June too soon… (Oh, sure!)

Always hoping to catch sight of the green flash as the sun goes down!! 
The view from our mooring in Grenada.

Firstly, and importantly, WJ3 Cap’n & both Crew are safe and sound in St Lucia.  We are nested in a web of mooring lines, secured to a very solid concrete marina berth, and surrounded by mangroves (and the odd water-front housing estate!).  Rodney Bay Marina is also on the far north of the island.  As luck would have it for us at least, Beryl wobbled south a bit leaving us to manage with just a few intense gusts and some rain.  Not so lucky for those islands south of us!

So, why are we here?  With June too soon and July stand by ringing in our ears, we set off for a cruise of the southern Windwards.  All in aid of a dive on Tobago Cays, a chance to visit more remote islands in the chain and some sunny, clean, calm anchorages.   Our rule of thumb however, was not to be further than 2 sailing days away from Trinidad.  That made Martinique, at a stretch, our northernmost limit. 

Having left Trinidad, we set course for Grenada, arriving after a brisk sail at the moorings off St Georges Harbour.  A vast marina, set up with visions of attracting flotillas of super yachts, now occupies a section of the harbour called the Frying Pan (due to its shape).  Still, the outer mooring area was fine and we were still able, without risking life or limb, to access a small supermarket deep in the Pan, to replenish supplies.

Our skitterish hitchhikers wouldn't pose for the Cap'n

Of course, halfway across to Grenada, we attracted some rather suspect hitchhikers and soon after were nearly collected by a determined freighter.  An eventful trip this time.

From Grenada, we moved on to Carriacou, anchoring in the protection of Tyrell Bay.  Here, we became aware of a couple of tropical waves (atmospheric depressions) moving across the Atlantic from Africa.  There was potential for them to develop into tropical storms so we decided to go further north, moving on to Bequia.  Bequia must be the quintessential Caribbean harbour.  Beautiful clear turquoise water, white sandy beaches, friendly locals and a neat, tidy town.  Except the two storms were growing larger!  So, the next morning we hot-footed it to St Lucia.  Yet another rocky ride in our progress north through the Windwards!

St Vincent - a garden island

Hatches, hatches crew!!  Downpour on the way...  St Vincent

At this point (28 June), it became apparent that we now had a sizeable hurricane on our heels.  Also, best advice was that Miss Beryl could wobble further south given conditions in the Caribbean.  An escape back to Trinidad therefore seemed unrealistic, so we decided to take our chances in St Lucia. With canvas and sails stripped down, everything strapped securely to the boat, provisioning complete and water tanks filled, here we are on Monday (1 Jul) crossing everything humanly possible and waiting our fate.  

At its closest, Beryl was about 112 miles (181 km) from us.  But she did wobble south.  The eye, with predicted maximum sustained winds near 130 mph (215 km/h) made a direct hit over Carriacou and tiny Petite Martinique wreaking havoc.  Barbados to the east, Grenada on its south flank and Bequia to its north, all fell into the line of fire too.  Our thoughts are with those whose lives have been so dramatically changed as a consequence.

Beryl is certainly a gal braking records!  She’s the earliest recorded in the season, quickly gained strength, intensified from a tropical depression to a Category 3 hurricane in 42 hours then became a Category 4 hurricane in 48 hours.  Now she’s heading for Jamaica as a Category 5!

(Back in 2010, Hurricane Earl (link) met us up in Maine.  We were only 90 miles away then and well hidden thanks to Maine's amazing landscape and robust trees!)

One very smart bird...

This great lump decided that WJ3 was the perfect observation post for spotting flying fish in our wake.  Its a breakfast of champions obviously.  Despite his webbed feet, he balanced very well indeed (better than us!!) and rode with us, standing lookout, for quite a distance.  Flying off as necessary, then coming back to wait in luxury.  Better than wasting energy flying!

Sargasso weed in great clumps off the coast of St Lucia. 
 It's at the point of being a small craft hazard in some places 

Blessings in Bequia

Sun and spectacular sunsets too!  But no green flash... or was that a 80's thing?

We finally found the SUN in Bequia!  Things were looking up!  Our trusty Cap’n headed off to complete checking-in formalities with immigration/customs.  (This has to be done at every island where we stop!  Apparently at times it really tests his UN-learned diplomacy skills…).  As luck would have it, our Cap’n met up with Didi on “Blessing” at the dinghy dock.  She manages a mooring field just off the picturesque Plantation Hotel.  Best of all, there was a mooring available and we could stay 7 days.  We quickly left the swell of Lower Beach behind for this fantastic spot tucked nicely up in Admiralty Bay.  We must be going soft in our dotage?

White sandy beach near the Plantation Hotel.
Next time, GS is going to stay there a week!!

The weather held and with relish, we explored the tiny town, ate at cute coffee shops, tried the pizza and found a nice bar or three for evening drinks.  The town market had an array of beautiful fresh fruits and vegies, most brought over daily by fast ferry from St Vincent.  Best of all, there was a beautiful blue swimming pool at the back of our boat.  We used it every day.  Although the sighting of a coral sea snake lurking in the seaweed under our boat did cause a few moments of panic.  The lads also took the opportunity to snorkel nearby coral reefs, spotting baby lobsters, colourful fish and a troupe of divers exploring the depths below. 

Cute old timber shingle house

Bequia has a history of traditional boat building and in the early years, a whaling industry.  However, skills needed to continue this tradition have diminished with time.  We were saddened to hear that Withfield, who skilfully make our sturdy custom dodger and awnings in 2008 has since passed.  Daffodil, a floating barge laden with fuel and water (they take laundry too!) is still in operation.  We cannot understand how this brilliant concept has not become popular across the Caribbean.  In Georgetown, Bahamas, we had to line up at the petrol station with jerry cans, lug them to the dinghy dock, transport them back to the boat and then siphon the contents, can by can, into WJ3’s tank until full.  Repeat this performance for fresh water.  In March, there were hundreds of boats in Georgetown.  Well, enough moaning.  It must be time for another swim.  

Lovely clear water off a dinghy dock with WJ3
(look for her under the beige awning, in between the big cats)

View over Admiralty Bay as the sun goes down. 
Farewell to Bequia dinner at an upstairs restaurant in town near the dock.