Wednesday, January 4, 2012

BEQUIA



Sailing to Bequia was beautiful, sunny with 25 knots wind. But in the Admirality Bay we started out with some trouble anchoring twice. At night we dragged again. I slept in a cockpit and the anchor alarm woke me up. Polde changed the anchor, put on the danfort, while I was circulating in a 30 knots gusts. We have been sitting tight and far from the crowd of other boats since.
In the morning we realized, that the shaft of the CQR anchor was bent upward. That probably wasn’t the only reason why the boat dragged. We watched other boats trying to anchor twice or three times before they settled. One sailboat dragged during the night and ended up on rocks. People were rescued in the morning, but the boat was slowly taken by the sea, only the top of the mast sticking out as a reminder of the Caribbean sailing pleasures. Another boat dragged into the neighbor and scraped the side of it.
I did some bottom fishing off the boat and caught enough for my meals. I added another specimen to my trophies, a flying gurnard, a beautiful and tasty fish, but not easy to clean.
There is a tennis court available at the Gingerbread Inn on a shore by the anchorage. The weather didn't permit us to play, so we exercised by walking over the hill from Admirality to the Frienship Bay, quiet with only a few fishing boats resting. A small restaurant and a bar, were we refreshed ourselves a few years back, was washed away by the storm.
We said our farewell to the past year with a couple of Slovenian sailors, Majda and Toni Bozic, who participated in the ARC with their beautiful 65 ft ketch NOOR DARIA. We met them the day before in the Admirality Bay and yet, we had such a good time as if we were old friends. Must be the sailors’ spirit.
We have not had a peaceful day or night since we sailed into this bay. The wind just wouldn’t slow down, gusting to 30 knots and bringing rain heavy clouds. Our generator and the water maker have been resting the last two weeks. There is always something good in bad, isn’t there? And there are always rainbows after the storms.

A thrill
and a beauty
Flying gurnard
Are William and Kate visiting?
Admirality Bay
Friendship Bay


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