Bequia

10/24 1600 position 13-00N 61-15W.  At anchor in Admiralty Bay, Bequia

The ocean here has lots of seaweed floating on the surface.  We are told it is sargasso weed that drifts here from the Sargasso Sea in the mid-Atlantic.  It doesn't cause any problems except with our lures.  They are only out there for a minute or so before they snag some seaweed.  It is a nuisance to keep clearing weed off of the lures.  After clearing the weed a dozen times or so I gave up yesterday and hoped that any week I hooked would eventually come off.  I'm not sure it did.  We didn't catch any fish.

After a glorious sail, Arabella anchored in Admiralty Bay on the western side of Bequia at 330PM, too late to clear into the country before the government offices closed at 4.  A couple of minutes after the hook went down Alex, a native entrepreneur in a small outboard, came alongside and sold us the biggest lobster I've ever seen in the flesh.  Patty cooked him for dinner, and he was excellent.  I only had one bite though.  I started having reactions to shrimp this past summer in Alaska, and I wanted to see if lobster had the same effect on me.  Sure enough, one bite was enough to make my feet start swelling.  I took a Benadryl and was fine, but I missed out on the feast.

There were three large three masted schooners at anchor in Admiralty Bay when we arrived.  Beautiful ships.  They must have been cruising in company because when we woke up this morning all three were gone.

We went ashore after breakfast to complete formalities, and when we were done Lori and I hired a taxi to take us on a one hour island tour.  Baldwin, a friendly native, drove us to the Fort Hamilton, the top of Mount Pleasant, and around the island.  It was good fun, and we found Andy and Patty later in a local cafe where they were using the WIFI.  We tried the local brew there, Hairoun (pronounced like heroin), which was quite good.  It was hot, so after wandering down the waterfront we stopped at "Jack's" (as in Jack Sparrow) for a couple of rum punches before returning to the boat.

After all that lubrication Andy and I napped while the girls went snorkeling.  They returned to the boat excited to have seen eels, lobsters, wana, and lots of tropical fish in the rocks inshore of Arabella.

Admiralty Bay is a great anchorage.  There is lots of room for visiting yachts, it is protected from the prevailing easterly trades, the surrounding hillsides are scenic, and the town is quaint.  I could get comfortable here.

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