Ann's Blog
Port Elizabeth, Bequia:
February 26, 2011
A tale of a whale, and breaking suction in Carriacou
Soggy and disheveled, we arrived in Bequia Thursday afternoon, after a wet passage from Carriacou. Our bedraggled state wasn’t due to rain (we managed to dodge all the rain clouds but one), but rather to seawater. Confused, short-period, on-the-nose waves (albeit most not terribly large – about 4 to 6 feet) sprayed us regularly during the 38-mile trip, and we arrived soaked and salt-encrusted. Steve, who was sitting on the windward side for most of the trip, got the worst of it – but, then again, he also got to see the humpback whale a mere boat length off Receta. By the time, he’d spit out “WHALE” and I’d scrambled from my leeward perch to his side of the boat, it had sensed or seen us and disappeared under the surface.
It makes sense that there might have been a whale in the area. Between February and April, humpbacks leave their northern feeding grounds and travel south to mate and bear their young, and the waters off Bequia are right on their route. (For this reason, Bequia is an island with a long, and still-continuing, whaling tradition.) But drat. Receta’s closest-ever encounter with a cetacean, and I missed it.
Luckily, there have been rain squalls off and on since we arrived in Bequia, because Receta desperately needed a full freshwater post-trip washdown. The deck, the handrails, the cockpit cushions – everywhere I touched was greasy with salt. Salty footprints were obvious all along the varnished floor in the main cabin from our trips below while underway, and salty spray had speckled the cushions on the settees. (Double drat: Despite Steve’s latest fix, our cabin hatch is leaking again.)
in the near distance, and Union Island beyond
After three weeks based in Carriacou, it was time for us to head farther north. Carriacou is an easy island to settle into – and a hard one to leave. “Somehow without even trying we have become part of island life,” I wrote in The Spice Necklace (just published in paperback), and the more we visit Carriacou, the truer that becomes. When Steve went into Hillsborough, the island’s largest town, to check us out the afternoon before our departure, he already had the necessary Immigration form filled out. The officer had given him the blank form when he checked us back into the country after we returned from a couple of days away at Union Island (with guests Tricia and Skip) the previous week.
caught by fisherman Edwin Noel,
Sherwin's dad
Another cruising couple was in the Immigration office when Steve went to check out, and expressed surprise that he already had his form all completed. Steve started to explain, but the Immigration Officer leapt in, “It okay. He almost live here.”
“Almost” isn’t good enough, apparently, in some Carriacou circles. A couple of nights before we left, we stopped at Sherwin Noel’s Lambi Queen restaurant and bar for a Carib at sunset. The crowd around the big table grew – everyone else with deeper Carriacou roots than ours – and when we said we were leaving in a day or so, it raised a real ruckus. How could we possibly leave before the launch party for Sherwin’s new boat, the Lambi Queen Taxi, which had just arrived from the builder’s yard on Petite Martinique? And how could we even think about leaving before Carnival, a mere 10 days away?
When we stopped at Bill Paterson’s rum shop in Hillsborough (Carriacou’s main town) to say goodbye, he too seemed surprised – disappointed, even – that we were leaving so soon. “You won’t be here for regatta,” he said. Regatta? Carriacou’s annual regatta is held at the beginning of August, a full five months away. Resigned to our departure, he added, “When you come back, you should be looking for a plot of land.”
but maybe not for a trim....
Cruisers by definition need to go cruising – even ones like us who love to settle into a place. We assured Bill (and everyone else), however, that we would be back to Carriacou again soon.
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Aloha from Hawaii Ann,
So happy to hear that you guys are back to cruising again. I really enjoyed your book (first one) and now looking forward to reading the newest.
We have been so upset over the Somali pirate happenings. Four American yachtsmen just murdered. And so many captives being held. Hope and pray that the situation can be resolved and an end put to piracy.
Enjoying your posts. I sail a Tartan 37 but my folks, Martin and Gerda Witkamp, were regulars in Bequia when they lived aboard KENNEMER, a Carib 41. See if Winnie and Haakon Mitchell are still alive and about. The Mitchells have many children who sail a big wooden boat, SKY WAVE, between the islands, trading various items. If you see the Mitchells, tell them Falco, the son of Martin and Gerda says “Hello.” Mom died in 2006 but Dad is still active, currently visiting the Beagle Channel in Tierra del Fuego. Have fun cruising….from Clearwater, Florida a big wish for your continued happiness….(and from one Dutch person to another, Beste Wensen!).
Ah Carriacou…it is a lovely spot. Just a quick note – we have been unable to reproduce the rum tea drinks, despite way-too-frequent attempts here in NJ. The missing ingredient must be something that is unique to Receta and Steve’s masterful blendings in the galley! Suffering withdrawal in NJ but salving the pain with rum agricole, cheers! S & T
Steve replies: Skip, to make a ‘ti punch is easy, with variations on the measurements letting you (or your favourite island bartender) deliver your drink stronger, sweeter or more tart. To 1/4 oz. of pure cane syrup add 1/4 oz. of fresh-squeezed lime juice, then 1-1/2 to 2 oz. of rhum agricole (white or rhum paille, not vieux). Stir, adding an ice cube if desired. Different rhums and even different cane syrups subtly affect the flavour. (Are you using real French island cane syrup?) And by all means, practice, practice, practice makes perfect!