Lots of islands listed in this entry title - but none of them really visited on our voyage north - all we saw was coastline.  But we do at least now have a general feel for these places, and when we return late next year - will spend more time on each and explain them in more detail to you.

Well, as told before, we had a super Xmas on Bequia after meeting up with Paul and Annette from Tallulah.

Bequia is one of the St Vincent and Grenadines islands and part of the windward group.  It seems to be very popular with cruisers for the Xmas break.  Not sure why – but it is a natural stopping off point before normally dropping down to the smaller islands of the Grenadines - and it does have those relatively sophisticated restaurants on the shoreline.  These smaller islands of the Grendines are the ones that you dream of, all low coral lagoons, palms on the sand and turquoise water......but

Bequia is not one of those.  It is a skinny but populated island about 6 miles long laying on a SW / NE axis around 30 miles south of St Vincent and 30 miles above the Grendines.  It is rugged and mountainous from afar, but has several very attractive anchorages.  We’d all agreed a few weeks back by email to meet up in the largest of these, Admiralty Bay, for Xmas. 

Here's Swagman parked up (finally) off the restaurant -

There must have been close on 100 yachts already in when we arrived from the north.  Most were at anchor, but many also on laid mooring buoys.  Admiralty Bay has a small line of good restaurants along its southern shore – and a few shops and a small market make up the rest – but it was that southern shore side that we wanted to anchor / moor off – with or without the help of the local boat boys.

Have to say we'd read lots about ‘boat boys’ but before we arrived here - did not have a worry.  We now think there must be some better way to organise this side of island life, but not sure if it will easily get changed.

The reason we think this is that most visited bays now seem to have mooring buoys laid where once, according to the pilot book, one could simply drop an anchor.  But as we’ve learnt, there are two dramas in picking up a mooring buoy. (1) Knowing you’ve got a good one, and (2) that you’ve given the money to the right boat boy!

What happened so far to us is as we've approached to enter a bay, we find one or more boat boys roaring out to try and reach us first in their home made, but outboard powered, ‘speedboats’.

These guys are only making a quid, and they usually also offer almost every boat service you can think of, but the first question is invariably ‘Do want a mooring buoy?’ 

Answer in the affirmative and you can;t blame them for thinking up every excuse under the sun as to why you should simply follow them to the buoy(s) they claim to control.  That's as opposed to others buoys that might be free and in the spot you actually want to park.

‘No. That ones reserved………’  ‘No. That ones illegal……..’  'No. That ones no good………’ etc, etc. 

Most of these reasons we've been given so far have turned out to be fibbies – so as a rule, we’ve learnt to ignore whats been said......

But in Bequia at the beginning of our learning curve, we wanted to pick up something close by the southern shore where we planned to eat our Xmas dinner with Tullulah, and after a lengthy discussion with the first boat boy who reached us (‘Nappi’), we ignored his pleas to take one of his on the northern shore, and motored towards the empty buoys off the restaurant area.

Nappi then roared back and helpdirected us to a free mooring on the south side, assuring us it did actually belong to a pal of his.  So all tied up, we negotiated 140$EC (around £25) for four nights, paid Nappi his money, and settled in.

But sadly this mooring proved to be a wrong one for us. 

With spring tides current, we were awoken after midnight with a gentle bump on the bottom.  The sea level had dropped over 1 metre in this so called tideless area.

No real worries for me as the bottoms soft, so the keel will always scrape a hollow in this kind of dead coral and sandy bottom – and the action does also clean off the keel base as a bonus! 

But it's not something to put up with if one can move elsewhere – which we were encouraged into doing first thing next morning.

The encouragement came from a charter catamaran which had came up behind during that first night, and picked up another mooring so close behind us that his bow ended up less than 3 metres from our stern.

He was Dutch. 

He was on holiday. 

He was paid up. 

And he was not going to move off as no other moorings appeared free. 

I tried to explain the issues of being so close - but finally got fed up with the argument on an Xmas eve - so when we saw another mooring come free midmorning - off we went and grabbed it.

This second buoy was only 50 metres away but in much deeper water - and the lines and buoy looked clean, well kept, and we presume was in equally good order on the sea bed.    But it did cost us another EC$50 to our second boat boy, Denis, who shot out to pick up his fee.  

But 1 hour later as we landed in the dinghy, we had an irate local come up claiming to own the morroing, and asking also for his fee!

He claimed not to know the Denis we'd paid - and it looked like we were going to have a big argument on Xmas eve even if we did not want one.

But. 

Think he got the message I was not paying a third time for that one night - or he may have recognised the glint beginning to fire up in Sues eyes - so he backed off - we parted amicably – and was able to spend our last night in Bequia not bumping the bottom.

So for me it seems crazy the local authorities don’t sort out some form of licensing for moorings, and same for boat boys.  It would just make one feel more comfortable and maybe reduce the oppotunism we've experienced.  Maybe.……….

Anyway - our pals Paul and Annette. 

We first met these guys when we all took part in Rally Portugal 2004.  They’ve since married and sailed Tullulah (a Lagoon Catamarian) over to the Caribbean as part of last years ARC.  We all got on well way back then, and I even spent Pauls Stag night with him in Cardiff a year or so back - so it was great to be able to consider linking up over here.

They arrived in Bequia 24 hours after us, having sailed up from their summer storage spot on Grenada.  From the moment they burbled over in their dinghy and a cork was pulled, it’s become party time. 

They introduced us to some new Aussie pals they’d made since arriving in this region- and blow me down – this chap was someone I’d worked alongside some 25 years back in Perth!  Small world indeed.

Paul Hayter and his wife Diane have been cruising on their yacht Flame for more than a few years.  We spent a great night all together getting mildly sloshed in a local bar, and continued swapping tales and beers over the pre-planned Xmas Dinner of roast turkey under the stars.

Superb.  Heres where we ate as seen from the boat.

We moved out early on Boxing Bay and took two headaches off northward towards our planned New Years destination of Antigua.  Our course would take us up past St Vincent in loose company with Tallulah.  She is also heading to be slipped in English Harbour, Antigua, but we had slightly differing routes organised.

We found it to be hard yakka going north this leg, even inside the Windward Islands, as the winds we experienced were 20-25 knots from the north east.  It created a big sea in the channels twix each island that we slid past on our way north and we bashed and crashed our way on a fine reach sending up fountains of spray for most daylight hours. 

It’s obviously all calm when you enter the lee of each island, so one does get a break………… 

But having said this, when we had wind Swagman sped along with a reefed main and most times 50% of the genoa unfurled.  8 knots boatspeed was normal in the channels, dropping back to 7 when we turned on the engine in each islands lee, to keep up a good pace, charge batteries and make water. 

. 

We’d reached level with Marigot Bay half way up on St Lucia’s west coast as dusk fell quickly that night.  This bay is known to be really pretty.  High cliffs protect a narrow entry into a tasteful hotel and tourist development, around a small marina, all set into a palm fringed small bay with wooded cliffs all around.  It made a nice setting for a meal we shared on board Swagman with Paul and Annette who arrived shortly after we did.

Cost for a mooring here was 60 EC$ - and that’s one just off the entry passage.  Inside, closer to the marina action (but not sure you’d want to be there due to noise) they wanted 80 EC$.  It’s not a lot converted into pounds, but seemed high compared with Bequia.

Both yachts went our separate ways early on the following day - 27^th.  Whilst Tallulah is also heading to Antigua, they want to visit Port de France on the west side of Martinique en route and then spend New Year on Les Saints islands. 

We on the other hand wished to catch up with two sets of pals in another spot on Martinique – so we all waved our goodbyes as we each set off - and our sailing courses slowly drew us apart until they finally disappeared over the horizon to our west and we plugged on northward. 

We experienced a lot of cloud cover on what turned into a real ‘charge’ up towards Martinique.  No real heavy squalls, but a growing F5 to F6 with us reefed down like yesterday, saw us trucking along getting cooled each 30 minutes as rain showers came and went.

We made the bay off Le Marin in Matinuque where the village of St Anne is located - just after midday.  It’s on the lowest point of this French island.  The bay is wide but a well protected anchorage in the prevailing winds, with just 5/8 metres of sandy bottomed water stretching away for miles.  We had maybe 50 other yachts at anchor in this section of the bay, and there were literally hundereds anchored inside the inlet closer to the city of Le Marin.  A very populat yottie spot due to well provisioned French supermarkets plus a good range of nautical services at Marins large marina.

This is where we’d said we’d meet the other guys - and we dropped anchor right alongside the first pair - Americans Robin and Charles on Robin Leigh.  

As it was too late to clear French customs (closed at 1200 until tomorrow) we simply hung up a French courtesy and a ‘Q’ flag and zipped over to say hello once more to Robin and Charles.  We first met these guys in Turkey and have had good fun keeping contact with them right across the Med. 

We al ended up spending the night ashore at a nice beachside restaurant where we could overlook both boats.  Did not even get wet as we dinghied up the beach line.

On the 28^th, we took time out ashore walking the coast and exploring St Annes, and did some grocery shopping whilst we awaited the other old pals to arrive.  They are French people Sylvie and Guy who we met on the EMYR 2006.  They are now sailing their own yacht Takari up and down the Caribbean, and had placed themselves so as to readily catch up with us close to St Lucia.

They arrived midday, so another relaxing arvo followed by a fabulous meal on Takari sharing memories and tales.  Such lovely people.  And lovely tucker!  We're lucky to have met such nice people in our travels.

A shot of Guy (and the little speedos Sue quite likes) on their yacht Takari.

Had a bit of a wet night with rain showers and gusty squalls, and it saw us up at 0600 on the 29^th and circling Takari to wave our farewells. 

Off we went along the bottom and then up the Martinique west coast -  aiming to make Dominica before the day was out.  It was a long haul.

Squally wet tight reach yet again when in open water – in fact even wetter than the trip from St Lucia.  More thunder storms and stronger gusts.  Here's what the northern tip of Martinique looked like as we headed out into open waters once more, heading for the next island up, Dominica.

It was with sighs of relief we ran into the lee shore of Dominica, and felt even better a few hours later when we were able to turn into Rupert Bay right on the top tip of Dominica - and try to find a spot to drop the anchor for the night.

It was only 1830 when we arrived, but with no moon and the stars behind the rain clouds, as black as sin.  The gusting rain made it additionally difficult to see even 20 metres in front of us, and finding a clear spot amid lots of yachts in the anchorage that themselves were dark and closed up, raised the combined adrenelin levels. 

After this experience, I’m afraid I'm no longer an advocate for those who use rechargeable garden lamps as anchor lamps.  Sorry chaps – may save on the old energy but very very hard to see right up until ones almost at the final ramming point!

Chose not to go ashore although one hotel pumped music and flashed lights at us.  Had a blustery night yawing around with lots more rain rattling on the cabin top and bimini.  So where’s this Caribbean sunshine we came over here to enjoy - liquid sunshine is what the locals call it.

Next day - 30^th – we awoke after an early night – only to realised we had Tullulah parked up right off our bow.  We’d seen a set of deck and cabin lights on this boiat when we arrived, but never twigged it was them.  Seemed like no one was awake – so slipped away ourselves and promised ourselves to radio them later.

We got good sailing conditions from Dominica up and past the smaller islands of Les Saints which sit twix Dominica and Guadalope.  Those islands break up the swells rolling in off the Atlantic so they made for a easier run.  The wind had veered slightly so we reached along with 17-20 knots of wind slightly aft of our beam, making a good 8.5 knots + in the sunshine.  Did get a few clouds with some rain - but not much.

Raised Tullulah on the radio late morning.  They were equaly surpised we'd been so close the night before, and themsleves planned to stop at Les Saints for New Year.  This small group of French controlled islands have many reef protected anchorage areas - and we could see and hear (radio) many other yachts traveliing from the north to also celebrate New Year in their sheltered bays.

We decided we wished to make Anitgua if we could without further stops - so pressed on. 

We had to supplement our sails again with the engine up the less shore of Guadalope, but when we again hit the open seas on the channel above Guadaloupe and onto Antigua, the wind backed a bit and built to a much stronger breeze.

It continued to get worse as we plugged the final 40 miles across the channel to Antigua - and topped out at 40 knots which we handled with two reeks in the main and a tiny section of headsail unfurled.  The bimini stayed up right through all this - remarkable!

By the time we were approaching English Harbour Antigua, have to say we both felt knackered. 

Sue had spent a lot of time below lying flat out on a pilot berth to save her back and prevent any mal de mer which could have resulted from the jolting lurching motion as we soared up each wave crest, smashed through the white caps on the top, and corkscrewed down the valley to do it all over again.  And again.  The Hanse 461 is a fab fast cruiser in just about all conditions except one.  And thats the heavy on the nose stuff we had that passage.

Quick journey alright, but 'a very wet ride' does not do it justice.

English Harbour Antigua is like a film set.  The entry is adjacent to the bigger inlet of Falmouth Harbour, but English Harbour seemed to be the most attractive in the pilot book.

It is not only picturesque as its shoreside facilities are just about fully restored to its historical layout of 200 years back, but it is so well protected you’d not know a F8 gale is blowing outside once you slip under the opening in the cliffs and into its sheltered embrace.

It's a bit like the scale of the River Dart in the UK, a winding inlet wending its way past old naval battlements up to the mangroves behind Nelsons Dockyard Marina.  Lots of romm to anchor maybe 100 yachts in here - but it seemed there were 101 already in when we arrived!

We failed to raise Nelsons Dockyard Marina on the radio as we hung off seeking a berth tied up ashore - it's of course Sunday so it's all a bit relxed - but eventually we got fed up waiting so found one good anchoring spot only 100 metres away in the inner harbour area – and dropped the hook there.

Did not realise how good a spot it atually was until the next dawn, so are now safely anchored with no daily marina costs, and sorting affairs in a pretty luxy environment all round.

Heres Antigua Slipways as seen from our deck.  Nelsons Dockyard is same distance away but 200 metres left.

Sods Law did come into play tho. 

We’ve come up from Bequia hoping to spend New Year with Andy and Becky off Specra who we knew were due to arrive here three weeks back from Europe.  As we cold not see them parked up, nor have we been able to make phone contact, we asked around. 

And you’ve got it in one............... 

Seems they left 3 days back hoping to spend New Year with old pals John and Sue on Swagman who they heard were going to be in Bequia!  So much for wanting to suprise people.................

No worries.  For New Year we are off for a Pizza in the restaurant on the SlipYards shown above up until 2100, then across the inlet to  Nelsons Dockyard and its midnight party / band / fireworks running until 0300 tomorrow. 

Do I think we'll make 0300?  As we'd say in Oz, for oldies like us - we've Buckleys chance!

And from both of us - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Cheers

JOHN