BEAUTIFUL BEQUIA
As I am writing this, we are still anchored off Princess Margaret Beach in Bequia (pronounced Beckway). No, I am not being extremely efficient, it is usually over a week later that I write these blog posts. We have been here, anchored in the same spot for two weeks. That is unheard of in our sailing journey but there’s just something about this place that has kept us here.
We arrived Saturday afternoon and after anchoring towards the back of the anchoring field we noticed that the Cat next to us had an Australian flag!! We had not seen another Aussie flag since we had been in the Caribbean. A little while later, sitting out the back I hear a voice say, “Is that Fremantle, Fremantle?” in an accent not heard for a while. Chris swam over to have a chat, and he had also crossed the Atlantic late last year, but he was heading south towards Grenada and then onto Panama. It was a shame he wasn’t staying longer but it was good to chat while we could.
Sunday morning, as the charter boats were leaving the bay and the top-notch positions near the beach became free, we made our move to anchor closer to the beach. Just in the nick of time before the next fleet of charter boats came barreling into the anchorage, we found the sweet spot for the anchor in the sand, and we haven’t moved since then. thirteen days in total and today will make fourteen.
Bequia has a lot to offer. A beautiful beach that we can swim to easily and provide entertainment, people watching, sunset drinks from the beach bars. There are dinghy docks everywhere along the next bay and a waterfront walking path. There are a lot of bars and restaurants along the waterfront path with great views across the water. We have tried most of them during our two weeks stay, making the most of how easy it is to drop the dinghy into the water from the boat and find a dock to tie up to.
There is also a port where ferry boats and supply boats leave many times during the day. There has been a constant stream of cruise liners that appear in the bay in the morning and are gone again during the night. The passengers are offloaded by little ferry boats from the ship to go and sit on the sand or wander the small shopping strip and markets. It’s always busy but we can choose to be in the busy or to watch the busy from the boat.
We have done a few walks around the island which mostly requires climbing up giving the lungs and legs a good workout. We walked to Mount Pleasant, which gave us our first look at the windward side of the island and some incredible houses perched on the edge of hills. On this walk we stopped at the top at a small market/restaurant and had a drink. We got talking to a Canadian man who had been holidaying each year on Bequia for eight years and kept coming back. On the same walk, another couple stopped to talk, and they were also from Canada. A lady waiting in line in front of me was from Canada, waiting outside the supermarket, another lady from Canada. A guy swam out near our boat and spoke to Tony while he was sitting in the dinghy fixing something and yes, you got it, he was from Canada too. It seemed like every person we spoke to was from Canada.
There was also another walk which left from behind the beach up this steepest hill which felt like you were climbing a ladder. It was head down and pump those legs to get to the top and there was definitely no air left for talking. Once at the top we walked down the hill to a place called Friendship Bay. Another walk took us to the end of the bay and up the stairs over the headland to Lower Bay where we stopped for some lunch before walking back.
We did meet an English couple at the beach when we swam closer to shore and struck up a conversation with them, and this was their second trip to Bequia. We met them again a few days later and invited them to swim out to the boat for an afternoon drink. We ended up going out for dinner with them on their last night on the island and enjoyed their company.
We try to do something every day to keep occupied on the boat. Whether it’s taking the dinghy to go shopping, or going snorkeling, sunset drinks on the beach, taking the rubbish across the bay to the dump, using the kayak, going for a walk. The rest of the time is spent doing small boat jobs, tidying the “house”, reading books, doing this blog, planning the next move (not much of that getting done the last week or two) cooking meals, cakes, napping and most importantly……...playing cards!
