Commodore
March 18, 2021

Off to Windward Bay on Mayreau

As we had to flush out all our water from the tanks we decided to use it to give the cockpit floor a big scrub down, it certainly needed it and was a good way to use up loads of water. We finally decided to move on, so at 1pm we headed south to Mayreau to anchor behind the reef on Windward Bay. A place Rowan has been wanting to go to as there are some good snorkelling spots. We got the gennaker sail up (not the right winds for our new sail), but the wind angle was not perfect and once the wind caught it the rope came out of the furling mechanism which means a manual take down, always a nightmare! Finally after a very comfy sail, Rowan came up with the plan to get the rope back on the furler. We waited until we got into the lee of Canouan island which was wonderfully calm, got the enormous sail flapping gently without power and Rowan was able to lean out and get the rope back on the furler. A little nerve wracking but at least he wore his life jacket. It was a great success, and we continued to have a wonderful sail with the gennaker still up, all the way to the southern tip of Mayreau. There we were able to furl it in perfectly, phew it all worked to plan like clockwork. We knew it was a shallow anchorage and a narrowish passage into Windward Bay and expected it to be empty. We were horrified to round the corner and find an enormous gin palace! With jet skis, inflatables and skiing. It was too late to move, we would have to put up with them for the night. So weird as we have looked over to this spot from the Tobago Cays and have never seen a single boat anchored here. There was just one bright orange sailing boat.

We were finally anchored by 5pm, good timing, with 50cm under the hull!

We decided we needed to stretch our legs so headed to the beach for a walk. The people from the orange boat were on the beach too and thankfully guided us through the coral to the beach. It was a lovely long beach walk in the setting sun. On our way back to the boat we stopped at the orange boat and invited them over for drinks. They had just showered and already had drinks poured, but they jumped at the invitation and came with us in the dinghy with their drinks, as they only have a rowing boat and don’t like to row in the dark. What characters Micky and Nicola were, he is English, she was born in Yemen to English parents but grew up in Australia. He is divorced and she is widowed, they met 14 years ago. They decided to have a complete change in life so he left the UK and she left NY, they bought a boat and lived aboard for two years travelling the Caribbean looking for a place to build a house. They finally found a plot in Bequia on the brow of the hill that has sea views both sides of the island, and built a house inspired by the Moonhole philosophy. We have often commented about this house near the top of the hill that has a number of huge sails as its roof. It is theirs, no glass windows, all designed to catch the wind and angled so they don’t get wet in the rain. All self sufficient, catching rain water and using solar power. It has the same roof fabric as the Millennium dome. Turns out it is rather famous, and he is a tv and movie commercial producer. He is also a musician, piano player, and has produced quite a bit of music. There is a big music scene here in the SVG (St Vincent and the Grenadines). Their lovely orange boat is amazing, it is a traditional Caribbean sailing boat made on Carriacou Island in Grenada. It is very basic, but all wooden, with wooden pulleys and wooden tiller. I wish we had seen inside, it had lovely clean lines, no railings and as they say just enough comfort for staying aboard a few nights. They were really interesting characters, and gave a good insight into the local Bequia life which they love.