Relaxing in Bequia

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Teresa

We have spent 4 great days in Bequia relaxing and enjoying the town and the lovely beaches. We anchored outside Princess Margaret beach in those crystal clear waters and have gone for a few walks in the hills around town.

There are a lot of nice beaches one being Princess Margarets beach where we are. There are a lot of yachts in the anchorage while everyone waits for the winds to settle so they can travel on. Some of the locals get around the bay in all sorts of wooden boats with a sail and are very skilled getting about.

We went for a walk over the hill to Friendship Bay on the South side of Bequia, where the sands are a nice white and the waves were pounding the shore. On our walk over we couldn’t believe the size of some of the houses. Appears that a lot our rental homes in this bay. We stopped at the Bequia Hotel set amongst the Palm trees right on the beach. Nice location.

We kayaked down to Lower Bay on Sunday, a really popular beach in the afternoon for locals and yachties. We lazed on the beach until a squall came through and drenched us and everyone disappeared. Eeeek why did we kayak? The winds and rain seem to arrive in the afternoons at the moment.

We both really like Bequia and we’ll be back. Heading to Canouan, only a few hours south.

Ready, set, lets go to Bequia

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Teresa

So we spent a number of days in Marin, Martinique trying to find someone to test and hopefully repair our alternator. To make a long story short we purchased a second hand universal mount alternator to get us through until we can rebuild our high capacity Balmar. Yes Brett once again spent time in the engine compartment installing the new alternator and rewiring to jumper past the internal regulator so it could attach to our boat regulator that governs the batteries. Yeah it worked we were charging again. Good job Brett.

It was a good time to get this sorted as the weather reports while in Marin were not looking good for continuing south. Thursday mornings report from Martinique to Bequia showed Wind speeds of 19/20 knots, gusts of 20-25 knots, wave height of 2.1 – 2.3 m, wave period of 7-8 seconds (typically a little choppy) but this was much better in comparison to those in the foreseeable future. We knew it would be a little uncomfortable but decided to clear out of customs and get moving.

The passage between Martinique and Saint Lucia was the worst part with winds and gusts between 20 – 30 knots and high seas. We had put reefs in our main and reefed the genoa as needed and Seismic Wave handled it really well at speeds up to 8.7 knots. Going down the Leeward side of Saint Lucia seas were calm and we flew along at 7-8 knots which was incredible given how close to land we were. We will have to come back to Saint Lucia as it looked impressive, especially the Pitons.

The rest of our trip was much better apart from a couple of squalls that crossed our path. Radar gives us time to prepare for the blast that usually comes with the squall. We arrived earlier than expected, 3:30am in Bequia as our speeds were higher than we thought we’d get when doing our planning.

After moving the boat to a more sheltered area and clearing in at Port Elizabeth customs we needed a walk so went up to the fort ruins at the entry to the bay to see the views over the bay and look down at Seismic Wave.

We enjoyed walking along the waterfront where all the vendors line the road selling fruit, veg, music, hats….. you name it. It was really lively with music playing and people just hanging out. We enjoyed lunch along the waterfront and then it was time for a snooze.

St. Vincent

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Teresa

Brett and I decided to head over to Kingston, St. Vincent by ferry, which took about an hour.

Kingston has a lot of character, with friendly helpful people everywhere. We wandered the streets taking in the atmostphere as we walked around each street corner. There were food stalls and vendors lining the sidewalks along Bay street selling everything from fruit & vegetables, spices to clothing and household products . Each street or area had different groups of vendors and it was busy everywhere you looked. So much character.

And then sometimes you spot a little something from home.

There is also a Produce Market, which is a really noisy, colorful place.

There were people liming in the streets, playing chess and generally enjoying each others company. There are a number of historic churches and cathedrals around Kingstown and the outskirts.

As we walked up the hill to the Botanic Gardens you could hear all the children laughing within the walls of the various schools we passed. On arrival at the Gardens you are greeted by men in black pants and white shirts who guide you through these lovely gardens founded in 1765. Our guide was Jeffery and he was very informative and entertaining. He was great and we would recommend him.

There are many different species of trees including huge mahogany, rubber, teak trees and a lot of tropical shrubs. The national parrot which is rare has a small aviary within the Gardens. Jeffery explained about the medical and various uses of the large variety of shrubs. Brett found other uses for one of the seeds ….

Before we knew it it was time to get our groceries and head back to the ferry and Bequia. When we got back we heard from Annette a friend from Calgary who was from St. Vincent. She told us about the active volcano and a beautiful waterfall worth hiring a car and visiting. We will be coming back to St. Vincent & the Grenadines later in the year so we have obviously saved that for the next trip.

Tobago Cays

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Teresa

We decided the swells in Port Elizabeth, Bequia from the storm were rough and rolly and forecast to be there for a few more days so Tobago Cays bekoned us. Turquoise crystal clear waters for snorkling around to spot the fish and turtles along the coral reefs was so inviting.

Brett skippered us down the windward side so we would get more experience with the swells, reefing and sail handling in rolly, windy condition. We saw some amazing boats along the way, which we are sure had quite the crew to handle them.

On arriving at Tobago Cays you see all the boat vendors who go between the yachts, selling wares from fresh fish & lobster to clothing. Their boats are all very unique and colourfully decorated so you remember who you have dealt with.

Mr Arrival

We spent 2 days at the Cays lazing amongst the other catermarans and yachts and all the kite/ wind surfers. Maybe theres a reason there are so many kite surfers. We snorkled,swam with the turtles and Brett rode the anchor chain for exercise. The waters were incredible.

After 2 restless nights from the winds, which seemed to really pick up at night we decided that we needed to head further north. Bretts birthday was also fast approaching and we needed to get to a bar and restaurant to celebrate his special day.