Dalton W. Williams
Arriving in Admiralty Bay
Bequia
The party before the party
Walk over to the Whaling Museum
Mike's 60th Birthday
Hawksbill Turtle Sanctuary
Arriving in Admiralty Bay
May 4th. I made it to Bequia this afternoon at 4:10 after leaving the Pitons at 7:30 this morning. It was a good sail with 15 knots winds just forward of the beam (from the side of the boat). The seas were gentle with lots of fishermen out this calm day. I was managing good speed at 7 to 7.5 knots.
Gallant was coming down the coast as I headed out from the Pitons leaving Saint Lucia and I was just about 200 yards ahead of them at 7:45 that morning. Don’t ask me how, but I beat then to Bequia by over an hour and a half!! There is no way my 43 Mason should arrived before than their 53 foot Amel! David was so embarrassed he hired a diver to clean the bottom of his boat and has challenged me to another sail.
At this point, I am really happy with my self about how well I have been able to sail and handle Quietly by my self. I have sailed 280 miles in seven days in winds up to 35 knots and learned how to sail fast. Sailing with friends on board, I had never allowed Quietly to heal over as much as 30 degrees before. What I found is when she is healed 25 degrees the water line lengthens as the overhangs are then in the water. With the longer water line length, she sails about .5 to .75 knots faster and though it feels like you are sitting on your side, the boat is very stable as well as fast. It takes a little getting used to.
Coming in to Bequia, Mike saw me and came out in his dinghy to lead me into anchoring next to he and Deidre who was waiving from Cheshire Cat. They are such a nice couple, being here for Mike's birthday is a special treat!
Bequia is
certainly prepared to make cruising boats welcome. They have a large and clean
trash area just for cruising boats just down from the dinghy dock and then a
short walk back to clear in. The clearing in here is absolutely the best of
anywhere I have been. A modern office, right on the waterfront, with customs,
immigration, and port offices in three large windows off a common air
conditioned waiting room with comfortable chairs. There was no need for the
chairs as the procedure was easy, quick, and the people very professional.
I then took my laundry a block down the waterfront street where I could both
wash and dry it myself or they would do it for me. The cost for two loads was
less than $10 US and difference for spending two hours doing it myself or them
doing it was $1.75 US! What a bargain!!! Of course I left it for them to do
and took a walking tour of the waterfront streets.
There were five or
six “supermarkets” there and I needed eggs and milk. You can not find
everything in just one so I wound up going to all five. A dozen farm fresh (as
in still warm from the chicken fresh) eggs were $2.50. A pint of milk at
another 2.50, a bag of ice $1.75 at yet another. Then it was a short walk to
the farmers market where I got some lettuce, tomatoes and carrots. Those were
not a bargain, but the tomatoes were vine ripe and quite tasty in my salad for
lunch.
Everyone arrived Sunday except for Willow. John and Brenda and John’s
daughter Sue sailed in about 2:30 yesterday afternoon. By that time the party
before the party had all ready started. John, Brenda and Sue from Willow; Mike
and Deidre from Cheshire cat; Howard and Susan from Cop-Out; and I joined Alex,
Andrea and David on Gallant. We talked and partied until someone remembered
happy hour at about 5:30 and we adjourned to shore where we joined others for
quite an evening.
At about 9:30 in the evening, Brenda and I were demanding food. By this time my stomach was growling so loud that Andrea wanted to know what the noise was! While everyone except Brenda and I had been drinking rum punches, she and I were still (shall I say) aware that food needed to be eaten. Alex could not find the video camera and we searched for half an hour before finding it hanging on a fence post. By this time restaurants were closed so everyone was talking about going to go over to Willow and cooking pasta for supper.
I was so hungry I made a quick run back to Quietly and fixed the chili and corn for dinner.
The party before the party
As I am writing this I can hear the party going on over on Willow anchored not far from me. Ok... They have me... after eating I'll take my Diet Pepsi and go over to join party over on Willow for a few minutes.
It was 1:30 in the morning when I left!… {laughing}
At midnight everyone sang Happy Birthday to Mike and he stood up to make a talk thanking everyone for coming from all over the Caribbean to be there. Andrea was sitting behind Mike and as he was talking she was slipping his pants down around his knees. Well, his pants were swim trunks. And that of course means the underpants are sewn in, which of course came down also… As every one had been partying hard since early in the afternoon so it took a while for everyone to notice what Andrea had done. Everyone starts laughing and poor mike is standing there with out a clue. Of course Alex has the whole thing on video tape! *Sorry, but believe it or not, I did not have my camera with me!
Anyway … Last night was just the party before the Birthday Party. This morning, everyone's head is probably hurting enough that today may be pretty tame. At least at 9:30 this morning, I didn't see any signs of life on any of the other boats. {laughing} However about 11 O'clock I noticed Brenda hanging some clothes out to dry on Willow and she called across for me to come on over.
Walk over to the Whaling Museum
She,
John and Sue wanted to take a long walk and were about to have lunch so instead
of breakfast, I had spaghetti for lunch with them. The walk was to be to a small
local whaling museum they had read about
over near the airport on the island. We started out about 12:30 and arrived at
the museum at 2:00 to find no one there. The walk was very pretty up and over
the mountains in the center of the island, past local homes, and high above
beautiful vistas. But it was HOT with little wind
blowing on the up hill side. We rested for about ten minutes on a bench out side
the museum and then started back, this time with the cool breeze blowing on us
as we made the climb. All told we walked about three hours and climbed the
700 foot mountain twice, once from each side. No, not actual climbing, but
walking along the winding road up and over the mountain. A nice walk.
Mike's 60th Birthday
When we got back, I had 30 minutes to make something to take to the party. I drug out the large pot and popped a large trash bag full of popcorn which took most of an hour to do and clean up the mess in the galley. Thus I arrived at the party 30 minutes late.
This
is a picture of the birthday boy. Not bad for 60 eh?!! That beautiful babe
next to him is his wife Deidre. They have been married for ... They
won't admit how long!
There
were 30 or so people there with lots of food. Everyone visited and nibbled
food until it got dark when it was time for the birthday cake. We gathered
around in a tight circle to keep the wind from blowing the candles out as Mike
blew them all out with the help of the wind.
Then
we all sat in a big circle on the sand and sang songs until well past nine in
the evening while watching the moon rise over the water and the stars come out.
The songs were mainly British Bar songs. As John, Brenda, Sue, and I were
the only non Brits or Canadians there, we just mostly faked it! It was really
great fun.
Every body was so tired after the pre-party the night before that by a little after 9:30 good nights were said and the beach cleaned ... everyone had enjoyed a most wonderful two days celebrating with Mike and Deirdre.
Just
before noon the next day, Brenda, John, Sue and I stopped by Cheshirecat to see
if Mike and Deirdre had recovered yet. Mike was sitting in the cockpit and
I slipped around to make a picture of him talking with John, Brenda and Sue.
That's Mango & Passion Fruit that every one is drinking... Honest!
Deirdre was making bread below in the galley and stuck her head up out of the
companion way with her bowl to visit while continuing to need the bread.
This was Sue's last morning as she would be flying back to Jackson Hole, Wyoming
early the next morning. She and her parents would be sailing to St Vincent this
afternoon to be ready to put her on the flight the following morning.
Hawksbill Turtle Sanctuary
The
following morning, Charles and Caroline from Itsapurla, David, Andrea and Alex
from Gallant and I took the three mile walk across the island to the Hawksbill
Turtle Sanctuary. The walk over was almost vertical in places, hot, and
beautiful. The road in places was lined with flowering bushes and other
places you looked across a palm forest out to a beautiful beach and the ocean
beyond. We walked past a ceramics shop where they made huge pots and
decorative pieces and a little boy playing in a boat that his father was
building. Truly a special if hot walk!
We
reached the Hawksbill Turtle Sanctuary shortly after noon. "Brother" Kind as he
is known is a retired fisherman who wanted to replenish some of natures bounty
that had been his living for fifty years and so he started the OldHegg Turtle
Sanctuary on a small secluded sandy beach. Here he raises approximately
200 turtles through the age of three years and releases them back to the sea on
the beach behind the sanctuary. It is truly an amazing place to visit and
is run entirely on the donations of people who visit. He has no government
or outside funding at all. His is purely a mission of love of nature and
the turtles.
While
we were there we had the opportunity to feed and handle some of the turtles.
They are truly remarkable creatures who, by the way, love to be scratched on
their backs! They will wiggle when you scratch them and keep coming back for
more attention! In addition to the sea turtles, he has a few land tortuous
including a few tiny babies. Alex was fascinated to hold one in her hand
while she Andrea and David examined the tiny turtle.
After
spending over two hours fascinated by the stories of "Brother" King and watching
the turtles, we began our walk back to the boats. Along the way we passed many
unusual sights including a local barber shop and a house with a most unusual
gate.
Sunday
was Mothers Day and a group of us went to a local restaurant high above
Admiralty Bay for Mothers Day Lunch and that evening a large group gathered for
a farewell to Bequia dinner at the Pizza Restaurant and later that evening
watched the total eclipse of the moon. The pizza is the best of anywhere
in the islands. No kidding!
With a trip back to Colorado coming soon, it was time to start my journey south again. Next stop the Grenadines!