8-11 February

Tuesday 8 February

A day of repairs and getting ready for our departure to Bequia in St Vincent. Rowan had Nick, the tall skinny Dane, on board to fix a lot of the little issues, like the freezer drawer sticking, the floor plates that ooze sticky glue, the sound system that wont work etc etc He seemed to get through them really quickly which was great. Rowan went out and bought the last rope that the chandlery had suitable for our main halyard. He did really well managing to attach the new rope to the old rope and threading the whole thing through himself. It is incredibly complicated as it goes from the helm under the boat in a concealed channel then up the mast and back down again, 100m of rope! He just got Tyron back to attach the new block he had bought to go on the top of the mast which we hope is the problem. Tyron then admitted they had incorrectly threaded it at the top last time which may also have been the problem. One way or another we have a totally new halyard.

Luke and his friend Ciaran moved on board in the morning, joining us for our early morning PCR test to get into St Vincent, which was unpleasantly rough. They went and spent the day at Pigeon Island while we got things sorted.

In the evening Luke took us out for dinner which was a great treat, back to our favourite Naked Fisherman Restaurant on the beach. We have not had dinner there before, it was very atmospheric in the dark with big flaming torches on the beach. Pete and Libby joined us, an English couple we met in Antigua last year. They are here to buy a boat and had just completed the deal in the morning so they had lots to celebrate. They hope to be doing a fairly similar passage to us.

Wednesday 9 February

A big day, my father’s birthday, and his namesake Lovat Carnelley junior (my nephew) was due to have his baby today and she arrived bang on time! We are all thrilled for the happy new family, they live in Hong Kong, and have rigorous Covid protocols there as they are trying to be like New Zealand and keep the island totally free of it. Poor Monique had to do a lot alone, but Lovat was allowed in for the delivery, which turned out to be a little anxious as Amalie had the cord around her neck, but it was quickly all sorted. A great way to start the day.

Leaving before breakfast we had a very good sail to Bequia, passing some heavy weather and lots of wind between the islands. St Vincent is looking so green, we could also see all the grey mountainside of the volcano Soufriere that erupted last year. We got in just before dark and took a mooring ball from the little guest house Daffodil, she has cottoned onto a good business, as she processes arrival documentation for a fee, which is well worth it, otherwise we would have to go to the mainland to check in.

Heading south sailing passed the Pitons

Rugged St Vincent

Soufriere Volcano under cloud

There was plenty of rain about so we decided to eat at her restaurant, which turned out to be very pleasant, on a pontoon over the water. It is the first time we have been this side of the bay, it definitely is less rolly. Great fun being back in one of our favourite spots.

Thursday 10 Feb

Straight into town to clear customs and pick up some provisions. So nice to have the shops all open and the one great supermarket which was closed previously because of Covid was open. Just had to show proof of vaccination to enter!

Then off we set for the Tobago Cays with Luke and Cairan. We had a great sail down on the windward side of Canouan. We can do these hops soooo much quicker in the new boat, which is a huge bonus. Loads of boats when we arrived, we really did see some of these places at their best, with hardly anyone about. Romeo, of Romeo and Juliette the boat guy we used previously and have passed a lot of business onto was there to great us and get us onto the mooring ball.

Tobago Cays

The boys all went out for a snorkel, they tried at the cut through the reef but the current was roaring through so they went to the reef near the boat and saw some nice fish, but no reef sharks like last year.

We went to Romeo’s for supper, it is such a great little island, amazing to see it heaving with people and about four different chefs all catering for different boats. Apparently this is still quiet! We had an amazing lobster feast, poor old Cairan being a vegetarian got lost in communication somehow, at least we had loads of delicious vegetable sides.

It was a wet bumpy dinghy ride back to PolePole in the dark.

Luke and Cairan

Lobster feast. Sorry Han!!!

Friday 11 Feb

Phoebe’s birthday, all alone in London without any family! I had a great assortment of little cakes sent to her office from a company called Cutter & Squidge, such a great name. She was working in the morning and partying with girlfriends in the evening.

It was a grey wet start to the day here while we chatted to Phoebs in beautiful sunny London!

We waited for Romeo to come and pick the boys up before we set back to Bequia to pick up our Suffolk friends the Chadds. It was very windy and wet so Romeo was delayed, it was a real mission to get onto his boat. Luke did a spectacular jump, Ciaran had to wait for the boat to return about 4 times and when he leapt on he must have knocked his toe as we have subsequently heard he broke his toe and had to go to the doctor on St Vincent island and spend the night there. Not ideal for a week of kite surfing lessons, poor chap!

Luke’s on

Round 4

The broken toe!

We managed to get the sails up when we got into the lee of Canouan. I was a bit nervous as we know the main halyard is being a bit sticky on its new rope. We sailed to Bequia and actually managed to get the main sail down ok. We took a mooring ball at the same place as Wednesday, which was just as well as it was pretty choppy and big winds were predicted in the night. The sea was much flatter than at the Cays which meant I could finally run the washing machine to clean the bedding.

We went to the dinghy dock near us and walked all the way around to The Plantation House where the Chadds were staying. Jonny and his brother Sam plus their wives, Janey and Amelia. Johnny was part of our crew from Gibraltar to the Canaries. A quick drink there and then a taxi to the restaurant Fernandos. We have tried to eat there many times, but it was always closed, because of Covid. We had a delicious meal on their authentic verandah just up the hill behind Lower Bay. It was a very good meal with Calaloo soup (local kind of spinach) to start and red snapper main. A lovely evening.