The above picture is of Bequia Harbor. Charlie wanted to get a haircut. The Cruising Guide said that a woman named Emma did both men and women, but we discovered that she had closed her shop. The other person was Clive, whose shop was in the back of a building. We had to ask several times to find his shop. He was a young man of late 20's or early 30's. He had a short line waiting. He actually did a good job on Charlie's hair. It doesn't stick out everywhere any more. We also had to hunt down Doris' Food Store. The guide said she had many delicacies and frozen foods. We were not impressed and did not find any better place on the island within walking distance. The new modern store reported in the cruising guide must have not been built. There were several places which were bakeries with breads and sweets. The local outdoor market had beautiful fruits and vegetables. I bought some bananas, an avacado and fresh pineapple that the seller cut up for me. The vendors who come around in boats also have great vegetables. In Rodney Bay the vendor in his boat had great grapefruit, tomatoes, bananas, huge avocado and lettuce. he even had some fresh basil which I bought . We are still enjoying his tomatoes and
grapefruit. YUM. We had some lunch at the Gingerbread House called such due to the wooden "Victorian gingerbread" trim". Since they are managed by the Fragipani Hotel people, the menu was almost the same....nothing very exciting. During the afternoon Charlie went to customs to check out so we could leave the next day. It took him 45 minutes. We bought some beer and cokes. Then we went over to the beach near our boat. It was long, wide and even had some shade. We enjoyed a Pina Colada at the bar/restaurant at the beach. Then we sat on lounge chairs in the shade and read. We also
enjoyed the cool refreshing water. A group of local students were enjoying the beach and several couples were out snorkeling. I wished I had brought my snorkeling gear to the beach. It was a pleasant afternoon. We ate dinner on the boat because we had not seen anything during our exploring which tempted us.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
We removed the outboard engine from the dinghy and placed the dinghy up onto the cabin top of the boat. We had a delivery of ice to the boat and then took off for the Tobago Cays. We had an absolutely beautiful day of sailing. The wind was just right, coming out of the east at 16-18 knots. The trip was not very long. We arrived in time to fix lunch. We later went ashore to the nearest island and walked to the other side where there was supposed to be an area to snorkel for beginners. Some areas in the Tobago Cays have a lot of current. The beach was littered with seaweed so it was not a nice beach to lay a towel on. I walked along the edge but did not really see anywhere I wanted to snorkel and the wind was 16-17 knots so the water was rough. We could see the island that is the turtle protected area. It is a very small island with only a few palm trees on it. It doesn't have any high hills on it. There is huge reef along the back of it extending both ways. Back on the side of the island where our boat was, I found an area of small rocks in which I could see some colorful fishes. I had forgotten to put the bag with my snorkeling mask in the dinghy. I saw what looked like a clown fish, some angelfish, and a drum. We were somewhat disappointed in the beaches of the Tobago Cays.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
We had a big storm early this morning and the clouds lingered. The winds were still 16-17 knots as they had been all night. We decided that we should head over to Union Is, only 6-7 miles away. We had to go there to check out of the Grenadines, either early Monday in town or today at the airport. Charlie is getting very tired of getting the engine on and off the dinghy. It is hard work as the engine is quite heavy. We use the halyard and the electric winch, but it is still a struggle. We got the engine off but decided to drag the dinghy behind the boat since the distance was not too great. We had another great day of sailing with perfect wind from the east at 16-18 knots. We made it to Clifton in Union Is which is almost surrounded by a reef. Markers helped to keep us off the reef. Across from Union Is is a beautiful Palm Island with a pretty beach. We had to search around the anchorage area for a clear enough spot to anchor. It was pretty full with moored boats used for day trips. After a leisurely lunch, we again put the engine on the dinghy and took off for shore. We landed at a dinghy dock for a restaurant which did not seem to be open but one of 3 persons sitting around chatting offered to take us to the airport. It took Charlie almost 45 minutes to check out. I was glad we did it today instead of tomorrow as it would have delayed out departure in the morning. Back to the boat, we again took the engine off the dinghy. We will put the dinghy up on top of the boat tomorrow before we leave to sail to Grenada. I did not get any pictures of Union Is or the Tobago Cays. I did get some pictures of other beaches in the Grenadines. Mayreau which is just in front of the Tobago Cays has several lovely beaches with anchorages.
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