Sharing Paradise with Family 

We woke up to beautiful sunshine in Bequia, the scenic, northern most island in the Grenadines.   At 8am we listened to the local cruiser net over the VHF radio, hosted by Ms. J, owner of the Fig Tree restaurant.  What a great way to start your morning with  Ms J welcoming the incoming and outgoing cruisers, wishing all a blessed day.   Even the turtles came up to greet us. 

After a full day aboard the boat, everyone was ready to go ashore and explore Bequia.  We took the dinghy to the stone path that runs along the shore down to Princess Margaret Beach.  We could see Adventure I tied up to the mooring ball as we looked at the colourful houses dotting the far shore of this beautiful, protected bay.

After our walk, we headed toward town in search of a few groceries as this would be our last provisioning stop before sailing to the Tobago Cays.  Pamela and I darted into the various vegetable vendors in town, avoiding the small cars and trucks that race around on the left hand side of the road.  We also picked up some farm eggs from a small grocer where Pamela stopped to chat with the gentlemen there playing backgammon. 

Roger dropped off the propane tank earlier that morning, so we picked up our full tank.  We had learned the hard way on previous trips that you cannot get propane in French islands, which only have butane, so this was a must-do to keep the galley up and running!

We headed out early the next day to get to the Tobago Cays, our favourite spot in the Caribbean.  The winds were 13 to 15 knots and we moved along easily on relatively calm seas.  

As we sailed, a Brown Booby landed on our pulpit several times, apparently quite content to hitch a ride.   We were able to identify it by the distinctive brown and white plumage, and bright yellow feet.   

We arrived just over 3 hours later in the Tobago Cays, a protected marine sanctuary, with five uninhabited cays.  This park is sometimes called the "Jewel in the Crown" of St Vincent and the Grenadines.  Fittingly, the first thing that strikes you is the clear, crystal blue waters.    There are also extensive coral reefs which provide protection from the ocean waves. Inside the reefs sailboats anchor on the sandy bottom or on a mooring ball.  

When we arrived the balls were all taken so we anchored up behind Horseshoe Reef.  As we were anchoring we saw several green turtles popping their heads up.  It's such an unusual feeling to be moored there with no obvious protection from the open ocean.  

We spent the next 3 days swimming and exploring the reefs of the Tobago Cays.  Amongst the highlights, we saw a reef shark, barracuda, a spotted eagle ray, a ballyhoo with its needle like nose, a porcupine fish and a smooth trunkfish.  One of the more unique finds was a gray triggerfish which Pamela coined  'an upside down fish', due to the fins that wave near the back of their body allowing them to hover and maneuver.

It is a magical place to watch the sunrise as well.

At one point, our favorite mooring ball freed up so we quickly moved over. It's perfect location allowed Pirate to swim ashore to her own little beach when nature called.  Just off the bow was one of the better reefs.  In this location it felt like we had our own private aquarium, so we dove in to explore several times a day.  

The view from there was stunning and the water was crystal clear with amazing visibility. 

The local people from Mayreau and Union Island put on a fun waterfront beach BBQ every evening, with lobster, tuna, chicken and ribs, with sides of plantain, salad and rice.  It's a feast not to be missed!

The colorful boats are also a signature part of any visit to the Tobago Cays. 

On our final night there, we headed over to the Tiki beach bar for cocktails.  We were surprised to find that they had upgraded their lifestyle with an electric instead of battery charged blender.  

The next morning we set sail for Chatham Bay in Union Island.  As we left the mooring field, we saw a large Superyacht, called V6, which came equipped with its own helicopter.  At 160 feet in length, V6 will cruise along at 14 knots with a range of 11,000 nautical miles from the 127,500 liter fuel tanks.  Apparently the owner is a passionate kite surfer which would definitely explain its presence in the Tobago Cays.  We frequently saw kiteboarders flying back and forth along the water.

Pamela made us some fun home made pizzas for lunch  and later, we braved the surf that headed into the beach in Chatham Bay.  We had expected a nice protected anchorage, but instead it was a little more rolly than expected.  As a result, the next morning we headed out early to sail back to Bequia.

It was a magnificent sail with winds up to 22 knots.  Pamela and Ross both took turns at the helm.

After a great day of sailing it was time to head ashore in our Tobago Cays team shirts for some libations and the sunset at Jack's. 

 

On their last day in Bequia, we enjoyed another beach walk, a beautiful sunset and a delish dinner at Laura's.

  

The next morning, Roger took Pamela and Ross ashore to catch the 7:30 am ferry that would take them back to St Vincent and off to the airport.  Pirate saw them off as they waved their goodbye's from the deck of the dilapidated, old inter-island transporter. 

We had lots of great sailing, lots of snorkeling, lots of laughs and lots of baguettes.  We'll definitely miss Pamela and Ross as we start heading north to Martinique, eventually making our way up to the British Virgin Islands. We have a deadline to make as more friends will be meeting us there.  Pirate has scheduled Vet appointments so we will be leaving before dawn in order to make it to Sainte Anne by sunset. Let's hope the wind holds and they are favourable for a nice sail to Martinique.