Allan & Ursula Ward: Port Owen, Cape West Coast, South Africa.

Shearwater 39:
- L.O.A. 43ft (13.22m)
- L.O.D. 39ft (12m)
- L.W.L. 34ft (10.3m)
- BEAM 13ft(3.9m)
- DRAFT 6ft(1.8m)



HOW IT ALL BEGAN .

I placed my order on Nebe Boats on the 19/10/1992 for what was initially planned to be a complete factory built yacht that l would sail home to Durban from Capetown once she was completed. Unfortunately due to the demise of Nebe Boats in the early days of her construction it did not turn out that way, so l decided to truck her home to Ramsgate on the KZN South Coast to finish building her in our garden at home.

For many years we could proudly boast that we had the most expensive piece of garden furniture in town, but at the time l had no idea of how massive this project would turn out to be. As anyone who has built a blue water cruiser will tell you, particularly if she is kitted out with all the systems and the equipment that a modern cruiser has onboard these days, it is a daunting task . Looking at the positive aspects of this project, l know the boat intimately in that l designed and installed the systems, so from a repair and maintenance perspective l have no issues carrying out the work that is necessary from time to time.



The big day arrived on the 29/8/2008 when we craned her out of the garden onto a rig to truck her through to Durban for launching . What followed was three months of preparations to ready her for the maiden voyage to our home port in Port Owen on the Cape West Coast.

We had a fast passage down the South African East Coast including a storm off the notorious Wild Coast and arrived in Port Owen in dense fog. Windward had passed her first test with flying colours and since then we have enjoyed some great sailing on the West Coast.


The master plan has always been to go cruising, so our plans are to leave for Brazil via Luderitz and St Helena Island at the end of February 2014. So far everything is on track although the “To Do“ list still grows each day.

The purpose of this blog is to record our adventure for ourselves, family and friends. Although it will probably end up being a brief summary of events while we are cruising, we hope you will enjoy and share some of our experiences with us.

LIVING THE DREAM .

Thursday, March 30, 2017

MARTINIQUE . PARIS IN THE TROPICS .


Our sail up from St Lucia to Martinique turned out to be our gentlest inter-island passage of the season to-date . Having ripped the tendon on my bicep during the storm off Mustique it was a relief for me not having to face some physical sailing and straining my arm and for most of the crossing we had 15kns of wind slightly forward of the beam and with a full main and genoa we held 7kns of boatspeed until the wind started to die just short of the south coast of Martinique .
To avoid arriving in the dark off St Anne we fired up our Perkins and motor-sailed the last few miles dropping anchor right behind our good friends Jim & Carol onboard Nepenthe . We were welcomed to dinner and spent the evening catching up on all the happenings since we last sailed off in different directions from Union Island in the Grenadines .

The next morning while having our first cup of coffee we switched on our FM radio and we may as well have been in the heart of Paris going on what we were hearing over the radio . The one thing about the French is that they don't short change themselves at all when it comes to living in one of France's offshore territories . Excellent French food not to mention French music and fashion make the island a paradise for Francophiles . The one advantage they have over their counterparts back on mainland France is the tropical climate along with some magnificent beaches .
" Joie de vivre “ is the credo in this French enclave .

Carol had been planning our island tour long in advance but this time our best option was to hire a car and conduct our own tour with me as the designated driver and Carol the navigator and tour guide . We hired a neat little Citroen and set off for the famous rum distillery Habitation Clement which is renowned for their old matured rums . Rum is my favourite tipple and by the end of our visit l was a lot clearer on what goes into producing the Caribbean's most popular drink. In the tasting room l spotted a 1952 vintage selling for 1250 euros .
Apart from the distillery the Creole plantation home which is now 250 years old and is also a listed heritage building was very impressive , set in a magnificent old garden which forms part of a 16 hectare estate . Part of the estate includes an amazing palm grove with a huge variety of different palm species .

The next part of our tour was a tortuous drive up through the rain forests past the pitons along the windiest road l have ever driven on . Steep inclines and tight turns best describes the mountain road we took finally arriving in St Pierre on the north-west coast .
The Mont Pelee eruption and the devastation it caused is clearly visible throughout the town with the remaining ruins that survived the disaster incorporated into the current structures . A museum tells the story that unfolded on that fateful day in 1902 in the Caribbean's most developed city at the time .


Martinique is the largest of the Windward Islands and it is also the island where Empress Josephine , Napoleon's first wife and impressionist painter Paul Gauguin called home .
But it is most famous for Mont Pelee , one of the tallest volcanoes in the Caribbean which erupted in 1902 killing some 30,000 people in just two minutes .
While passage planning to St Pierre l noticed that the chart showed numerous wrecks littered all over the anchorage which pricked my interest as to what had caused so many ships to go down in such a concentrated area . After a bit of research l discovered that most of these ships were casualties of the eruption of Mont Pelee . All in all , twelve ships were lost in one day .
The rise and fall of St Pierre is one of the most remarkable stories in Caribbean history . Martinique's modern history began here in 1635 . By the turn of the 20th century St Pierre was a flourishing city of 30,000 people . It was the most modern town in the Caribbean with electricity , telephones and a tram As many as 30 ships at a time stood at anchor taking on rum,sugar,coffee and cocoa .


The volcano gave some warning signs that trouble was brewing . Minor rumblings began early in April and on the 23rd April a sizable eruption occurred covering the town in ash . People started pouring in from outlying villages . On the 2nd May a major eruption occurred covering the city with enough ash to kill birds and animals . Later on the same day Pierre Laveniere the owner of an estate to the south of St Pierre went to inspect his crops with a party of workers and they were all swept away by a vast avalanche of boiling volcanic mud .
Then on the 5th May it was the turn of one of the richest estates in the area known as the Guerin Estate . A massive torrent of volcanic effluent including mud,lava,super-heated gasses and rocks estimated to be a quarter mile wide and a 100ft high completely buried the estate killing the family and many workers .
The end came on the 8th May at 8.02am when the side of the volcano facing St Pierre glowed red and with two thunderous explosions Mont Pelee split in half creating a giant fireball of super-heated gas that flowed down over the city releasing energy 40 times greater than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima . Toxic gases and lava heated to 3600 degrees F raced down the mountain at 250mph completely vapourizing everything in its path including 30,000 people in less than two minutes .
Twelve ships were completely destroyed at anchor and the only survivor turned out to be a prisoner who was locked away in an underground stone cell proving the point that on occasions crime does pay , maybe not in cash . The poor guy being the sole survivor and having lived through this massive human tragedy later hit the road and joined the Barnum & Bailey Circus as a sideshow attraction .

Many ruins still remain today and a museum depicts that era and the tragedy itself . Standing in the town and looking up at the volcano l tried to picture the scene on that fateful day in St Pierre . Fortunately for those who were there, the end came quickly .
Having read up a lot on this event it is fascinating how money and politics played a role in this tragedy which led to the unnecessary deaths of thousands of lives .

Another great story is the one about HMS Diamond Rock which in fact is a rock commissioned as a ship because at the time the British were a little short on ships . In 1804 , Napoleon was in control of Europe but the British had naval supremacy and largely controlled the Caribbean .
Diamond Rock was perfectly situated on the south coast of Martinique and after the arduous task of scaling this steep sided rock infested with snakes , the British had equipped this pinnacle with cannons and enough supplies and water for a full complement of men .
For some 18 months HMS Diamond Rock was a very unpleasant surprise for any unsuspecting French ship sailing to Martinique via it's south coast . Napoleon threw his toys out of the cot . The French got wind of the fact that the British were getting cabin fever on their isolated rock and they arranged for barrels of rum to drift up onto the rock . The French easily overpowered the inebriated British sailors taking control and liberating the rock .

While in Martinique we based ourselves in the St Anne anchorage but decided to overnight anchored off St Pierre on route to Dominica . After a decent broad reach all the way up Martinique's west coast we dropped the pick right opposite the famous ruins on the waterfront . The wrecks of the ships that were destroyed in the eruption were all around us and l tried to imagine what those sailors must have seen minutes before they were vapourized .


On the day of our tour while we were in the museum we were told that Mont Pelee's peak is very seldom seen as it is always shrouded in cloud but guess what , on our last day in Martinique while slowly motoring out of the anchorage at first light , the cloud cleared exposing the entire peak not once but on four separate occasions over a period of half an hour before the cloud rolled over once again .



What a way to end our stay on this beautiful island . We felt very privileged .     

MARTINIQUE . ISLE OF FLOWERS .

TSUNAMI WARNING PROCEDURE .
MY FRENCH IS NOT THAT GREAT SO THE WAY I READ THIS IS YOU FIND A TABLE , CRAWL UNDER IT WITH YOUR BUTT FACING THE WAVE AND PRAY .

THE VILLAGE SQUARE IN SAINT ANNE .

THE VERY ORNATE CEMETERY IN SAINT ANNE . 

BRIGHTLY PAINTED QUAINT BUILDINGS OFF THE SQUARE .

A TRADITIONAL YOLE .
THESE BOATS ARE INCREDIBILITY FAST WITH MOST OF THE CREW HIKED OUT ON BOARDS .

A BEACH MASSAGE PARLOUR .

MARTINIQUE IS NOT SHORT ON BEAUTIFUL BEACHES .

CHECKING ON WINDWARD OUT IN THE ANCHORAGE .

SAINT ANNE'S LITTLE WATERFRONT .

HABITATION CLEMENT .
FAMOUS FOR THEIR OLD MATURE RUM .

THE CREOLE PLANTATION HOUSE .
NOW 250 YEARS OLD IS SET IN A MAGNIFICENT 16 HECTARE ESTATE WHICH INCLUDES A PALM GROVE .

SAINT PIERRE WITH THE ANCHORAGE RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE RUINS .
THE VIEW AT NIGHT FROM THE BOAT WAS AWESOME .

THE REMAINING RUINS OF THE ONCE IMPRESSIVE THEATRE THAT WAS DESTROYED BY MONT PELEE'S ERUPTION .

THIS PRISONER WAS THE ONLY SURVIVOR OUT OF 30,000 PEOPLE .
CRIME CAN PAY .

LURKING BEHIND THIS CLOUD IS THE VOLCANO THAT CAUSED THE MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF SAINT PIERRE .

GOING BACK IN TIME .
WE CAME ACROSS THIS PARK FULL OF AIRSTREAM CAMPERS .

THE VIEW OF THE ANCHORAGE OFF SAINT ANNE .

HMS DIAMOND ROCK .
ANY UNSUSPECTING FRENCH SHIP WOULD TAKE A POUNDING IF IT STRAYED TOO CLOSE .

A RARE GLIMPSE OF MONT PELEE'S PEAK AS WE SAILED AWAY .
WHAT A STROKE OF LUCK .

Saturday, March 18, 2017

ST LUCIA . HELEN OF THE WEST INDIES .


Well it has now been confirmed , the weather has gone mad . This being our first full season in the Caribbean , who were we to judge but the strange weather started showing itself while we were in Grenada over Xmas and then again when we returned after sailing to the Grenadines to drop our daughter off at the airport. Officially the rainy season was over but we continued to get frequent rain squalls which even had the local Grenadians totally baffled . The positive feature was that our boat was regularly rinsed down keeping the salt off our topsides and deck gear .

During our inter-island crossings of which we have now done quite a number back and forth , the weather has been boisterous to say the least with our weatherman Chris Parker mostly referring to the conditions as “brisk & salty“ or “very brisk & very salty“. One charter skipper with many years of Caribbean sailing experience under his belt stated that this “ Christmas Winds “ season was the roughest that he had ever seen and referred to the inter-island passages and l quote “ like a washing machine on rinse cycle “ . This strange weather of strong winds and big seas is a hot topic amongst locals and cruisers alike .

Our 62nm passage from Bequia to Marigot Bay , St Lucia was no different particularly the crossing from the northern end of St Vincent to the south coast of St Lucia with the wind hard on the nose , blowing 20-25kns gusting to 30kn and a fairly decent swell to boot . Thankfully our boat goes well to wind but we have seen some cats really struggling , motor sailing into these confused seas . Chris Parker's description of “ very brisk & very salty “ was very apt but we made it in good time and Windward with her new genoa performed really well albeit she was covered in crusted salt when we arrived at the entrance to Marigot Bay . Having woken up at 3.00am and setting sail soon after our first cup of coffee , we were knackered that evening and after an early dinner at the Bayside Restaurant we hit the sack .

Our first glimpse of St Lucia while still well south at sea was awesome . The majestic , spectacular Pitons rose out of the sea in dramatic fashion . This pair of volcanic spires namely Gros Piton and Petit Piton received global recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are the island's most iconic natural wonders .
Gros Piton stands at 786m and has a 3km diameter base and Petit Piton is 739m high with a smaller base of 1km diameter . With its steeper sides Petit Piton appears much taller than it's bigger sister but these two eroded remnants of lava domes provide a distinctive landmark for seafarers . While gazing at these natural marvels l couldn't help thinking about how many sailors had seen this sight centuries before me and were just as grateful for having seen them in all their glory . The pics l took with our little Canon do them no justice at all .

Arriving at our approach waypoint off Marigot Bay our first sight of the place was quite deceiving in that there is a lot more of the bay tucked away than initially meets the eye . The bay lined with mangroves is completely sheltered and is famous as a hurricane hole . A palm fringed narrow sandspit juts out creating a narrow entrance to the marina and mooring field which is all part and parcel of the ultra-luxury 5 Star Capella Marigot Bay Resort . The bonus is that with our yacht berthed in their marina we got the full use of all the resort's facilities and if your pocket is deep enough you could easily get hung up here for a while sipping complimentary fruit punches while lazing at one of the three pools in the resort or attending free yoga and pilates classes each morning before breakfast . Cool spot no doubt .
We enjoyed a unique dining experience at the Rainforest Hideaway waterfront restaurant where we contributed to relieving a huge problem by ordering Lionfish which are decimating the local indigenous reef fish . This fish species which has no natural predators is flourishing here in the Caribbean but the more we eat them the bigger the demand and local fisherman will be encouraged to target them in their catches . Fortunately they are slow moving and easy to catch.

Marigot Bay is idyllic and made for cruisers with it's perfect backdrop of mangroves lying at the foot of steep surrounding hills providing perfect protection. Legend has it that a British Admiral hid his fleet in the secluded bay from the pursuing French fleet of warships by getting his crew to tie palm fronds up in the rigging as camouflage to disguise his ships . Apparently the French sailed by without spotting them , smart move .

After a relaxing time spent in Marigot Bay we sailed north to Rodney Bay where we had arranged to collect out UK Transit Visas . Obtaining these visas became a major issue but that story could be a post on it's own . Fortunately perseverance paid off and they were finally delivered to our boat . Three months of frustration and aggravation to enable us to sit at Heathrow Airport for a couple of hours waiting for our connecting flight back home to Capetown in June .

While in Rodney Bay we met Naitram who took us on a tour of his island . Fellow cruisers Tony and Connie joined us for the day visiting St Lucia's sites including the Diamond Botanical Gardens and the active volcano which falls within the Soufriere Volcanic Centre . The iconic Pitons are St Lucia's famous landmarks .
While visiting the Sulphur Springs our chatty guide told us of a tour guide who while walking amongst these bubbling springs fell in but fortunately although badly burnt survived to become a celebrity guide telling people about his experience of being boiled alive .

St Lucia is home to lush tropical rainforests , beautiful beaches and volcanic mountains . Much of the island is still undeveloped which endows it with it's natural beauty .

Now with our passports stowed onboard we were ready to sail to Martinique , a totally different French experience .







ST LUCIA . THE HORNED ISLAND .

ONCE AGAIN IT WAS A HARD BEAT UP TO ST LUCIA WITH OUR NEW GENOA DOING US PROUD.

THE PITONS .
THE ICONIC FIRST SIGHTING OF ST LUCIA .

THE HUGE RODNEY BAY MARINA .
230 BERTHS WITH EVERY FACILITY YOU COULD IMAGINE .

GIN PALACES LINED UP IN MARIGOT BAY .

GREAT DINGHY DOCK RIGHT OPPOSITE THE PUB .

THE ULTRA LUXURY CAPELLA MARIGOT BAY RESORT .
THEY SERVED US COMPLIMENTARY COCKTAILS WHILE WE RELAXED AT THE POOL .

THE PERFECT HURRICANE HOLE .

THE ENTRANCE LEADING INTO MARIGOT BAY .

A REGULAR VISITOR TO OUR BOAT .

A CLASSIC WINDJAMMER .

THE STERN-TO DOCK IN THE MARINA .

TAMING THE RAW POWER OF OUR 2HP HONDA OUTBOARD .

DOOLITTLE'S RESTAURANT & BAR .
SCENES FROM DR DOOLITTLE WERE SHOT HERE .

WINDWARD HANGING OUT WITH THE SUPER YACHTS .

THE FRUIT & VEGGIE GUY DELIVERS TO THE BOATS IN RODNEY BAY .

CASTRIES HARBOUR COMPLETE WITH TWO CRUISE SHIPS .

TONY & CONNIE OUR CRUISING MATES WITH THE PITONS IN THE BACKGROUND .

THE BEAUTIFUL TROPICAL PLANTS FOUND IN THE BOTANICAL GARDENS IN SOUFRIERE .

DITTO .
NOTE THE JADE VINE ON THE RIGHT IN FULL FLOWER .

THE HOT WATER SPRINGS .
TOO HOT TO BATH IN .

THE BOILING SULPHUR SPRINGS IN THE SOUFRIERE VOLCANO .

Sunday, March 12, 2017

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 .  

BEQUIA . THE SEAFARERS ISLAND .

BEQUIAN SUNSET .
VIEW FROM THE GINGERBREAD HOTEL'S RESTAURANT .

THE VIEW OF CLASSIC SHIPS FROM OUR STOEP .

WE MET UP WITH THIS CLASSIC BEAUTY IN A NUMBER OF ANCHORAGES .

THE WHALING MUSEUM .
THE LOWER HULL SECTION OF THIS BOAT IS MADE FROM A SOLID TREE .

ONE OF THE ORIGINAL WHALING BOATS WITH IT'S TENDER .

THE NEW WHALING STATION .

OUR LEGENDARY TOUR GUIDE LUBIN OLLIVIERRE . GREAT GUY .

LUBIN'S FAMILY , SIX GENERATIONS .

ONE OF THE MODERN WHALING BOATS READY TO LAUNCH .
THIS IS WHAT THEY HUNT AND KILL WHALES IN .

ADMIRALTY BAY .

THE OLD FORT LOOKING OUT OVER THE BAY .

THE ANCHORAGE OFF PRINCESS MARGARET BEACH .

FRIENDSHIP ROSE .
BEQUIA'S ORIGINAL FERRY STILL SAILING TODAY .

TOKO,THE RESTAURANT OWNER SHOWING US ONE OF HIS ONE MILLION ZIM DOLLAR NOTES.

GOOD FRIENDS & GOOD TIMES .
THE NIGHT I BECAME A FAMOUS RADIO PERSONALITY .

SEA CLOUD .
ANOTHER CLASSIC BEAUTY .

JK7 VELSHEDA , THE ICONIC J CLASS YACHT  .
IN THE BACKGROUND IS HER OWNERS PRIVATE MOTOR YACHT WHICH FOLLOWS HER TO ALL THE REGATTAS AND EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD .