Beautiful Bequai - What I thought the Caribbean would be like

We left Martinique and had a very pleasant sail to the very south of St Lucia where we took a mooring ball by the Pitons for 2 days while Mandy worked and I fitted my Mantis swivel. (The strongest link in my anchor chain - that's what it said on the box). We didn't go ashore as we weren't checked in to St Lucia but the Piton's were pretty grand.

Then it was off on a overnighter to Bequai. We flew, beam reach, 20 knots of wind. We're defo getting the hang of this boat. The swell was from the East and between islands it got a bit choppy until we hit a massive patch of sargasm. It deadened the swell making it very quiet and smooth sailing. The only problem was sargasm popped up in all the sinks. Good job the engine or genny wasn't on, I think it may have blocked the inlets.

We arrived in Bequai just before sunrise and bobbed about for an hour or so waiting for some light so we could find an anchorage not near any mooring balls. I'd never heard of Bequai, it was recommended by lots of other sailors we'd met. It is a tiny island, part of St Vincent and the Grenadines and as I said just like I expected the Caribbean to be like. Amazingly friendly people, everyone has dreadlocks, I felt particularly bald. The cost of everything was very reasonable, £3 for a strong rum punch and diesel 70 pence a litre. We had a wonderful 7 nights here and would have stayed longer if we didn't have to get below 12 degrees latitude for hurricane season and insurance purposes.

We went to Mrs Johnson's restaurant, The fig tree, for brunch one day and were treated to this great fiddle player, Samuel Toka.

We returned to the fig tree the following evening for Mandy's birthday and had a wonderful meal. It was very quiet as it is the end of the season so we had the place to ourselves for most of the meal. Mrs Johnson came and chatted to us, I think her dreadlocks were older than me. The staff all came out singing happy birthday with a little cake for Mandy

We had to pay a visit to the floating rum bar. It sounds a bit cheesy but it is very popular with yotties and not expensive at all. No far from our boat, just across the other side of the bay. Some people drop anchor so close to the place that they can swim to the pub. 

Went snorkelling on a sunken tugboat, no goPro so no photos, it was a bit deep but quite impressive.

While driving out to the wreck we disturbed a swarm of flying fish, at least a hundred of them jumping all around the boat. A little like the scene in The life of Pi but smaller fish.

Then it was time to leave for Grenada. Another great sail except for 1 chaotic squall where we lost 2 solar panels. :-( And on the way there is an active underwater volcano called Kick 'em Jenny that you must avoid as when it errupts the bubbles can sink a boat.

We dropped the anchor in Halifax harbour, halfway down the island, as it was a lovely peaceful anchorage. The depth sounder failed so it was a bit worrysome trusting charts and eyeballing the bottom. £400 for a new one and that is the third one we have had on the boat. It's a sealed unit so there in no chance of repairing it. They have an awful reputation in the boating world. But hey Airmar have a monopoly so they don't care. The DST800 is a piece of crap. Rant over. We moved around to Prickly bay, our home for a few months, out of the insurance company's hurricane belt. Grenada is a bit of a marmite place for sailors, half of them hate it and the others love it. We love it, food and booze is reasonable, there is lots going on for cruisers from Bingo nights to BBQs, live bands, Zumba classes and a real ale bar. 

They have a cruisers net on the VHF every morning at 7:30 that keeps all the sailors informed about what's going on, things for sale, weather, who's arriving and leaving. All voluntary, very useful. And of course loads of places to get, expensive, parts and work done on the boat. We got a mooring ball for a month so we could dismantle our hydraulic steering, one of the rods is not working so the steering has been a little stiff. So the jobs start. It shows what a robust boat we have, half the steering not working, half the watermaker not working and half the battery banks not working and still Mandy can use her hairdryer and get a shower.

Couldn't get much closer

We are pretty close to the shore and because we are on a mooring ball we can use the marina showers and dispose of our rubbish. There is a great dinghy dock, a bar, a boulangerie and a small shop that sells the cheapest beer on the island. So between jobs we've been exploring Grenada, another friendly Caribbean island very similar to Barbados. (Only 100 ish miles away)

This is how we get about. We lift the dinghy every night for security and to stop the wee beasties from growing. Our dinghy and outboard is amazing and is currently running like a dream.

It rains now and again but is extremely refreshing in the heat. We were halfway through working on the bimini and Mandy could not move as she was holding it up. Tee Hee.

We treated ourselves to a smart projector so we can watch movies on deck as it is too hot to watch below.

So onward with the jobs and chilling out in Grenada for a few months.