BEQUIA, GRENADINES

BEQUIA, GRENADINES

APRIL 13- 18, 2017

The distance from Clifton Harbor, Union Island to Bequia is 37 nm.  The day we departed, the wind was out of the ESE 15-18 kts; seas 3’.  This gave us perfect conditions to fetch Bequia in one tack after clearing Union Island.  We departed Clifton at 0724 hrs and dropped anchor in Bequia at 1400 hrs: (13-00.612’ N; 061-14.608’ W). It was one of the best sails we have experienced under a double reefed main and genoa.  I kept the double reefed mainsail because, running up the leeward side of the islands, strong katabatic wind gusts rush down the mountains and ravines heeling the boat over.  I smile and enjoy it with a monohull but, in 1978, with the Wharram Catamaran, it was a concern because a catamaran will not heel to spill the wind therefore the rigging is vulnerable.

I have been trying to reminisce and put together just where we anchored in Admiralty Bay in 1978 on the 40’ Narai Mk IV Wharram Catamaran.  We took a dinghy ride today around the entire bay and have decided that it was in Lower Bay: 12-59.842’ N; 061-14.717’ W.  It is the only place that has the remaining coconut trees that I remember.  At that time, we had a friend named Gary Gilbert that was crewing for us.  We had picked him up at Bridgetown, Barbados.  He would become a lifelong friend.  Also, if memory serves me well, we had taken on a couple whose marriage was falling apart.  At that time, I was still playing guitar and the man taught me the words and music to Fats Waller’s song “Black and Blue”.  Phyllis was pregnant but didn’t know it.  There was a Frenchman named Philipe who had built a boat on Isla de Lobos in the Canary Islands.  We met him and then Gary and I walked over the mountain to the windward side of Bequia and caught six large lobsters.  That evening, we had a feast on the beach with Philipe and locals.

I don’t remember the town of Bequia at all.  That isn’t so surprising because we didn’t have any money to spend there.  Also, I can only recall a few boats where we anchored; one belonged to Philipe and he had a stern line running to a coconut tree.

Bequia today remains an island of sailors and boats linked to the outside world mainly by the sea.  The island still has an active whaling station in a low-key and traditional way.  They are allowed to take four whales a year but don’t  get many because few people are left with the skills necessary to hunt them – a daring feat in an open sailing boat, using hand thrown harpoons.  Bequians continue to build their traditional wooden double ended sailing boats in the shade of palm trees and sheds.  As I am writing this, it is the annual Easter Bequia Regatta that began today (April 14^th and goes through Sunday April 16^th).  The first race today was in Admiralty Bay; tomorrow they sail to Friendship Bay; on Sunday all the way around the island.  Lots of sailors here and cruisers are allowed to participate in their own class.  We don’t race.

In contrast to Clifton Harbor, Bequia is clean.  There is a sense of civil pride in the locals.  They are proud people,” descendants of settlers who came from North America on whaling boats, from farms in Scotland, from France as freebooters, and as slaves from Africa”.  This French freebooting has a long history and is alive and well today in the cruising world.  I think there is a mooching gene involved.  Nevertheless, I admire the intelligence, originality and courage of the French sailors we have met.

Bequia is a town of local artists, restaurants, fruit and veggies markets, boat building supplies, tour guides, dive shops, supermarkets, etc.; just about anything you might want can be found somewhere.  The Rastas are doing well in the Veggie Market and the smell of ganja is enticing.  Most of the businesses are owned by locals with a smattering of foreigners.  It appears that there is enough money flowing around to keep everyone solvent.  There is a feeling that they like you as well as the money you bring.  I didn’t get that feeling at Union Island.

Sinc we have arrive during the Easter festivities, Customs and Immigration will not be open until Tuesday April 18^th.  Originally, I was going to check out at Chauteaubelair on the west coast of St Vincent and then sail to Marigot Bay at St Lucia.  Given the delays, we will check out here in Bequia and sail directly for St Anne’s Bay (14-26.064’ N; 060-53.512’ W) on the island of Martinique: 90 nm.  If we leave here at 1500 hrs on April 18^th, we should arrive at St Anne’s Bay around 0900 hrs on April 19^th.