Copyright
© 2002 by John and Eleanor Coulthard
Permission to copy for non-commercial purposes is granted provided the source
is acknowledged
Eleanor and I joined Kathy and Brian on board their Alberg 37 sailboat Tundra for a two week holiday. The following are the email messages I sent home. The highlighted links are to pictures. Use your browser’s back button to return to this page after viewing the picture.
Thursday, Jan.
24, Safe arrival in St. VIncents
John Coulthard here
as acting reporter.
Eleanor and I had a
straightforward trip from Vancouver, BC to St. Vincents.
About 16 hours in planes and airports and a four hour jet lag. We were lucky
and able to capture three seats each on the Toronto to Barbados run and catch
some catnaps. It was sure good to see Brian and Kathy waving at us from the
Balcony as we disembarked from the Dash 8 commuter flight from Barbados to St.
Vincents.
The weather here is
darn hot, but cooler and much windier than normal. Brian and Kathy elected to
bring us around to the leeward side of St. Vincents until the normal Trade
Winds reassert themselves. This is supposed to happen this weekend. Then we
will head to the Grenadines and then work our way back to St. Vincents to
rendezvous with our return flight.
Yesterday we went to Kingstown to shop and fuel our wallets. Today we came to this lovely little bay that we have all to
ourselves.
Eleanor and I are
suffering from a little jet lag and I am fighting a little nausea which I
attribute to sea sickness. Other wise everything is fine. Kathy and Brian are
superlative hosts, as always.
Saturday, Jan. 26th,
Toumaka Bay, St. Vincents
We are happily
anchored stern to shore here in Troumaka Bay a short way from Kingston in the
lee of St. Vincent's Island. The weather continues to be cooler, windier and
more overcast than usual. Still hot by my standards but cool to the locals. De
Captain figures we are getting highs to the 80's(f) and down to the 70's at
night. There are frequent showers. In the open the winds are predicted at 25 -
30 knots and the sea swell at 15 feet. We prefer to wait until the normal Trade
Winds take effect but the weather people say that could be Wednesday now. But
it doesn't look too bad out there so tomorrow we plan to stick our nose out and
if it seems too rough turn back and just go a short way down the island - probably
the next Bay. If this weather continues we may not see as much of the
Grenadines as Brian and Kathy would like. But that is ok with me - it is all
new country.
We are the only boat
anchored here and which is also the home of Marcy's
Restaurant and Bar. Yesterday we hired Marcy to take
us to Trinity Falls, a 2 hour 4-wheel drive from there and another hour's
walk. Our "transportation" was a Toyota pick up
truck. Our "seat" was a 2x6 piece of wood tied across the front
part of the box so that we could lean forward and grab the roll bar behind the
cab for support. The RCMP in Canada would not be impressed but here it is
"no problem mon". The roads are so narrow and curvy that the roads on
Galiano are like a freeway by comparison. They also drive on the
"other" side of the road so the trip to the start of the hike was a
great adrenalin rush and my bottom was very happy to start walking.
The road took us
through lush banana plantations, "ethically grown in St. Vincents".
Bananas are almost like a free food here - we are trying to eat 4 each per day
in order to keep up with the supply. The trail took us up and up through a
wonderful tropical jungle. Trinity Falls is not a high
fall but it has a neat swimming hole where it is safe to swim as long as you
stay in the right area. The current takes you round into deep water, close
to the falls then swings you back out to the shallow water where you started.
We have been eating
at Marcy's the last two nights. The first night we had chicken, rice and
delicious breadfruit. Last night we had fish stew made from Yellow Fin Tuna,
green bananas and edo. Tonight we eat on the boat or some of our food will
spoil. Kathy has been cooking marvelous meals. This morning we had French Toast
and at noon Kathy prepared us a wonderful split pea vegetable soup with a lot
of local pumpkin in it.
"Boat
Boys" are ubiquitous. They row or motor out in a variety of craft.
They can be annoying. They provide a wide range of services. It is pretty well
required that you let them take your stern line ashore when you anchor
($10.00EC = $6.00Cdn). They will also bring you bread, fish, fruit, arrange
tours or whatever.
We did some
wonderful snorkeling today. We saw a Flying Gurnard, a Sergeant Major, Parrot
Fish, Barrel Sponges, Pipe Organ Coral, gigantic Brain Coral, Angel Fish, Gold
Spotted Eel and many others.
Eleanor has taken 75
pictures, fully two thirds of her supply of film.
Monday, Jan. 28th,
Mayreau
Here we are safe and
sound in the Grenadines ("a little wee dot on your map", says Brian).
Yesterday was almost entirely overcast with frequent showers. This morning the
weatherman indicated somewhat more tolerable conditions at 20 knots wind and
ocean swells at 10 feet. We left at 10am after spending at least a half hour
untangling a fish line from our stern line to shore.
Brian raised a
working jib and double reefed main. Conditions were pretty well as predicted. I
managed to survive with the help of two Dramamine pills. Didn't even reach
stage one of sea sickness (stage one is you are afraid you are going to die,
stage two is you are afraid you are *not* going to die). I was recovered and
happy almost immediately after entering protected waters. We anchored at 5 pm.
Strangely enough after spending half of the day prone I am ready to go to bed
at 8pm.
There are 15 boats
in the anchorage and lots more in the general area. We are a very short
distance from the Tobago Cays and many other well known locations. From now on
we only plan short 1-2 hour hops until we are back in St. Vincents for our
return flight.
Tuesday, Jan. 29th,
The day after the full moon, Union Island.
Sitting at anchor in
Mayreau we watched the sun go down, then we turned and watched the big fat moon
rise on the opposite horizon. The night of the full moon is very special. It is
only during a full moon that the story of the Moon Cuser can be told.
Unfortunately conditions were not perfect so the story was not heard. Then
there is the Green Flash. The Green Flash is a Superhero popularized by Marvel
Comics. There are other green flashes, but alas, they appear to be equally
fictitious.
Mayreau has a
population of 200 and 2 cars. We spent the day wandering the
street of Mayreau. We visited the school and enjoyed the wonderful beach
where the cruise ships stop about twice a week. We took our garbage to the dump
and picked some Bolle fruit from the Bolle tree. The fruit is quite large,
somewhat larger than a coconut. It is not edible, but after having been opened
and scrapped clean the shell dries and becomes very hard.
The next day we fashioned one into a bowl and the other into a lamp shade.
It will be our most precious souvenir of the trip.
While walking the
beaches we were visited by children of a fisherman
who were looking for a handout of some kind. Eleanor and Kathy spent a long
time chatting to them and they parted no richer but perhaps friends.
While I was
sketching with Eleanor at the beach a little 2 year old girl became quite
curious. She was chewing on a chicken bone and her hands were quite greasy.
When she wanted to finger my sketch book I said "No!". She looked and
me and said, "You fuckin ugly.". What can I say? Out of the mouths of
babes. . .
Eleanor says we had
a wonderful party by the full moon in Mayreau and Kathy and I discovered
"Free Range Potatoes". Eleanor will explain it when she comes home.
Today provided our
second overcast day and the coolest to date. We had a short, lumpy 1 hour
crossing over to Union Island. This is a main supply point for this area and
provides an opportunity to replenish our supplies and
refuel our wallets.
Brian says the
captain is healthier than a bull moose. The first mate says she is having too
much fun.
Thursday, Jan. 31st,
Tobago Cays
Tobago Cays that is,
not Tobago Island which is close to Trinidad. We are a mere hour from Union
Island. Yesterday we had an excellent hike around Union Island. We had lunch at
Jante's Restaurant. Eleanor and Brian split an absolutely
huge lobster.
Tobago Cays is very
beautiful. We are anchored behind a wonderful coral reef.
It is hard to get used to the idea of anchoring in a spot where the wind blows
at 30 knots all the way from the coast of Africa. But it is normal and there
are dozens and dozens of boats in this idyllic little spot. Most are much
larger than Tundra's 37 feet.
Kathy says they are
enjoying our company so much and that two weeks is not long enough. We may stay
another day in Tobago Cays. Eleanor says she likes the Tobago Cays so much that
she is never going home.
Sunday, Feb. 3rd,Bequia,
Grenadines
This is your
intrepid reporter, John Coulthard, reporting *live* (as opposed to deceased) from
Bequia.
We left Tobago Cays
yesterday at 10am and arrived here in Bequia at 2:30pm, a
brisk crossing. Kathy described the crossing as "robust". The
Captain made reference to a "washing machine". The winds were about
20-25 knots and the seas 8-10 feet. Eleanor says there were a few minutes when
she wasn't frightened. I was mostly hanging on in a sort of dazed stupor after
taking a Dramamine for sea sickness (It worked too!). It was a starboard tack
with double reefed main and working jib. The port rail was in the water quite a
bit of the time. Eleanor says, "we were really screaming along. We saw
flying fish and frigate birds but none of them could keep up with us."
Admiralty Bay is the
quietest and calmest of all our anchorages so far. Little gusts of wind sneak
down from the protecting hills and provide welcome cooling breezes. A giant
cruise ship sits in the background. We turned in early before 8pm and slept for
12 hours. It was a wonderful feeling.
Bequia is a lovely
little gem of a tourist island. We had a wonderful lunch at the Frangipani Hotel and then walked
over to Lower Bay and found Joan and Jerry Kennedy. It was a real hot walk.
Then we all took a taxi across to friendship bay for a drink. Taxis are
plentiful and cheap (Pickup trucks with benches in them).
Everyone is very relaxed and friendly. Finally we returned by taxi again to the
Frangipani and returned to Tundra for our customary late afternoon swim and
shower.
Tomorrow we head
over to Young Cut on St. Vincents, about 10 nautical miles. It should take less
than 2 hours and hopefully be less bouncy as the trade winds are settling down
to more normal levels for this time of the year (15 knots). Tuesday we fly out
on the 11:30am flight. Kathy and Brian have some shopping to do after we leave.
The starting battery needs replacement and two propane tanks are empty.
Wednesday, Feb. 6th,
Vancouver, BC.
Our final day's
crossing from Bequia to St. Vincents was wonderful. The trade winds were
blowing about 15 knots with a swell of 5-6 feet. We enjoyed a fine last meal
with Brian and Kathy at the nearby Lime Pub. Tuesday morning they dropped us
off a the Airport and carried on to do some shopping.
Our trip home was
straightforward but 15 hours in planes and airports does take it's tool. At 1am
Vancouver time (5am Grenadines time) we fell exhausted into bed.
It has been a
pleasure being a temporary "Tundra reporter".
PostScript
The term “ugly” is
often used in the Caribbean to mean “bad mood”. It seems likely that the little
girl was commenting that I was in a bad mood, not actually physically ugly.
Go to John & Eleanor Coulthard's home page.
Create: February 11, 2002
Revised: February 13, 2002
