SJ log Feb 12 - living aboard in Bequia

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

We remain in the harbor in Bequia, our favorite island in the Grenadines (http://www.bequiasweet.com/). The “Sailor’s Guide to the Windward Islands” describes Bequia as an island of sailors and boats, linked to the outside world mainly by the sea. I’d agree heartily with that description. Although there is now a tiny airport that can manage tiny prop planes like local SVG, Mustique and Grenadine Airlines, by far the primary method for getting to or from Bequia is by private or commercial boat.

There are two ferry companies that come and go several times a day from Bequia to St. Vincent, as well as a host of small day charters like Friendship Rose and others. Although still largely unknown by much of the world, the island has been “discovered” by some small cruise lines and it’s not unusual to see a medium-sized cruise ship in the back of the harbor on some days, although any that arrive visit shore only by tenders because there is no large commercial dock in Bequia, only small dinghy docks and a few medium sized marina docks.

From our boat which is anchored in Admiralty Bay, we have a great view of the busy harbor and the many shops and restaurants that line the beaches, along with the small and understated colorful homes that cling to the lower portion of the hillsides. Fortunate the majority of the surrounding land is still naturally lush and green and largely undeveloped, although I fear it will not remain this serene and somewhat isolated island for long.

One of the ferries heading out of Bequia harbor toward St. Vincent

But today the island still retains the charm and beauty that is so rapidly disappearing in the Caribbean. We are fortunate to get a chance to see it the way it is today. This is on my mind as I look out over the harbor as Tim and I eat a light breakfast up top in our cockpit. To complement the bagels and cream cheese we have “paw paw” jam that we bought from Miss Ada and the other market ladies (paw paw is the local name for papaya). The orange-colored jam has a sweet yet strong taste which we both enjoy and which cannot be found in stores outside of this part of the world as far as I know. So it's a special treat when we're here.

Bequia harbor (view of town from our anchorage)

After breakfast this morning we stayed on board – continuing our work on maintenance projects. The major one is diagnosing the leaks and water pressure problems for our fresh water system as new symptoms continue to appear. We’re also considering taking a short sail to another island, so we’re reviewing our charts to discuss where to go. Potentials are Mustique (which we’ve never visited before), the Tobago Cays which is a full day’s sail away, or perhaps just a short jaunt around the point to Friendship Bay on the other side of Bequia. Mustique is a private island and requires the purchase of a park pass/mooring so I doubt we’ll do that this trip. The good news is the pass allows visitors to stay up to 3 nights, so we’ll probably save that for when we have more time to spend there.

As the day wore on and we realized how settled and comfortable we are in Bequia, we eventually just decided to stay put because where we are is pretty good, and of course it’s handy to be near the chandleries when we need parts and supplies.

Bequia street near Knights (main grocery store where we shop)

For a small island (just seven square miles in size), and population of about 5000, Bequia has an amazing range of services, especially of the marine variety. One of the very convenient services for sailors is the availability of having water, diesel and ice delivered right to your boat. Daffodil Services has 2 yellow and green floating barges that glide from boat to boat and you can either hail them on channel 68 on the VHF or simply flag them down as they float by. We were next on their fill list after a catamaran, but we knew that would be a long wait because those big cats hold gallons and gallons of water. We’ve been behind them at a dock before and it’s not unusual to wait 30-45 minutes for them to finish filling their tanks.

Bequia - the main street in "town" (bank, post office/customs in yellow building)

Finally the barge headed our way and we threw a couple of fenders over the port side and tied on their docking lines, then took on just over 50 gallons of fresh water. We also bought 2 bags of ice, somewhat pricey at 15EC per bag (about 6 US), but at least we don’t lose part of it along the way as it melts while we carry it through town and then the long dinghy ride back to our boat in the lower harbor. It took about 15-20 minutes for our boat to fill, so while they waited we offered the crew of two a Haroun beer and over that we discussed our water system since often these guys have great ideas of work-arounds. This time was no exception, and the guy showed me a special tape to use that might help with sealing fittings. Before they dropped their lines and motored off to the next boat, he even gave me a small roll of what he had to take to hardware store so I’d know what to ask for.

Daffodill delivering water and fuel

While we were taking on water I had been working on our lunch below. Typically I don’t cook hot meals for lunch because it heats up the boat in the middle of the day, but today just sort of seemed like a good day for Caribbean curry rice and beans, a local staple. I threw in some vegetables to make it a bit healthier, added fried plantains with butter and brown sugar and fresh baked bread, and lunch was served. Since the wind wasn’t howling so much today we ate up top at the cockpit table and enjoyed our view of the harbor and watching the usual activity.

After lunch I washed dishes while Tim stowed some gear and helped me clean up below, then we prepared to go for a nice snorkel just off the point on the southeast end of Admiralty Bay, a medium dinghy ride from where we’re anchored. As we motored farther south toward the lower beach with our snorkel gear, we saw three clipper-style ships (three and four-masted schooners) all lined up at the edge of the harbor in deeper water, their tall masts lined up like soldiers waiting for battle. It was a pretty site and I regretted leaving my camera aboard (but as you can see I snagged a photo of at least one of them later).

In about 10 minutes we’d reached our snorkel destination, and as there is no dingy dock here we beached the dinghy and then heaved it ashore far enough from waves to prevent the need for a dinghy anchor. After enjoying the beach for a few minutes we donned our gear and made the long swim toward the rocks at the farthest point on the beach, and then we swam in about 20-30 feet of water, following the contour of the rocky shore along the bay toward the cliffs at the point (about 400 yards). We saw lots of fish, sea urchins, two turtles (there is turtle sanctuary here for hawksbill turtles), reef squid, sea fans, smoke stack like coral, those pointy needle-nose fish that always stay near surface, lots of minnows, and several other kinds of fish.

After about a half-hour we were getting into much deeper water that was rougher as we started to round the point where the coast is more exposed to the sea, so we turned around to head back toward the beach. As expected, we were swimming against the pretty strong current in this direction, and we were also headed right into the oncoming waves which pushed us back and broke over our heads often. The swim back required some stronger kicking and persistence for the distance which was great exercise, but after about 20-30 minutes of that I was glad to be nearing the shore again. After a brief rest on the beach to catch our breath, we shoved the dinghy back into the water and prepared to cast off. I hopped in first in the waves and Tim gave us a good shove and then hopped after me, dropped engine prop into the water and cranked the pullcord – it caught first time and off we went before the next wave carried us back ashore. Nice. I was quite impressed with how smoothly and calmly he did that.

Snorkeling on Bequia's south shore

We were hungry after our swim so to compliment our traditional afternoon orange & pineapple juice drink with coconut milk and just a “smidgin” of rum, we added fried conch samosas and peanuts. The samosas are traditional down here so they are very inexpensive, but the splurge was the nuts which I’ve found very expensive, so next time we’ll probably either bring that down with us or just do without.

Later in the day as we returned from town in the dinghy, it gave me a chance to continue my practice as dinghy captain since I’ll need to handle it alone once Tim leaves. Our friend Keith is our “official” dinghy captain when he and his lovely wife Erin have joined us sailing over the years (he even earned the tshirt and everything). Hmmmm…. wonder if I could convince them to come down so Skipper Keith could chauffeur me around while Tim is away. How about it guys??

Seriously though, Tim is an excellent dinghy driver and he’s been giving me pointers which have been very helpful. I appreciate his patience when I make mistakes or don’t catch on to things the first time. Not all married couples are able to do things like this together without getting testy at each other, and I’m very glad that we are both patient enough to recognize our different skill sets are what makes us such a good team.

It was pretty dark by the time we left Gingerbread, so I dinghied slowly through the harbor toward our boat. We had moved our boat closer in to shore earlier in the day, and our first drop didn’t position us the way we wanted with other boats, so I motored us slowly ahead while Tim cranked in the windlass to pick up the anchor chain and we dropped a second time which we liked much better.

When our boat was located in the BVI, most people use mooring balls and so you almost never need to anchor (and in some places there are so many mooring balls there now that you don’t have a choice). That’s convenient and easier, but it can also get expensive. Down here the moorings aren’t near as prevalent, and what is there is not always reliably secure, so knowing how to anchor is pretty important. As we anchor more and more, we seem to get better at picking the spot and positioning ourselves with other boats. One thing I’ve found is that if the swing or the bottom hold or anything else doesn’t feel right when you’re settling back just after we drop the anchor, then it probably won’t get any better over time, so it’s best just to pick up and try again. It’s also great practice.

Cheers all! cy