Friendship Bay Beach Hotel Bequia

Bequai to St Vincent (the main Grenadine island) was via the regular ferry service – through very rough waters – every muscle was tensed to hang on and keep the status quo! Charlie met us on arrival and we went to the hotel (Beachcomber) to meet up with Jo, and Ben and Clair.

We were taken in a minibus along the coast and up into the interior for the volcano trek. No checks had been made as to our fitness/ability etc. and the climb was ...

Bequia - a tale of 2 boat rides

And so, at last, after 3 weeks it was time to bid a reluctant farewell to Jo and Charlie and Mustique. If you visit the West or North coast of Mustique you can see Bequia (pronounced Beck way) - it's there - just a big stonesthrow away. OK allowing for the nautical deceptive distances etc. - 10 mins. -ish.
We decided to go on Sunday - oops - mistake. Options - plane - 5mins ferry - 10mins (!!!) or swim. Sunday ...

... or night, and be greeted by familiar faces. That is how local the island is. Like a small town, after being here for only several days, I feel at home amongst neighbors I have known for years. Nowhere is this small-town-under-the-tropical-sky feeling more prevalent than at the Frangipani's Thursday Night Jump Up. Started in the early 1970's as a way of providing entertainment to a typically uneventful island, today the event ...

... for the life of the turtles that will someday emerge from those soft white eggs depend on it. The turtle finishes laying her legacy, repeats the throwing of the sand, and waddles back to the sea where she slides in, submerges, and disappears into a wave that will carry her back to the far northern Atlantic. Fast-forward 12 years and that sailor, a bit older, a bit grayer, is welcoming guests to his Oldhegg Turtle Sanctuary ...

... of the neighbor's pet goat and wakes up to the alarm of the resident rooster. This secret land, although hard to get to, is well worth the visit, or perhaps even an extended stay. Whether you fly, sail or swim, in order to meet the real Caribbean face to face one must get themselves to Bequia, the crown jewel of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. History The island, only nine miles south of St. Vincent (known as ...

... was a 24 hour sail out of Trinidad to our first stop in the Grenadines, a tiny idyllic island called Canouan, population of 600. Sailing for 24 hours was a awesome experience, we were divided up into three teams to do 3 hour watches. Daylight watches involve sunbathing on the deck drinking beer, looking at the sea, and talking. The sea was rough at times and it was nil by mouth for us, apart from fluids. At ...

... is stunning with its unique art museum and beautiful parks and beaches. There is no doubt that they will enjoy their new life in Milwaukee and it was great to catch a glimpse of what it will be. We look forward to visiting once their move is complete. Bill took us to the Miller campus but we will have to wait until another visit for the full tour. While we were in Evanston, Al made an overnight trip east to attend part of his 40th reunion at Union College in Schenectady, NY ...

A day of organizing. John tried his hand at driving, blowing Matty's wipers-instead-of-turn-signal record off the map. We're all booked for a sailing trip to the Tobago keys tomorrow on the "Friendship Rose". Nancy and John will be heavily medicated with Gravol ...

... language reserved for my brothers and Uni housemates. All of this 10ft from the running camera. Because we lost an oar, we slewed off to the side, and the boat behind us panicked and rammed the camera boat straight amidships, I missed it, but apparently my mate who was bowman on that boat actually headbutted the camera screen as his boat rammed the director's. There was a long embarrassing silence as people realised that actually that wasn't scripted, and headbutting the ...

... and career choice. We arrive at the hotel and I decided to sue the brochure publisher. It was a converted grain warehouse. Brick floors, brick walls, open hallways and the registration office opened up to the street. Since there are not a lot of options on the Island, I check in and head to my room. I was actually pleasantly surprised. It was clean, tidy and sort of charming in a grain warehouse sort of way. I had my own bathroom too!