchorage or the beautiful surroundings and there was nothing false about the people on the roads or in that town - tourism is no part of their environment. St Vincent is not favoured by the tourist books but it is a beautiful island and a real place. As we sailed away we observed that the mountainous side of the North of the island was being cultivated!! and that small motor boats were racing up and down and pulling into little ravines - yes you have guessed it marijuanha plantations in an ideal climate - another world!

Overall St Vincent seemed a beautiful, fascinating and very real island. On the leeward side it clearly gets plenty of rain as well as sun (hence the plantation !) but well worth visiting and each of the islands visited so far was essentially very different.

The crossing from St Vincent to Soufriere on the south of St Lucia is 35 miles and proved to be very close to the wind and pretty rough so it was a hard trip North and took around 8 hours. Lifejackets in use throughout and minimal use of the galley are an indication of the difficulty of the trip. However we finally arrived at Soufriere to anchor on the north side of the Petit Piton - causing a brief dispute between boat boys. The water was very clear and the fish numerous around the boat and Nat was now swimming down into the depths to observe them in action. Local Marine Police charge here for the anchorage and are in action late at night and early in morning to catch the snappy arrivals/departures. We relaxed on the boat and had another of Nat's (sorry Delia's) creations. A smell pervades this area which turns out to be the sulphur from a local volcano!

 

The next day after a relaxed start we headed off to the renowned (for me) Rodney Bay - a simple 4 hour trip. As per usual we soon discoverd that the passage North would be virtually dead into wind and that the sea conditions were still lively. Motoring direct would only achieve around 2.5 knots and be very rough so we motorsailed and tacked very close to wind for once beating other yachts trying to actually sail!! -- all resorted to motor before long except a particularly fancy large British yacht 'playing the game'. It was once more a very tough sail and two breakages actually occurred - firstly the reefed Genoa unreefed itself when the furling line snapped and then had to be taken down because the furling was jammed, then the clip on the staysail sheet broke free. Both events proved to be easily reparable once we had time to fully examine them but there was a period of concern (36hours) at a possible £1000+ repair bill.

So I finally met Rodney Bay - back to the real world with its Marina, 2 Sandals beach hotels , restaurants galore, cars, lorries, tourists, hot showers, toilets, shops, true supermarkets etc etc -- back to another but very different real world. A chance for Nat to buy a full range of fresh produce to replenish stocks.

This is what I had naively expected from all the Caribbean islands but I had been very happy with the non-tourist nature of those other islands.

Soon however the simple access to Internet, Banks, shops, food, drinks etc etc becomes the 'norm' once more. A long walk to Pigeon Island to climb the 2 hills and then drink and eat at Jambe de Bois on the 'island' involved a walk through the area where the locals lived and it was really odd once more for a simple beach to suddenly turn into a Sandals hotel Beach resort - a new experience for me.

Jambe de Bois is a bar and restaurant on the island well worth a visit, the location is excellent and the food is good and not expensive. From the outside it looks a bit rough but inside the restaurant everything is fascinating. We visited this on my last night (Sunday) when a jazz group was performing - another very good night.

However it was essential that we did the beach thing before I finished so two afternoons were spent on the South side of the bay on the beach -- Saturday nice and quiet , Sunday jam packed with tourists!! ( shouldn't be allowed) . The sun is so hot it is difficult to stay out in it although Nat seemed quite successful at it.

Finally after those last days on the beach and a jazz evening at Jambe de Bois it was time to pack those bags and head off East to sunny old England and its 3 deg C.

I had a wonderful time seeing beautiful places in a hot sunny but comfortable climate. Thanks to Mark and Nat for allowing me to experience through their adventures some little adventures of my own. Best wishes to you both, lots of love and take care of each other.

Bye

John 28th Feb 2006 (Version 5.123 subject to revision)

PS the flight home was another adventure !! - 19 hours between saying goodbye and arriving at my house.

 

 

 

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