Bequia (Jan 7-11)

The passage to Bequia (pronounced Beck-way) was our first serious sailing since arriving in the area. We had decided to pass to windward of St. Vincent (the leeward coast has less wind, and Jack Sparrow apparently operates in the area), facing the Atlantic Ocean again.  

Don’t be lured by the light breeze leeward of St. Lucia. We were tempted to hoist all sails, but we rather left 1 reef, just in case. Indeed, as soon as you get near the straight it is blowing nicely between 25 and 30kn. The two straights, first between St. Lucia and St. Vincent and then between the later and Bequia are better sailed with favorable currents, which can run at up to 1.5 -2kn near the headlands. That means the flood tide running East will set you 15-20 degrees to windward and offsetting the oceanic prevailing current, allowing you to sail on a reach– fantastic – but if you get it wrong, it is a hard beat against the wind to make up your way. The little note here is that the favorable current will raise a short sea, as it flows against the prevailing west flowing wind current.

Judging by the results, the math going out was correct despite of a late departure due to our mooring lines getting tangled with the buoy’s.

We had a bumpy and wet but very nice sailing, speeding at 9-11 knots under 1 reef and ballasted. The deck was constantly wet as was half our foresail, but it was fun, with the Rolling Stones on the background. We reached the southwest tip of St. Vincent right on time for the ebb current flowing west and our GPS readouts at that point were 1.5kn faster than water speed on the loch. But we keep stumbling on the same stone, as there was a hatch open and we managed to get a few liters of salty water over the school classeurs. Teachers need not to worry, papers are sunbathing since and, from a distance, as good as new. Interestingly, the immediate reaction was markedly different between boys and girls, ranging from near tragedy to “ok, sh*** happens”.

Although I would have wished to continue such nice sailing, we arrived at Admiralty Bay, which is the main anchorage at Bequia, and threw the hook between Princess and Lower Bay, in about 5m depths. That is the southern part of the Bay, a bit more exposed, but also closer to the beautiful and surprisingly deserted beaches. The only negative is that, as reported in the pilot books, the holding is not good, with a thin layer of sand covering a hard bottom. The dive confirmed the anchor had only set so so, and we left 60m of chain to compensate. So far so good.

 A lot of the close to 5,000 population on the Island are of Scottish and some of French descent, with deeply rooted tradition of whalers, traders and boat builders, our Pilot book says, as well as African slave descendants. Indeed, during our second outboard carburetor cleaning in 2 weeks, the local mechanic explained his family’s whaling past: It must be one of the last, if not the last area in the Atlantic where whaling is permitted –  4 kills per season – but that is on wooden sail boats with no engine, using harpoons to kill humpback whales. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on viewpoints), we will miss the event as the season runs from February to May.

 At the Whaleboner, a seaside bar / restaurant, you will be seating on chairs made of whale bones, whilst the bartender works behind a huge whale rib acting as table. We actually liked it, maybe because the lobster was good. We also had some distraction for free as a dinghy capsized right in front of our table, with 5 crew overboard. There was a moment of confusion with the prop running upside down….. but no serious consequences.

In the bay, you do have some boat boys operating, but they not come close unless you actively hail them. One had beer cans, and as you would expect I did hail, only to discover that the “discount price, special for you” was USD2 per can. To be truthful, he did not mention the words discount or special for you, it was just non-negotiable and he challenged me to find cheaper beer (or soda drinks) anywhere in the Grenadines, and got away. The other offered laundry services, and that we took. Pick up 8 AM, delivered clean and dry 5 PM. Not bad.

Touching the endangered species topic again, we took a ride to the windward side of the Island to visit the Old Hegg turtle sanctuary. This is the work of Mr Orton King, a Bequia born professional sailor, who upon retiring decided to protect the development of sea turtles. He took plenty of time to explain the process. He recovers eggs from around the Island and breeds the animals until about their fifth anniversary, the point being that 1 in 3,000 animals (not sure that figure includes the eggs) will survive, not the least because the St. Vincent Grenadines allows catching turtles for consumption, until January 2017 that is. He has bred and released 993 turtles so far (for some reason the site says 2,000…we will investigate in our next visit), and this year he expects the first ones returning to their launch pad to depose eggs (they do so after their 25^th anniversary, once every other year….for another 175years). The bonus is that turtles will support coral reefs, as they eat algae growing on them. Discussing with Orton, he told us about his family’s past of ship building, free diving and the differences between St. Vincent and Bequia Islanders. He also has some land for sale if you are interested.

In between visits, we have made regular outings to Princess Bay, right by our anchorage, which offered easy snorkeling where kids can see Dory and his colorful friends. At the end of one of these (grandpas, do not read the next lines) we managed to have 3 kids alone and adrift on the dinghy with some 20 knot gusts, after the engine failed to restart. I happened to be windsurfing, and Isa on the boat. No panic then. We managed to get there (Isa on the kayak) and it took 4 rowers a good 20 minutes to bring the tender –dragging a windsurf board, sail and kayak, plus the engine weight –  to Keraban against the wind. I had mixed feelings about the next move i.e. yelling or encouraging the crew with “great team effort”. I did the first, then the 2^nd. What was the issue this time? After investigation, our fuel line has an inner liner that was decomposing and losing small bits….Lucky none got beyond the fuel filter. So down to the shipchandler for a new fuel line.  

 Spots we did not visit include the whaler museum and Moonhole bay among others. Maybe on our way up, but we have dropped our ambition to make a cultural trip, at least to some degree, and enjoy spare time as it comes. This is partly because days are short. Sun sets at and 6, and it is not unusual to fall asleep at 8 pm. Deduct 3 hours in the morning for schooling and you are left with 5h for activities, including lunch. I am not complaining.