The relentless wind finally eased and we made our way south, back to the Grenadines. Day hops, first Rodney Bay next Bequia (pronounced bekway). There were about 10 boats all heading south to Bequia. Simon made the call to head windward of St Vincent to get “clear wind”. What seemed like a logical decision turned out to be less than enjoyable. We had a strong current (2-3 knots) against us for most of the trip, confused seas and very little wind. So we had to motor sail.

We were last in Bequia nearly 18 months ago and had a great time with our friends, Dianne and Joel. We found a few new treasures, a chicken roti shop at a local bar and some great snorkelling. We were pleasantly surprised at the coral and sea life including a moray eel, baby crayfish and sea snakes.

We stretched our legs with a walk across the island to Friendship Bay and took in the views to Mustique Island. We also spent a lazy Sunday afternoon at Lower Bay (south of our anchorage) where we chilled to tunes from a mobile DJ with a pop up beach bar.

Bequia - Lower Bay

Our social calendars where full with catching up with old and new friends. We caught up with Tim and Nancy on Larus who we last saw in Norfolk in November. We also met a few other OCC boats and enjoyed sundowners at Jacks on the beach. Helios (our dingy) was misbehaving again so we had to be towed home by Roy and Tacey (Mercator). Mercator is a 55 foot trawler, this vessel really stands out in the crowd of sailing yachts. We had a chance to get to know them and shared a lovely meal aboard.

It was time to head down The Grenadines chain of islands to revisit some of our old favourites and explore some new bays. First stop was Salt Whistle Bay. It was crowded with charter boats but we still managed to find a good anchorage spot, Si dived on the anchor and discovered an old mooring that we took a line to. We were close to the reef but with the mooring line attached, we reduced our swing circle.

Back in Salt Whistle Bay - Beach

It was our last night with Larus so a customary curry night was called on Tourterelle. We decided to expand our repertoire and made butter chicken. It turned out great so will now be a regular feature. The next day we climbed the very steep hill and visited some of the more interesting building and enjoyed the view.

Mayreau - Hill Top Walk

Later that day, Tacey and Roy arrived and enjoyed sun-downers on Aura.

Sundowners

The next stop was Tobago Cays and to swim with the turtles. Unfortunately I had come down with an ear infection so had to sit this one out. Mr Quality who operates a mobile boat based souvenir shop arrived on our stern and enquired about my back. We were impressed with his memory. We did a great walk up to the top of the hill on one of the small islands. The view was spectacular but of course no one remembered the camera……

Unfortunately the wind was fairly strong at Tobago Cays with an uncomfortable fetch and the plague of Sargassum weed continued making its way through the anchorage. So after a couple of nights, we decided to head to Saline Bay located on the east coast of Mayreau. It’s a lovely big bay with a nice beach. It is very well protected and slept well after the lumpy anchorage of Tobago Cays.

The next stop was Chatham Bay. We had missed this bay previously due to the reports of petty theft. As we came around the corner, the first thing you notice is the steep mountains and rock face that surround the bay…stunning. The second thing is that the bay is massive with very few boats anchored. Also that lack on development onshore…our sort of place.

Once we anchored we were a little taken back by the strong gusts that would whip through the bay every now and then. Once minute it was calm, the next the whole boat was shaking with the force of the wind. Fortunately our anchor was well dug in.

We enjoyed a lovely meal ashore with Ian and Ann at Sun, Beach and dine on fish, fried potatoes, fried bananas, rice and salad. This was followed by Banana Muffins that to us looked more like banana donuts.

< Insert photos of dinner out request from Tourterelle >

We stretched our legs again with a walk up the hill to take in the view. Along the way we came across some road kill that looked very much like a possum. After asking the locals what it was, we discovered it was in fact a possum. We did some google research and discovered that possums are native in this part of the world. There you go and I thought a possum was uniquely Australian (with unwanted exports to NZ). (The possum photos was removed from the blog)

Chatham Bay

The next day, we snorkelled on the point. The sea floor was covered in green algae and as we swam further out, the algae cleared and you were surrounded by millions of bait fish. It was really strange and something we had not experienced before. There were other fish and coral to look at but it was challenging at times to see past all the fish.

Snorkel Chatham Bay

We love this bay and were enjoying the peace and tranquillity until we noticed a considerable number of catamarans started arriving in the other side of the bay. We haled down one of the locals who told us that 40 boats would be anchoring in the bay for the night. Not a problem, there is plenty of space. As they started to arrive, we soon realised that this is not an ordinary rally. Most of the boats were decorated with flags and other paraphernalia. The big give away was the music that was blaring from some very big speakers. Looks like things are going to get interesting and they did. They partied through the night into mid-morning. As the sun rose, over 100 people were dancing on the two rafted catamarans. One had its bow well in the water. By about 9am, the music finally stopped, they went back to their own boats and sailed away. We finally had our bay back to ourselves wondering if that really happened.

Hippocup Party in Chatham Bay

We had one last night with Tourterelle before we would be parting ways…this time saying goodbye for the perceivable future. We enjoyed a lovely meal together with good wine. We all started getting a bit sleepy after the loud music from the night before so we pulled out Mexican Train for one last game.

We had buddy sailed with Ian and Ann (Tourterelle) on and off for over a year. We were heading back to Bequia as friends from Florida will soon join us for a few days and Tourterelle are continuing south to Grenada. They will haul out and take a short trip back to Europe. It was a sad goodbye as we have so many good memories, great times and shared so many wonderful experiences. They kept Si company in Christmas Cove when I was back in Australia visiting my dad last March. They helped us navigate the shallow Exuma waters and convinced us to join them in Bermuda for the Americas Cup. We then headed north where we summered in the USA before returning to the Bahamas for Christmas and New Year. We then explored Jamaica together, Puerto Rico and returned to the USVIs then Windward Islands. Fair winds and following seas, we shall miss you Tourterelle.

Bye Tourterelle

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Bequia – 12 37.242N 61 27.141W – sand 4.5m

Mayreau (Salt Whistle Bay) – 12 38.822N 61 23.480W - anchor edge of mooring field, also took line to an old mooring

Tobago Cays – 12 37.85N 64 21.327W – 3m sand

Mayreau (Saline Bay) – 12 38.05N 61 23.854W – 5m sand

Union Island (Chatham Bay) - 12 36.223N 61 26.952W – 3.5m sand