Friday 10 March

Bequia is definitely one of the nice cruising destinations. Now that we've been hanging out for the past week we've started to pick up some of the local flavor.

First, it is an ideal spot from which to day sail. You can sail off the hook, run out the bay, and reach to the north or south, harden up and beat back to anchor again after a couple of hours of exhilerating sailing.

Or, you can just sit on the hook and check out the boats coming and going. Lots to look at. On Thursday, for example, we had the pleasure of watching an engineless 1897 gaff cutter sail her way in followed by a 125' ketch, a couple of 60-footers, and a 115' cutter.

Speaking of which, there are a couple of new status symbols in sailing. One is to have a rig with lots of spreaders with spotlights angled up to show off the height of your mast at night. And if you are really tall, you get to have a red light at the top of the rig - to warn low-flying aircraft. No kidding - we've seen three in the last couple of weeks.

There is a fair amount of service infrastructure on Bequia so if you have a problem, it can be dealt with. Friends had some fridge difficulties, called the local guru on the VHF, and three hours later had things sorted out. The water pump impeller on our 12-year-old outboard gave up, and $60 later the old Mariner was running good as new. There are four or five marine stores carrying a variety of critical items (like 5200, plastic plumbing fittings, and lots of fasteners), and the majority of Bequians with whom you interact are friendly and accomodating.

So, if you're looking for a nice place to vacation for a couple of weeks, or hang on the hook, put Bequia high on the list.

There's a slight swell wrapping into the anchorage, and the sky has the look of a new wind - so tomorrow we're heading north for St.Lucia.