We spent the last 10 days anchored at the island of Bequia (strangely, pronounced "Beckway"). We hadn't planned on staying this long, but we met some wonderful new families, a few warm locals, and we've been playing -- kids and adults alike -- with our new friends.
It's not a bad spot (this video is a little long, but for those of you that like nice drone shots!):
This anchorage had turtles swimming all around, and the octopus video previously posted was captured just 100 yards from our spot. We'd get up in the morning and sip our coffee on the foredeck while we watched the turtles swim by. Pretty amazing!
The best part, though, has been making new friends. You've heard us talk before about some of the other families that did the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers). Well, there was another ARC, called the ARC+ that went from the Canaries to the Cape Verdes to Grenada; that left two weeks ahead of us. In Bequia, we met several other families that did the ARC+, and not surprisingly, they are just as awesome people as the ARC families we already know.
We spent many evenings cooking dinners, playing games, the kids doing sleep overs...
One day, we toured a plantation where we picked tropical fruits off the trees, the kids got to chew sugar cane right off the stalk, and we had a wonderful West Indian meal.
We even squeezed in a round of "golf" on the plantation.
Kenning and I, and our friends Emma & Dietmar tied for the championship.
After the day at the Plantation, we decided the adults should have dinner together. So we sent the kids back to the boat while we went on to the restaurant.
This felt like solid parenting. 5 kids in a boat with no life jackets, I mean, what could go wrong?
On New Year's Eve we got a little silly ringing in the new year....
On New Year's Day, one of our friends lined up a sail with the local junior sailors on their local, traditional St. Vincentian trapeze dinghy. This boat is sailed with 6-8 people, with 5 or 6 on the trapeze. Getting 5 out on the traps with a few that hadn't done so before was a bit of a show, but we managed. And we got to know a few of the local junior sailors. It was a very unique experience, and felt a little like we were sailing a bit of history in the islands.
I even got a bunch of wing foiling in with the flying fish and the turtles. Yes, I guess that I take time out from my sailing by....sailing.
What a truly amazing and magical week. We are now in the Tobago Cays, and there are turtles everywhere. Stay tuned for more updates!
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