Barbados
On reaching Barbados with less than 24 hours before Nick had to catch his flight home we had a quick swim where we were anchored in Carlisle Bay and a longed for shower on the boat then went out to Oistins Fish Fry which is a Friday night speciality in Barbados. We ate more wonderful fish and next morning said a sad goodbye to Nick as it is a shame he had to fly home the day after arrival after our long trip.
Pete, Keith and I went to welcome Jacquie to Barbados on 16 December, she was more than happy for the warmth after the harsh winter weather being experienced in UK (looks like we chose the best winter to be away!) I now had a swimming and snorkelling buddy as the fellers do not seem too up for that kind of thing. Each morning Jacquie and I swam to the beach from the boat then ran up and down the beach looking just like Bo Derek in the film 10 (Sorry we don’t have a photo to prove it!) Then we would swim back to the boat, a truly morning exercise to look forward to!
We started to get the hang of beach landing the dinghy; you surf in on a wave then jump out quick, pick the dinghy up and run up the beach with it before you get swamped by the next wave! Got it wrong trying to launch it one day when we didn’t quite get over the first wave and the second one flipped the boat up and knocked Keith right under water, this must have greatly amused the people on the beach, and his money was drying out on the saloon table for a few hours afterwards!
We checked out the rum shacks in Bridgetown and the one we call the ‘wife beater bar’ as one evening when we were in there a man hit his woman and there was uproar as one of the local men told us that a man should never hit a woman....in public!! Of course when we visited the Barbados Yacht club there was none of that sort of thing going on!
Bequia (part of the Grenadines) 
We sailed overnight to Bequia in the Grenadines on 20 December and anchored in Admiralty Bay. Here Jacquie and I abandoned our fitness routine and just did our swim close to the boat as the water taxis zooming around (some with very interesting names) could take your head off if you strayed too far!
I took Jacquie diving on a small reef nearby and she did really well (needs a little buoyancy practice but that’s normal). The bay was beautiful, we had a lovely meal in ‘Tanty Pearls’ on Christmas Eve (rescuing a goat that had its foot stuck in a grave on the way) and a BBQ on the beach on Christmas day. It was magnificent, but despite wearing our Christmas hats it didn’t feel a bit like Christmas.
Christmas Eve at Tanty Pearls
Carriacou and Grenada
We left Bequia on Boxing Day and did an 8 hour sail to Carriacou (which mostly appeared to be closed as it was Boxing Day) then a further 8 hour sail the next day to reach Prickly Bay in Grenada. Grenada is a wonderfully lush island with waterfalls and rain forests in the centre.
Jacquie and I got a local bus to town (they are mostly minibus type) but as they were calling us down the street to get on board which we did, then they went up and down the road shouting at everyone to see if they wanted the bus, reversing up side streets and nearly taking out a couple of motor bikes, we thought at first we may be being abducted! More and more people got on the bus until we were 5 people sitting on 3 seats and just when you thought they could get no more on they still hailed people and let them get in! We did finally make the 4 mile trip into St Georges and subsequently became accustomed this mode of transport as the days went on.
Jacquie and I got a local bus to town (they are mostly minibus type) but as they were calling us down the street to get on board which we did, then they went up and down the road shouting at everyone to see if they wanted the bus, reversing up side streets and nearly taking out a couple of motor bikes, we thought at first we may be being abducted! More and more people got on the bus until we were 5 people sitting on 3 seats and just when you thought they could get no more on they still hailed people and let them get in! We did finally make the 4 mile trip into St Georges and subsequently became accustomed this mode of transport as the days went on.
We then went to the place where they make chocolate and tread the cocoa beans like grapes (only you don’t squash the beans you just move them around with your feet to aerate them).
We took the lads to a waterfall that Jacquie and I had sussed out was not too far from the bus stop (and hoped this was true). After hiking up this long, long hill, in the hot, hot sun we were afraid they would rebel and decide not to go any further.....then finally we spotted the shop (which means there must be an attraction). A lovely swim in the waterfall and Pete did confess he was just about to give up! On a subsequent visit to another waterfall Keith and I flagged down the bus on the way back and it was full but it stopped. My only memory was of seeing Keith out of the corner of my eye shoved in the seat behind me next to a rather large local man on a seat for 3 that now had 5 across it and it looked as if Keith had his face squashed up against the window like one of those cartoon characters!!
Waterfalls
Waterfalls
Mount Gay Rum factory!
Beauiful Sunsets
Some dancing practice!
We said goodbye to Pete and Jacquie on 29 December as they flew back to UK and the snow! We spent New Year’s Eve in ‘De Big Fish’ at a pig roast were they celebrated the UK new year at 8pm local time (as most of the people there were from the cruising community anchored in the bay) and then threw us out at 11.30pm local time! We walked up a nearby hill and watched the fireworks going off all around at midnight. New Year’s Day saw us at the Friday fish fry at Gouyave.
We spent over a week waiting for an electrician to come on board something to do with the battery charging system again (it’s a boy thing so don’t ask me). We finally went round to Phare Bleu bay to seek out another electrician so have stayed in Grenada longer than planned, but I can think of worse places to be stuck!
