November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends!

St. George’s anchorage was not kind to us on our last night there. We had swells from the north making the anchorage very rolly. In fact, it had to be the worst night we had ever spent there. The alarm went off at 0530 and we weighed anchor and were underway by 0620. There was no wind for the first few hours so we motored, which was okay because it charged the batteries. By mid morning the wind had picked up and we motor sailed, trying to keep our speed at 5 kts. Shortly thereafter we were able to turn the engine off and sailed to Tyrrel Bay. The winds were from the right direction, the sun was shining, the temperature was warm, the waves were not too big. In short it was perfect!

We arrived in Tyrrel Bay and had the anchor set by 1320. We ate a late lunch, then Jorge had a short siesta while I read a book. Supper was early, watching the sunset and bedtime was also early as we were planning to catch the next day’s weather window as well.

November 28, 2014

Both Jorge and I had a better night’s sleep than the night before. Tyrrel Bay is good for that, very well protected. The alarm again went off at 0530 and we were leaving the anchorage by 0600, under cloudy skies and some rain. We motored for the first hour or so as the skies were threatening and we were concerned about squalls. Nothing happened. The skies cleared, the sun came out, the winds were again from the right direction and between 11 and 14 kts. We motored sailed again for a while to keep the speed at 5 kts but once more we were finally able to turn the engine off and had a wonderful sail into Admiralty Bay, Bequia, setting anchor at 1430.
 

Shortly after leaving Tyrrel Bay on the way to Bequia.

Lunch was quick, dinghy was down and off to shore we went to clear in. Port Elizabeth was a cute town, clean and well kept with friendly people. After clearing in, we wandered around town, enjoying stretching our legs as we had not been off the boat since Wednesday in St. George. Supper was early as was bedtime.

Self explanatory.

The anchorage in Admiralty Bay.

Anglican church.

 

November 29, 2014

It was good to sleep in and not have an alarm go off at 0530! After lunch we took the computer into a town café and caught up on some news, also checking the weather. Yes, back to weather, weather, weather! We had met a French-Canadian couple here in the anchorage and were invited to their boat for happy hour. Of course we gladly accepted and spent a few hours with them, swapping sailing and land travels, work and family stories. Dinner was a bit late as was bedtime.

November 30, 2014

Jorge had not been entirely happy with the location we had anchored in, being far from town and a bit isolated so he decided we needed to reanchor. We found the holding not so good here and it took us a couple tries in a couple of different spots before we were securely anchored in a spot he was happy with.

We always have our VHF radio on and this morning I vaguely heard a boat calling another boat, the name of which I recognized. I mentioned this to Jorge but then we thought nothing more of it. After lunch Jorge was in the cockpit when he spotted the boat I had mentioned earlier . . . Sophisticated Lady! Rick Moore, previous owner of CS’ta Time and former member of HYC, had anchored right next to us! We made contact via radio. Rick knew we were in the Caribbean but was just as surprised as we were that we were anchored next to each other. He came over later in the afternoon and reminisced about his good times in our boat, then invited us to his for a potluck dinner. Rick had a “crew” of two women aboard and a lady sailing solo also joined the potluck. We left at 2330 after much food, wine and a good time.

Sophisticated Lady.

 

Rick and Lucky aboard Sophisticated Lady.

December 1, 2014

Oh, we could tell we had a late night as it was hard to get out of bed this morning. Much to do today as we were thinking of moving on tomorrow. We were planning a stop in St. Lucia, not sure exactly where yet. We have to check the weather, anchorages and then clear out if we do indeed decide to leave.

FYI, I know why people leave their boats in Grenada for hurricane season and return in November to start sailing. We have noticed a significant change in the weather. The temperature has been cooler, around 27C to 28C during the day with very little humidity and a comfortable 26C at night. Sunny with less rain and the sun hot but not as intense as during the summer. Perfect!

After checking the weather, we decided to stay in Bequia another day. Grrrrrrr . .  . the internet is frustratingly slow, disconnecting at times and pictures taking forever to download. Maybe I will have better success tomorrow when I try to download the pictures.