20 Dec. 2011
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Departing the Pitons
We left fairly early, heading for St. Vincent; many people recommend bypassing the island due to problems in the past but they are missing the opportunity for some fantastic nature sights. I sometimes think that the conventional wisdom has not kept pace with reality. Our original intent was to visit Wallilabou Bay as the customs office is located there, but the swell in the bay was too much after last night so we motored to Cumberland Bay just to the north. Cumberland is everything a Caribbean Bay should be, no high rises or condos, just some small local restaurants on the beach with palm trees surrounding the small bay.
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Cumberland Bay
I had to get my digicel phone sorted , as last years sim card had expired, so Tony, Keith, Mike and I took the bus to Kingstown. The bus was full and the 40 minute ride took us along the coast allowing us to see some beautiful scenery on the way. Kingstown is an older Caribbean town and it was buzzing with activity. We took care of the phone straight off and then took a walk around. Our first stop was the market where we picked up some fresh fruit and had a glass of fresh cherry juice from one of the vendors. I really love the freshness of the produce that you find on the islands. We left to return to the boat as the day shift was letting out so the bus was very crowded, 23 people and a box that appeared to contain an apartment size refrigerator, suffice to say we all felt like contortionist by the end of the ride. Dinner was on board, I had brought a whole beef tenderloin with me that we cut into steaks, accompanied by couscous with carrots and red pepper and potato wedges. Afterwards we had some drinks in the cockpit under a sky filled with stars. During the night a squall blew through and Dan got up to close the hatches and make sure all was Ok topside. As he came out of the boat he saw there were many local people fishing for Tri-Tri, a small shrimp like thing that is a specialty and highly favored at holiday time. They would lay their net in the bay then would lure them in with torches fashioned from cans lashed to sticks. Dan made arrangements to buy some in the morning for a little snack.

Drink all day at home, your friends worry about you; do it on vacation and they say "what a good time you're having". Save your friends needless worry, travel more!