St Vincent and one Grenadine
Caribbean hospital, Thierry & the volcano, a visit to the Hair Saloon and a hidden paradise.
As we have crew coming to Martinique in mid-March, we make our way north. This time we skip almost all of the Grenadines and head straight from Carriacou to Bequia.
Bequia
So we meet again! After a lovely day's sailing, we drop anchor in Port Elizabeth. There are a few tasks to do over the next few days, such as washing, shopping, filling up with gas, and for Thierry: work. As we already know our way around a bit, we find everything relatively quickly. We also visit our friend Kim at her juice bar. Her son Kyan tries to repair our tablet, but unfortunately it doesn't work and we continue to navigate with my mobile phone. Kim invites us round for dinner one evening, she has cooked barracuda stew, rice and vegetables. Super tasty, we spend a lovely evening with her and her family. As soon as it gets dark, we make our way home. Kim accompanies us for a while as she is meeting a friend. We realise that the dinghy dock is locked. A gate blocks our way. Not really a problem for us, we just climb over it. Thierry goes first, I follow, I'm actually already over it, and it happens when I get off: Somehow I managed to pierce my palm on the fence. 😩
Shit happens
Kim accompanies us straight to the hospital, and 10 minutes later I'm sitting in the emergency room. Two stitches are sutured, unfortunately can I feel everything and scream a little more than I want to. Soon it's all over and we're back on the boat. I'm a bit depressed, it's all a quite unnecessary. But what can you do, take it easy and hope that there will be no infection. 😥 Half of my middle finger is numb, but at least I can move all my fingers. The next day I have to go to the doctor for an antibiotic prescription and then we set off for St. Vincent.
St. Vincent
As I'm not a very good crew member with one hand, I practise at the helm while Thierry handles the lines. A good opportunity for manoeuvre training. When we cast off, the anchor is rising only very slowly, it seems that our anchor windlass is not happy. We'll have to take care of that.
Young Island
The crossing to St Vincent is short, only about 15nm, and we make good progress. I'm feeling a bit anxious again, but that's because I can't react myself if something should happen. It sucks with only one hand. We moor at a buoy in Young Island, right in front of two French guys our age, who invite us to join them for an aperitif. We gladly accept and get to know Julien and Germain, two friends who have crossed the Atlantic together. They decide to climb the volcano in the north of the island together with Thierry. Unfortunately I'm out, I can't see myself making any big leaps with my hand right now.
The three of them climb up from the east side, cross the crater and then take the path down the west side. This is probably not done that often because it is rather long. But the walk is definitely worth it. When they reach the coast, they realise that there are probably no more buses, so they are kindly given a lift by grim-faced construction workers on a pick-up truck loaded with sand. In the evening, I cook a vegetable curry with rice for us all, the boys are already very exhausted 😁
Hey Rasta!
The next day, I take the bus to Kingstown to go to a hair salon. This was recommended to me by Kim. As previously announced, I want to have part of my hair made into locs. So I do, and 2 hours later, half my head has been twisted 😉 Now it takes time for the frizzie strands to mat properly. It certainly looks like carribean vibes 😉😎
We want to continue north, but when we cast off from the buoy, our engine suddenly cuts out. Simply switched off. That's not a good sign. Fortunately, it starts up again straight away and we chug back to a buoy. After a long search, we find the root of the problem: a small piece of silicone has blocked the intake of the diesel pre-filter. Nasty. Silicone out, engine runs great again. On we go!
Cumberland
On the recommendation of our French friends, we head for Cumberland, a small bay where you moor with a bow anchor and stern lines. Almost like back in the Mediterranean 😉 When anchoring, the windlass is weak again and it's just enough to complete the manoeuvre. We definitely need to do something about that.
We are warmly welcomed by many locals and immediately feel at home. We like the vibe here. In the evening, we have a very good meal in one of the two restaurants and chat to the locals for a while before going to bed. The next day, Thierry has a few more calls, while I take care of the anchor windlass. Kevin, a local guy about our age, comes round and helps me. This is very practical, as the windlass is heavy and I only have 1.5 hands 😂 When Kevin has gone, Thierry comes to my aid and after a long search and understanding we think we have found the problem: the carbons of the electric motor seem to be stuck and the whole motor is full of carbon dust. We clean everything, get everything running smoothly and reinstall the part. It works for now.
Before we sail on to St Lucia, we have to clear customs again. This is located a few bays further north, in Chateaubelair. We stop by car and a friendly couple gives us a lift. The formalities are super easy, we have a delicious and cheap meal and then we take a shared taxi back.
The evening before we leave, we say goodbye to everyone over a beer in the bar. The people here are really welcoming and we really want to come back here. But now it's time to haul anchor (hopefully it will come) and head off to the next island.
What we are doing there with a machete in the jungle?
We don't really know that either...