Bequia is always one of our favorite spots to spend a couple of weeks!  Port Elizabeth is just such a pretty little town—

—PICTURE PERFECT, in fact!

 

 

Although, I am never quite satisfied with any of the pictures I take, which are meant to capture this charming town. 

 

Each year, I’m attracted to this display of bird feeders carved out of coconuts.

 

Of note in this picture:  A Bougainvillea TREE?!!  Where I come from, this plant is leggy and only grown in pots or hanging baskets!

 

This is one of the anchorages where I feel like going into town everyday just to be a part of the charm,  ha-ha!

 

 

Of course, coffee and pastries in the morning at “gingerbread” is always another good reason to head to shore,

 

or a triple scoop serving of ice cream there in the afternoon!  My ice cream recommendation is this DELECTIBLE combination: passion fruit/dark chocolate/passionfruit—paradise for your taste buds!

We are not the only cruisers that count Bequia as one of their favorites so there seems to always be a lot of fun to join in here with fellow cruisers!

I enjoyed two women’s lunches while there. 

The first was at The Porthole, and

the next was at The Plantation Hotel.  We had such a nice time at both places.  The ladies’ motto when we get together without the guys is: No talk of Amps or Volts!  These words are accompanied by a sequence of two finger gestures. The first is an upside down peace sign.  Then that gets turned right-side-up (Amps or Volts /A or V)!  We take part in quite enough talk of battery usage when on our respective boats .

I also joined in some yoga classes in the mornings led by fellow cruisers and graciously hosted at the Fig Tree restaurant.

Mark and I both had fun and benefited from water aerobics-with-a pool-noodle or “Noodling”.  Our anchorage neighbor, Cindy on s/v Sitatunga, led that every afternoon at 3:00!  Is there any form of exercise that is more geriatric?!?

Our time in Bequia coincided again with s/v Prism, one of the first cruisers we met way up in Virginia back in 2011!  We had a nice time on Charles’ and Anina’s boat one evening catching up, and wherever you find Anina, you can bet a hike will be organized.

 

The one we joined was really just a nice uphill walk to Mount Pleasant and

to the cell phone tower a little higher up where we could see Nancy Lu at anchor below.

 

SCENES ALONG THE MOUNT PLEASANT WALK: 

What’s a little road to this Mango Tree?!

 

Awwwwwwww and double awwwwwwww!

 

We did something we’ve never done in Bequia this year.  We chartered, along with 22 other cruisers and a few land tourists, the sailing schooner, Friendship Rose, for a day trip over to the Tobago Cays for some snorkeling.

Friendship Rose is a 100 foot wooden schooner built entirely by hand in Bequia in 1969, the last of its kind to be built.  It was originally used as a “mail boat”, ferrying mail, freight and passengers to and from Bequia and St. Vincent until its retirement in the early 1990s to its more relaxed line of work as a day-trip charter.  It was a fun experience especially

for all the captains that were given their turn at the helm or with the sails!

We were greeted bright and early with fresh orange juice,

 

and we enjoyed treats throughout the day and a delicious lunch prepared by our gracious chef!

 

It was fascinating to watch the experienced crew do their jobs.  I was told that the oldest crew member was one of the actual builders of the boat!

Mostly, I enjoyed relaxing and visiting on deck in the comfy deck chairs!

 

Occasionally, we have It’s-a-small-world encounters in our sailing adventures.  we had one on this one!

One of the land tourists I met on the excursion was a young woman who lives in BROOKLYN, NYC in the SAME APARTMENT BUILDING, within just a FEW FLOORS (out of 50something) of our daughter, Amy!  IT’S A SMALL WORLD!!

I’ll just wrap this uncharacteristically short update (I’m trying!) with a snorkeling picture from the Friendship Rose excursion!

A collection of  sea life photos are coming in my next blog update!