Maybe it was the afterglow from seeing whales on the trip to Bequia, or the feeling of being warmly welcomed after our bad experience in Soufriere, or maybe all this combined with a fast fun sail over, but we liked Bequia before we even got off the boat.
Sure, some guys in boats came up and approached us, one for a mooring and one with fruit. But they were friendly and nice, and quite polite instead of surly when we said ‘No, thank you’. The fruit guy ended up coming back multiple times when we DID buy fruit, turns out he is a chef that has worked in various restaurants around the island and does beach barbecues. His little yellow fruit boat is just one more way to make a living.
Heading into town to clear customs, I was pleased to find a clean town with a well maintained and secure dinghy dock. As I walked towards the government buildings I passed tables with local offerings of crafts and goods, the people smiled and greeted me and let me walk on. Customs was in an air conditioned building with short lines and only took a few minutes. I returned to the boat refreshed and eager to see this island after my hassles trying to get out of Soufriere the previous day.
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| Colorful sponges in the harbor |
We quickly came back in town to check things out. Bequia has a lot to offer visitors. Around the harbor there is a nice walking path that goes past several waterfront bars and cafes, as well as the Frangipani hotel. The main harbor of Port Elizabeth on Admirality bay has some nice beaches and some excellent snorkeling.
When we pulled into the harbor we saw our friends (and sister ship) on Infinity were here – that always makes a harbor visit more fun. We caught up with them for a beach BBQ one night, and helped them dive to find a lost wallet. Talk about unlikely – dropping a wallet while riding in the dinghy to the boat, then spotting it on the bottom! The advantages of clear water; all was recovered.
Over the coming days we visited a few of the cafes, seeming to always be caught at just the right time to duck a rain storm coming through. In one case the rains persisted. Enough so we had to stay long enough for several rounds of rum punch and lime squashes while we ordered appetizers and watched the rain. The horror.
Turtles
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| Really small turtles… |
On the far side of the island lies the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary which is worth a trip. We weren’t sure from the maps how far, or more importantly how steep the roads were to the sanctuary – the major road we could see heading out of town looked like it climbed straight up the side of one of the larger hills on the island! You never can tell with these island roads, the volcanic nature of many of the islands leads to a steep, hilly, almost mountainous terrain and you really have to pay attention to the contour lines on a map to see if it will be an easy mile long stroll or a sweaty back breaking climb up and down huge steep hills. So we did something rare: we took a cab.
Turns out it was unnecessary, when we got to the sanctuary our friends from Infinity were already there. They’d walked…their youngest girl is about four years old. I think we could have made it…’oh well’ cringes my inner cheapskate.
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| Older turtles, nearing release age and some that can not be released |
The sanctuary is a really cool place, started and run privately by Mr. Orton King. He’s an amusing fellow to talk to, it sounds like he almost backed into being a foster father for several hundred Hawksbill turtles when he decided to try and help a nest of hatching eggs a dozen or more years ago. In the wild, newborn sea turtles have a really, really rough time. When hatched they are nearly defenseless and fall prey to everything from birds and fish to crabs as they try and make their way to the water, never mind what people can do to a nest. So Mr. King, a retired fisherman and diver, decided to give them a better chance. He’d come to appreciate the turtles as a valuable and vulnerable species. So with his own money and donations he’s built this sanctuary with salt water fed tanks (that are changed daily) where he raised turtles up until about the age of five before he releases them.
In a few weeks Mr. King expects about 300 new arrivals when a handful of nests on the beach in front of the sanctuary are going to hatch. Unfortunately the government doesn’t recognize the economic value of saving the Hawksbill turtles, so Mr. King relies on donations from visitors and his own resources to raise the turtles. We wish him the best of luck and really appreciate what he is doing!
Little Boats
Bequian craftsmen have long been recognized for their top quality model boat making. When we spotted several model boats being sailed by boys in the harbor we just had to check it out. Will is an enthusiastic builder of small boats and was impressed by what he saw – making a sailboat without remote control that can sail upwind is a very tricky thing!
We stopped into a couple of boat builders, our favorite was the Sargent Brothers workshop. As boaters, we’ve looked at many boat models and owned more than a couple as decorations in our house. The quality and workmanship on these was stunning. Maybe we are biased, but there was a model of at Hallberg-Rassy 62 there that was just brilliant and incredibly detailed and realistic. The models of J Yachts like Endeavour were realistic, gorgeous, and much nicer than more expensive models we’d seen in museum stores stateside. They really made is wish we could take one with us, but living on a boat there are few things less practical to own than a fragile boat model!
More Snorkeling
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| An octopus – really hard to spot from far away with his camouflage |
Unfortunately we didn’t even make it to the best snorkeling spot in Admirality Bay – the Devil’s Table. We weren’t sure where to safely (as in ‘not on live coral’) anchor the dinghy, and when we went there was a dive tour there so we thought to maybe come back later. We should have, but we still saw some great stuff off the beaches.
I have no doubt we could have spent more time in Bequia, it’s a lovely place with a lot to see. But summer and the hurricane season is pressing on us to move South!
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