Blissful Bequia

I’m currently in Grenada enjoying the A/C, unlimited running water, comfy seats, decent WIFI and flat ground of our friend’s accommodation. Their boat is on the hard (out of the water) so while they work on it during the day they have kindly let us indulge in their luxury facilities and boy what a treat. So while Daisy Bean has her afternoon nap I figured it was the perfect opportunity to do another blog post following on from ‘Tudor Rose For Sale’

“Happiness is just a frame of mind”

Blissful Bequia
(16 July to 16 Aug)

Quite a few live aboard sailors we ‘ve met on our travels have decided to put their yachts up for sale, but none have admitted it is because they’ve had enough of boat life. ‘Lets leave it fate’ they all claim, Simon and I often laughed at this, thinking that it was utter rubbish. You wouldn’t advertise it unless you had decided to give up cruising and return to bricks and mortar. However now I can totally relate to this thought process, although Tudor Rose was on the market we still weren’t really sure if it’s what we definitely wanted. If someone puts in a good offer then serious consideration will be made, but for now the plan was to continue on as normal. It’s probably a lot like selling your house, it could take months or even years, maybe no one actually wants to buy it so you can’t just decide one day ‘Right, I’ve had enough lets move out’. The boat is our home that also makes it quite sentimental, all the experiences and memories that have taken place on board make you emotionally attached. It is no longer just an object it’s an extension of yourself, so sometimes leaving it up to fate is the only way you can take that jump and make a change. That and the fact there were still lots of places we longed to discover, but doing it with a sea sick baby is not really our idea of fun.

Bequia was even more beautiful than I remembered, having spent a few days here in Feb last year (2016). The water in the Admiralty Bay anchorage was aquamarine and crystal clear the kind you expect to find in a Caribbean paradise. Green luscious hills surrounded us, a soft white sandy beach stretched to the North side of the bay and a narrow waterfront path twisted its way around relaxed restaurants and bars. Each one with it own individual character and charm. Tommy’s had an open white decking, wooden furniture painted pastel blue, decorations hung from the ceiling made from shells, coral and sea glass. Gingerbreads B&B was made to look just like an ornate gingerbread house with white fretworks bordered around the rooftop like fancy icing and a manicured garden with ice cream parlour. It would take hours to describe them all but they all had their own theme and style.

The general feel of the island was relaxed and laid-back, if it were to have a strapline or moto ‘no pressure, no problem’ would be perfect. People and venders were not pushy like other Caribbean places we have stopped at, but despite this chilled out vibe the low mood on board Tudor Rose seemed to continue for a few days. Simon and I were still feeling down about Daisy’s sea sickness and all my time seemed to be spent trying to keep on top of cleaning and tidying the boat, sorting out and planning meals and keeping Daisy occupied. During the day it felt like I was trying to kill time until the baby went to bed and my negative frame of mind wasn’t doing me any favours either.

One morning however everything changed and my whole perspective on boatlife altered. It was literally like I’d been getting out of bed the wrong side everyday which is a little ironic as there’s only one side you can get out, the other is next to a bulkhead!
It was a gorgeous day so pancakes for breakfast as a family in the cockpit, followed by a dog walk along the lovely boardwalk. Instead of making the usual big deal about food shopping we swung by the supermarket and casually grabbed a few items, stumbling on an amazing little wooden shack called ‘Suzies’ serving crazy cheap Caribbean home cooking for lunch.
After returning to the boat an impromptu seagull feeding session began when I threw a mouldy loaf of bread overboard. Daisy loved watching hundreds of them swarm around the boat like a plague of locus. It reminded me of feeding the ducks at the park accept this was straight off the back on our own doorstep and seagulls have less manors.

We took our little girl swimming around the boat for the first time, in a little pair of armbands a German boat had kindly given to us. Then Anna & Dave a couple that we met 12 months ago stopped by to say hello and invited us for dinner, also telling us there was a cruisers meet up at Sailors Bar at 1pm where we ended playing dominos into the late afternoon.

It turned out to be the perfect day and seems that happiness is just a ‘frame of mind, when you stop looking at everything from a negative point of view the possibilities are endless. Our time is Bequia turned out to be wonderful and was the pick me that was so desperately needed. I could write a book about everything that we did and all the new people we met, but here’s just a few

Cruisers BBQ on the beach
A hike over to Friendship Bay
Walk up to Hamilton Fort
Wake boarding
Trailing fishing lines off the dinghy
Spending time with Rick & Helen on Symmetry
Meeting Jody & Daniel on Champagne Moment
The Bequia Seafood Festival
Dragging Simon to the Service at the local Church
Snorkelling with Turtles & Eagle Rays
Take away lunches from ‘Suzies’

Even the laundry was cheap due to it being off-season so I got a break from hand washing and we finally got the boom tent finished. This shaded the cockpit for Daisy and protected it from the rain making life on board a lot easier. After 4 glorious weeks it was time to start moving South towards Grenada as the Tropical storms and Hurricanes were beginning to come through thick and fast.