A BLAST IN BEQUIA .

I decided to call this post by this title not only because we had a blast with some good friends while in Bequia but also because for almost an entire week while anchored out in Admiralty Bay we were blasted with continual strong gusts of wind sometimes gusting well into the thirties keeping our wind generator very busy pumping out the amps . The result is that we arrived with our 720AH battery bank on 100% state of charge and left eight days later still fully charged.

At times during the strong squalls our windgennie was delivering up to 35amps and we got quite used to watching our friends boat Kibo anchored ahead of us , tacking back and forth on her anchor .

Bequia is known as “ The Sailor's Island “ and has a long history with the sea with some of the traditions still continuing today including the art of scrimshaw and model boatbuilding . The island even has its own flag with a whale on it . Boats are still built on the beach in the shade of palm trees

They have an active whaling station but through an agreement with the IWC they are only allowed to take four whales a year between the months of February and April . This is the time of year when the humpbacks migrate south from their northern feeding grounds to mate and give birth to their young . According to a local lady that we met they have not killed a whale in the last two years which we were really pleased to hear . The only thought l could not get out of my mind was of a calf trying to find it's way back to it's feeding grounds without it's mother to guide it . She could not stop praising the virtues of how wonderful whale oil is for your health and she claimed that the people from the south of the island who are the whalers have beautiful voices because of it . I take it that they must swallow a sluck of whale oil before they sing .

It all started with the New Bedford whalers amongst others who settled on the island and started whaling . Boatbuilding was a natural progression and still exists today . The islands first ferry Friendship Rose still sails although she is now a day charter vessel taking tourists to various local islands . Last year l saw her on the hard at Peakes in Trinidad having work done on her hull .

Bequia is also home to the Caribbean Compass , a monthly publication in the form of a newspaper . It is an absolute “ must read “ if you are cruising the Caribbean as it is packed full of important information about everything you need to know . Sally and her husband Tom Erdle own it and I spotted her sitting outside the Gingerbread Hotel with an elderly gentlemen so l introduced myself . After complimenting her and telling her how informative her paper is to us cruising yachties she introduced me to the old guy who turned out to be Sir James Mitchell the ex-prime minister of St Vincent & The Grenadines . He served as PM for four terms (16 years ) and told me that he goes by the name of Son . He is a great story teller and when he found out that we were South Africans he went on to tell me that he had met Nelson Mandela , Oliver Tambo and Thabo Mbeki . We could have sat all evening discussing politics and current issues plaguing the world but we eventually excused ourselves and after much handshaking we bid him farewell .

This cruising life brings you into contact with all sorts of people including prime ministers .

Getting back to the island , Admiralty Bay is the main harbour and we anchored off Princess Margaret Beach . Port Elizabeth is the main town and there is a walkway which runs along the entire waterfront connecting all the little hotels and restaurants along the way . The buildings are quaint and have a lot of character with dinghy docks extending into the water where we were able to leave our tender and head off to explore the area . On one particular day we bumped into some fellow South African cruisers at a local watering hole and while we put a serious dent into the tavern owners Carib stock we discussed current political problems back home . Call it drowning our sorrows in beer .

As l have mentioned before , when arriving at a new island what works really well for us is getting to do an island tour as soon as possible in order to get the lay of the land and to find out about what's available to us to enjoy during our visit .

Not that it has ever happened to us but there could be nothing worse than finding out about something unique to the island after you have disappeared over the horizon onward to your next adventure . Talking about something unique , when you get a moment Google “ Moonhole in Bequia “ . We spotted this very different development while sailing up the coast on route to Port Elizabeth .

Regarding our island tour on this occasion l was looking for a specific person in the form of Lubin Ollivierre , guide extraordinaire . His claim is that his forefathers built Bequia and for the past six generations his family has been involved in whaling , boatbuilding , fishing , farming and developing the islands infrastructure .

He once was the proud owner of a 50ft schooner but tragically she was lost while in port during the aftermath of Hurricane Lenny . He is still repaying the original loan today that he received from the bank to build her .

He explained in detail while at the Whaling Museum about how these tiny traditional sailboats would hunt and then kill a whale . An unbelievable feat in such a small boat and having been involved in the whaling he knew of all the tricks of the trade right down to the lead piece in the stemhead to lubricate the heavy line as it peeled over the bow when the harpooned whale dived to escape.

This line is coiled in a rum barrel amidships and the crew continually dowse it with seawater to prevent it from burning and without the lead piece the line would literally saw the boat down the middle . Whaling involves many members of the community as there are also those who stand high up on the hills looking for whales and then using a system of mirrors flashing in the sunlight they direct the boats to the unfortunate whale . These spotters also kept an eye on the well-being of the whalers as one flick of the tail from a 40 ton animal would destroy a boat easily . What l find fascinating now that l have seen the boats used to hunt whales is how using relatively small sails and oars they somehow managed to tow these huge animals back to their whaling station .

He told us stories about his life on the island as a growing child and how the sea was the major influence in their day to day living . They would row small boats from island to island knowing exactly what the state of the tide would have to be in order not to be swept out into the open ocean . It is such a privilege to meet such a person and tonight he is picking us up and introducing us to one of his mates who owns a seafood restaurant on the waters edge in his local village. Eating with the locals gives one a sense of how people live in these islands and l have no doubt that another lobster will find a home in my belly , rinsed down with a couple of Carib beers .

P.S. Before l go l need to tell you about my unusual experience that took place at Toko's Restaurant . After giving us a tour of his rustic establishment and little museum he seated ourselves and our friends at a table outside on the stoep . He brought us a round of drinks and mentioned something to me about the island's radio station . The next minute he handed me his cellphone and said the radio station's manager wanted to talk to me . We started chatting and he wanted to know who l was and what we were doing on the island . He seemed really interested so we had this lengthy discussion about all our adventures to-date and he asked my opinion about various issues including how l felt about the people of the Caribbean not recognizing their roots in Africa . At one point during the conversation l could hear this voice booming over the restaurant's sound system so l walked around to the back of the building so that l could hear him better on the phone .

Eventually Toko appeared and tapped me on the shoulder saying my food was getting cold and that he thought the islanders would like to get back to the music.

That was when l realized that the entire conversation was “ On Air “ and the booming voice on the sound system was in fact mine .

Later that evening the man himself arrived at the restaurant and after telling me about how much he had enjoyed our conversation he boasted how his radio station not only airs to the island but streams via the internet to the States and Europe . So without realizing it l became a radio celebrity overnight .

We all had a chuckle when Lubin arrived to take us home and mentioned that he and his family had listened to the entire conversation on the radio while sitting at home waiting for our call to pick us up from the restaurant .

Strangely , l have had no calls from the media nor have l seen any paparazzi hanging about . They must have all missed our broadcast , what a pity .