Dec 21: St Vincent & Bequia
We took the bus into Kingstown, the ride was one to be remembered as the driver must have been Mario Andretti’s long lost brother. We arrived no worse for the wear and tear and found the city full of activity; there was a ship in port and many of the locals were finishing off their Christmas shopping. I stopped at a food stand for some saltfish and provisions, just the way to start the day. Afterwards I topped up my St. Vincent sim on my digicel phone hit the ATM for some loot and it was off to the market. The market is a dangerous place for me, I can’t resist all the fresh fruits and veg; with everything being only a few EC I some had my reusable grocery sack full to the brim. I ran into Dan and Deb, and he offered to carry my bag for me until we met up later for the ride back. I should have known better, since with free hands it wasn’t long before I had another bag of goodies, including the ingredients for my rum punch. We all met at the designated area and opted for a taxi back to the yacht, some of the crew still not over the fright of our wild ride on the way in. Once back on Skyelark we let loose the mooring line and headed for Bequia, my favorite port on the trip. We managed to catch a small barracuda on the way over, and within minutes had him cleaned and wrapped for the fridge, he will make a fine afternoon snack in the near future. Upon arrival we took a mooring near the Frangipani and had a light lunch. Dan dropped us off with the dingy where we all took a stroll around the quaint town of Port Elizabeth. Dave and I made it around to L’Auberge Des Grenadines, a very nice restaurant on the north side of the bay. I had a passion fruit mojitos, and it was excellent; Dave went for the standard mojitos which was also very nice. The restaurant has a huge lobster tank out front, full of lobsters of all sizes. We worked our way back around the bay, stopping at Tommys for wifi and beers, Mike and Debby met up with us there.

Sea fan Christmas tree at Tommys in Bequia

Back at the boat we were treated to Dans mojitos, using the fresh mint he had picked up at the market in the morning. Dinner was ashore, most of us opting for Mac’s pizza, while Rodger and Alex chose L'Auberge. The pizzas at Macs are good and the restaurant was packed, but I forgot how expensive they are ($30 US for 13” pie with a lime squash, tax and tip included). L”Auberge was better choice, as they had a three course fixed price, option for about the same price. Back at the boat we had nightcaps of rum while listening to the music coming from the town, part of the holiday celebrations. The music, mainly reggae, on all night finally finishing with some Christmas carols around 6:30 am.

Dannys mojitos in the cockpit