Saturday, April 6 2019 Bequia

Sadly, the trips always have to end. We packed our suitcases after breakfast and said our goodbyes to our boatmates and wonderful crew.

Our last breakfast!

BOBBIE AND BILL 

BILL AND BARB 

KATHY AND KEM 

SANDY AND VICTOR

OUR GROUP OF 10 AND OUR CREW OF 4

Rick and I were staying on island for two nights, so we took a cab with Carlton to the Bequia Plantation Hotel. What a gorgeous place! Being a former plantation, the hotel and many gingerbread cottages, are scattered on many grassy acres with lots of tropical vegetation throughout. There is a sweet little beach, a pool and a grassy area with loungers. Our room is top notch! It is done in white and tropical turquoise hues. The bathroom has high end fixtures. The best piece is the lovely balcony off our room with a direct view of the ocean. This hotel was a great find!

Heading away from Tradewinds base to Bequia Plantation Hotel.

Lovely spot

Nice touches!

Our patio with an ocean view

Great location on the property.

Part of the lobby

Gorgeous grounds

Kem and Kathy from our boat walked over to our hotel for an excursion to Keegans BBQ on Lower Beach. It is two beaches over from us.  Carlton picked us up and his daughter was riding in the back of the pick up truck, open air cab. Jakida had a Tradewinds shirt on, so we started chatting. She works on the phones for TWE and I have had several chats with her online. She remembers my name and I hers, so it was fun to meet. We got to Keegans for the local BBQ experience. They had deals on meals and music for us. I had expected more of a beach event, but it was set up with tables near the beach. Locals, ex-pats and tourists, like us came for the weekly event. We had a fun night with Kem and Kathy.

Friday, April 5, 2019 Bequia

Our day began with poached eggs on little potato patties. We then made our way to a spot called Nice Dive Site. This was our “bonus” fourth dive. Usually, you only get three dives on Tradewinds, but Captain AJ gave us an extra one. They had us suit up, jump in the water and hold onto a rope. AJ towed us all in a line, like little ducks, behind the dinghy. He went so fast that it was very hard to hang onto the rope. I saw that Sandy’s regulator was purging as we travelled. I looked behind me at mine and it was, too. I went from 2800 psi to 2000 psi. Rachael, our divemaster, switched BCD’s with me. It was a real nice site with lots of critters (lobster, moray eels, eagle rays, turtles)

After the dive we had quite an experience sailing to Bequia. It was to be our longest sail. The water got so rough that they finally had to take down the sails and motor there. We were really rockin’ and rollin’. We heard a loud boom and found that the dinghy, which is hoisted up above the water under the aft of the boat, had broken free on one end. We lost two gas cans and a pump. After moving the dinghy, AJ went back to get the lost items. It was quite the ride back to the marina.

Pulling in the sails.

Pulling in the last gas can.

Dinner was at the Yacht Club at the Bequia marina. We had a large table near the band with our boat mates and our wonderful crew of AJ, Rachael, Tamar and Maor. 

The last night it is a Tradewinds tradition that the vacationers treat the crew to dinner and drinks. After our meal, the dancing commenced. We got the other boat, Inspiration, to join us, so we had quite a full dance floor. What a fun way to end our wonderful cruise! 

My last deed in Killer was to kill Tamar with a shoe on land. Got her!

Thursday, April 4, 2019 Mayreau to Canouan

Breakfast was continental with homemade banana bread. The dive company came to pick us up at 9:00 for our paid Tobago Keys dive. We motored to the Mayreau Gardens dive site. Tim was our dive master and Dennis drove the boat. Jim, a diver staying on Union Island, join us. The site was beautiful with lots of vegetation. This dive was a drift dive. We saw trunk fish, three large lobsters, nurse sharks, stingrays, lion fish, an underwater hot springs with bubbles. The lion fish was hanging out there. After the dive we moved the boat to Canouan at Rameau Bay

After our dive, we had time for some water fun. Kem never saw it us coming!

Wednesday, April 3, 2019 Petite Remeau Island

CRUISING DAY 4 - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3

Today’s breakfast was Eggs Benedict with bacon, mushrooms, fresh fruit and cheese. We swam over to the little island where the turtles live and took lots of pictures of the turtles feeding on the grassy bottom. 

We returned to find Mr. Quality at our boat with his skiff full of tee shirts for sale. The ladies lined up on the port side and looked down at his wares. We all bought the same tee shirt! Very clever way to make a living. He said he has been doing this for 30 years.

Mr. Quality has a great idea for selling his goods!

For lunch we had a delicious Nicoise salad homemade beer bread. The salad had delicious grilled tuna topping it. Dessert was individual merengues topped with ameretto cream and crab mangos,

Captain AJ moved the boat around the corner of Petite Rameau Island to a pretty little bay. We could snorkel, play with the water toys or hike on the island. I chose to hang out on the boat since we are diving at 2:30 at Tobago Keys. Well, they forgot to pick us up! The dive was cancelled after waiting for an hour for them. Instead we snorkeled around the boat. It was surprisingly clear with lots of coral and fish. 

Captions Cocktails was set upon the other side of Petite Rameau where there is a small gazebo. We had champagne to celebrate the Bolduc and the Knapp’s purchase of TWE Plus Points. They also had BBCs - Baileys, Banana and Coconut mixed in an icy concoction. Maor and Tamar along with Neil, the captain of Inspiration, played the saxophone, and guitar for us. What a special Tradewinds Happy Hour!

Such a beautiful little beach.

Our boat along with our Our partner boat, Inspiration.

Captain Brian, Tamar and Maor entertaining us.

Our crazy group!

This was a double rainbow, but one is not showing well here.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019 Union Island

CRUISING DAY 3 - TUESDAY, APRIL 2

We began the day with a continental breakfast, after which we prepared for our dive to Hannah’s Happy Place on Union Island. It was a gorgeous dive with lots of fish. We saw a flamingo tongue mollusk right off the bat. A large barracuda was patrolling the area. There was much to see in this pretty, sunlite area.

Lunch followed. We had a green salad with corn, marinated tomatoes, Cucumbers with mint and yogurt And three types of quiche; Lobster, vegetarian, and goat cheese with spinach. All were delicious. Sorbet was the desert for today. Rick was able to kill Barb Knapp at lunch by passing her napkin back to her.

After a relaxing morning on the boat, we moved to Clifton Harbor after lunch. The rain kept us on the boat hiding out undercover. Captain’s  cocktails at 4:45.

We then headed into Clifton for dinner at Sparrows. We tried to shop some but most shops were closed. We sat in the little park and watched the local kids playing tag. The Sparrow van finally picked us up and we were off to the other side of the mountain. Sparrows is a quaint little beachfront restaurant. We all had meals way too large. Should have spilt a pizza!

Getting to Clifton. We took the dinghy under the little bridge in the background.

Helping us for a tip.

When I asked him what grade he was in, he said, "I don't do schools."
 Made me sad.

Love her!

You cant get lost!

We are not sure what this tree is, but is unusual.

Upon our return, the crew had the boat all cleaned and reprovisioned. They put all of the alcohol out in a nice display, so we had an after dinner drink before turning in.