High Waves

 Reggae that your ears fly away, that is Easter in Bequia. We sit in the middle of Port Elizabeth in the Rendezvous Bar and watch the colorful hustle and bustle. On the street, only hab dressed graces run up and down and keep a lookout for their next victim. Wanted are men who spend one. Not so easy to find in Bequia. The bar owner has organized a DJ who gives powerful speed. We sit on one of the colorful wooden benches and the giant box is not too far away from us. At some point the owner comes to us and says that he has another place around the corner that would be much quieter. Yes, we look just a little older and come into the years, one could think it would be too noisy for us. But it is not. In the middle of it is better than just next to it, and because the view here is much better, we thankfully decline. We swim on the wave and the bar owner is happy that we like it. In the Frangipani Beach Bar we spend the evening of Easter Sunday. The view of the bay and the sunset, can not be better. Easter Monday we have another look at Port Elizabeth before we prepare for the onward journey. Tomorrow we will go to St. Vincent.

Frangipani Beach Bar, Bequia

From Admiralty Bay to Wallilabou it is only 14 nautical miles, but the further north we go, the rougher it gets between the islands. The wave from the east pushes us to the west and the wind from the east-northeast comes so far from the north that we cannot lay the course. We sail into the shadow of St. Vincent and use the engine for the last stretch. As already announced, the boat boys fall upon us. Everyone wants to take the lines, sell fruit or souvenirs. Cash counts here. 20 EC$ for the lines, 5EC$ for the papaya, 25EC$ for the mooring buoy. Stupidly I didn't check the line from the stern to the pier. Therefore another 20EC$ were due, because another boatsboy tied the line again. In Wallilabou "Pirates of the Caribbean" was filmed and partly the movie set is still there. Jack Sparrow watches you life-size as you drink your beer. Not far away there is a small park with a waterfall. Here you can take a wonderful shower with fresh water. We discover a nutmeg tree that fascinates us. Probably because we have never seen a nutmeg tree in our whole lives. The fruit is edible, and the nut is actually the core of this fruit. The island itself, due to available water, is much greener than the islands in the south. This is mainly due to the fact that the hills are higher and the clouds get stuck in them. In the evening we check out of St. Vincent and the Grenadiens, so we go by Customs & Immigration, do the paperwork and prepare everything for tomorrow's crossing to St. Lucia.

Waterfall, St. Vincent

Wallilabou Bay, St. Vincent

The Soufriére is the recently erupted volcano of St. Vincent and lies straight across. The slopes are overgrown with a lot of green, at least in the lower part. We don't see the summit because it is covered with clouds. Shortly thereafter the ride starts. The wave has been building since Wallilabou and has now reached its two meters. Gusts of 30 knots build at shorter and shorter intervals until the jet is constantly holding its 30 knots. The wave frequency is around three seconds. The spray created by the dipping bow in the wave whips across the deck and hits you like needle points. The water washes over the deck, exposing the next construction site. A window leaks and it gets wet in the galley. After five nautical miles the jet subsides, what remains is the wave. We reach St. Lucia and sail under motor to Rodney Bay. The further north we go the flatter the wave becomes. In the big bay we drop anchor at night and sleep it off. The water is as smooth as on a lake. Tomorrow we have our last leg to Martinique.

St.Vincent

Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

In Rodney Bay we set sail, raise anchor and run out of the bay. The last minutes and off we go. The wave increases once again and reaches a height of 3.5 meters. It crashes and beats and slowly it gets on my nerves. I distract myself by watching the flying fish. Partly they overcome distances up to 50 meters. Gaby can't motivate herself and rants about the wave, only that it doesn't help. According to Windy we have 13 knots. In fact, it's once flabby 20 knots. So we are well occupied and reach Le Marin in the late afternoon. We set the guest flag and the yellow quarantine flag. It gets calm and towards evening even the wind goes to sleep. Unbelievable until the next ride. But now we will do some shopping first. Since French Guiana in December 2021, we have no longer entered a reasonable supermarket. Land of milk and honey we are coming. But we will tell you about it next week. Until then, fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip.

Le Marin, Martinique