Part 2 covers the 7 night trip on Lost Our Marbles, a 40 ft Catamaran based out of Bequia.
First things first, off with the shoes. We got a tour of the boat and met our captain and hostess, Neal and Karrie. We stayed in Salt Whistle Bay for the evening and were amused when some girls in a dinghy came across an iquana swimming in the bay. They got close and it just climbed right on the dinghy. They took it all the way to shore, and we cheered them for rescuing it. It was a lovely first night aboard the boat. I’d never been on a catamaran. Dinner was great, and we just visited and hung out all evening chatting with our new hosts. I slept like a baby.
Next morning we were off to Tobago Cays. The blue of the water is so amazing. Sam, a local boat vendor, greeted us and we bought some t-shirts from him. The snorkeling was the best we’d experienced. We saw several turtles, a big sting ray and so many fish. Took lots of underwater pictures. Fabulous sunset that night with the moon rising at practically the same time. We felt like we were in paradise.
Next morning we were off to the reef for more snorkeling. Highlights were huge schools of Sergeant Majors and Tang and one spot where there were 3-4 huge parrot fish. Again we were amazed at how many fish we saw. Back to Marbles for lunch, then off we went to Petit St. Vincent.
Once we dropped anchor, we hopped into the dinghy and did a quick rum and ice run to Petit Martinique. It felt kind of clandestine since we were actually entering Grenada country. We bought rum, champagne and M&M’s and checked out their boutique. Once we got the ice we had a wild, choppy dinghy ride across to channel to Marbles. We sat on the boat and watched the activity at the private resort of Petit St. Vincent. Nice place from the looks of it. About 5pm, we watched the mistress of the resort come out with her 6 golden labs. They were so cute to watch, just bounding along, happy to be out for what must be their regular evening walk. We dinghied ashore shortly after and had a nice sunset walk along the shore of the sandy beach. I picked up a lot of sea urchin shells.
The next morning we managed to find a ride to Mopion. I’d heard there was a bottle opener on that pole out there, so I wanted to take beer. Russ wanted to take champagne, so we took both. We sat down under the umbrella and next thing I knew Russ was on his knees with a diamond ring in his hand. Of course I said yes. We’ve been living together for 7 years now, but it was kind of cool to have a fancy ring on my finger. It was only about 10 in the morning, but we proceeded to drink the champagne AND the beer.
After all the excitement at Mopion, we headed over to Union Island. Hermon the Germon, a colorful character, guided us into our mooring. We went ashore to the vegetable market. I got a thorough tour of the local fruits and veggies at Sheena’s produce stand. Afterwards we browsed the nice gift shop at Bougainvillea. We spent happy hour at Happy Island, which is built from conch shells, and then we had dinner ashore at the restaurant at Bougainvillea. We both had fish, and they did a nice job with it.
Next morning we were off to Tobago Cays again. Sam was there to greet us, and said the place had been real empty since we had left. We got right back in the water to snorkel again. This time the highlight was a nurse shark. Probably about 8 ft long. I saw it first, then it saw me, and we both took off in opposite directions. I was a little freaked out and told Russ and Neal and a few minutes later is was back and all three of us watched it for a few minutes. Very impressive. After lunch on the boat, Sam came whizzing up to us and told us that “t-shirt island” was on fire, and we had to come see. Well, we all hopped in his boat and buzzed over there. Sure enough there was a fire which had begun from trash being set afire by one of the locals. Quite a bit of the brush had burned, and there were still flames in places. Russ grabbed a tree branch and started putting out the fire in places. We also used an ice chest to carry water to the hot spots. It was an exciting turn of events for the day. We also saw a little critter in a tree. Manicou, is what Sam called it. Looked a little like a possum. Sam said they taste like pork and make you strong. We weren’t about to try it. Finally we left the smoldering t-shirt island and Sam took us over to Petit Tabac. We walked along the beach which is famous for being the location of the hidden rum in the Pirates of Caribbean movie. We also saw a pretty cool sight - turtle tracks coming out of the sea and up onto the beach. Back to Marbles for dinner and the most beautiful sunset yet. One last snorkel trip the next morning and then we were off on our sail to Mustique.
We met Slick, the harbor master. Dinner at Basil’s. The service and ambiance were great, the food was okay. The harbor that night was pretty bumpy, but I still slept like a baby. Next day we got a tour of Mustique from Joel, one of the bartenders at Basil’s. He was very knowledgable and has lived there for 20 years. We went to Macaroni Beach and of course cruised by the homes of the rich and famous. After our tour, we headed back to Marbles for our sail to Bequia.
Views of Moonhole were fascinating as we sailed right along the coast there. In the harbor, we met Donston aka Flex and got some lobster. Fabulous bbq lobster dinner for our last night on board. That night it started to rain and we woke up to rain as well. It was a fitting end to a fabulous and unforgettable week. We had developed a great friendship with Neal and Karrie and were truly sorry to say goodbye to two such nice people. We waited for a break in the rain, but finally we just made a dash for the dock at Gingerbread.
