HAPPY TIMES WITH THE HEATHS
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| The Katz Crew |
Two weeks have gone by in a flash and before we knew it we were saying sad farewells to the Heath family as they headed back to Cape Town. We had an incredible time with them, covering mileage that we would probably have done in two months!
We took a dock for two nights at the IGY Marina in Rodney Bay, St Lucia to do provisioning and prepare the boat for the Heaths visit. What a treat it was to have our laundry collected and delivered back to the boat and to place our meat order and have it vacuum packed and dropped off at the boat, with free ice!
The Heaths took a taxi from the airport and it felt quite surreal as we saw them wheeling their bags along the jetty. We had been looking forward to their visit for so long, Tayne even having an App on his phone for the previous two weeks counting down to their arrival time. We're not sure if it was in anticipation of their arrival or the fact that they were bringing him a new MacBook Pro!
They brought us presents from home, treats that we hadn't had in ages and a rather large Amazon order that Stephen had placed and had delivered to Antoinette's brother, Pierre, in Vermont. He then took the goodies to New York and Antoinette brought them to us. Talk about making a plan.......!! Kirsty had her 21st birthday in New York just before their arrival so it was celebrations all round!
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| 21st Birthday and Welcome Celebrations |
The following day saw us making our way to Marigot and after that to Bequia, in St Vincent and the Grenadines. We hit a squall along the way with crazy rain and wind, just as a welcome to the Caribbean storm season! Les Farge was waiting for us in Bequia with freshly caught lobster and a huge smile. It was great to see him again and we all had a good ol' SA braai and more than a few beers.
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| Sleepy Eyes leaving Marigot Bay at first light |
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| The Pitons, Sofriere, St Lucia |
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| Raising the Sails at Sofriere |
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| Braving the Storm with Michaela at the helm |
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| Ti Punch on the move |
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| Easy sailing once the squall was past |
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| Beer time in Bequia |
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| Bequia Waterfront |
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| A Rastafarian House in Bequia |
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| One of many notices pasted outside the Rasta house, very strange! |
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| Market Day, Bequia |
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| Fuel, Laundry and Ice delivery to the boat |
We arrived in Bequia on a public holiday (there are so many in the Caribbean) so we didn't clear in on arrival. Apparently you aren't allowed on land until you are cleared in so we were sneaking around the back streets as there was a Customs boat along the waterfront. Stephen went to clear in the next day and it was Carnival, so a holiday again. There are steep overtime charges and it would've cost us about R2000 to clear in because there were 8 of us and they wanted to charge us charter boat rates! We needed some outstanding paperwork so Stephen promptly took our documentation, sneaked away and quickly got us all back to the boat. We hot-footed it out of there without clearing in and made our way from Bequia to Mayreau.
You've got to love the Caribbean, they have a public holiday the day before Carnival, then they're all pretty much on holiday and hugover during the Carnival week and then the day after Carnival is also a public holiday to 'recover'. We have also been to few islands in time for Emancipation Day (freedom from slavery) with huge celebrations and parades and more public holidays. I love it that the 2nd Janauary is also a holiday here and appears on the calendar as Recovery Day. Carriacou hosted the Carriacou Regatta and because it was held over a weekend everything was closed on the Monday so the people could rest after the Regatta. It's not that anything happens at a fast pace anywhere in the Caribbean, they seem to permanently be on holiday anyway!
Tim and Tayne did the 3 hour trip to Mayreau on Les's boat, Golightly, and experienced what it was like to sail on a monohull. They enjoyed it and learned a lot but still preferred our Katz! We anchored in the beautiful Saltwhistle Bay on Mayreau. This is the typical Caribbean Island one envisages with a long white palm fringed beach with beach bars here and there. We loved this festive bay with parties and music happening from the yachts and lots of people around, having a good time. Antoinette, Michaela and I did a lovely hike to the village and bought bread from Simon the baker who bakes from his home, met Robert Rasta Righteous at his restaurant and went to the local church with magnificent views of the surrounding islands. We had cocktails at a great beach bar and the kids spent their time surfing, diving and messing about off the back of the boat.
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| Moonhole, a holiday resort with a difference. |
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| Tayne and Tim cruise into Saltwhistle Bay on Golightly |
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| Anchored in Saltwhistle Bay |
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| Rum Time, Saltwhistle Bay |
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| The view from Mayreau towards Tobago Cays |
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| From Mayreau to Union Island |
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| Robert Rasta Righteous's Restaurant |
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| Katz anchored off Mayreau |
We have to laugh at the boat vendors in this bay, they arrive at your boat offering their wares......."Bread, vegetables, fish, beers or weed for you today?", they ask. It comes with the territory! :)
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| Boat Vendors will sell you anything |
We had a couple of hours panic when we discovered Pete's passport was missing. We called immigration and the police in Bequia where it was last seen, with no joy. We had visions of it being dropped into the ocean or lying on a street corner there, so hauled anchor to head back to Bequia when Pete found it under a cushion in the cockpit. What a relief and celebrations all round!!
Time to move on as we were running low on supplies and water and bad weather was looming. We did a 2 and a half hour sail to the sheltered Tyrell Bay in Carriacou. Even though it was sheltered, this bay had nothing much to offer and the water was dirty so we couldn't swim off the boat. We topped up with water, bought a few supplies and motor sailed for half an hour to the neighbouring Saline Island. It was stunning....untouched and remote, with only one other catamaran in the bay. The snorkeling was amazing with beautiful reefs and drop-offs and and incredible variety of coral and fish. Tayne caught a massive lobster which went down really well. The weather eventually caught up with us and we were caught in a vicious squall. The other catamaran dragged anchor and left in the storm and we sat it out. The wind was gusting up to 38 knots and we had to re-anchor in the midst of all the chaos.
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| Tyrell Bay, Carriacou |
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| Saline Island, Carriacou |
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| Rum Punch for the girls |
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| A whopping lobster |
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| ....prepared by Antoinette |
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| While it storms we'll just drink rum and watch Jeff Dunham |
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| Saline Island sunset after the storm |
After the weather cleared we made our way back to Tyrell Bay and then back up to Saltwhistle Bay and the Tobago Cays. The Tobago Cays took our breath away! We sailed into an area of small islands with secluded beaches surrounded by the clearest luminous turquoise sea. The snorkeling was the best we have experienced this far. There was so much life around our boat, we swam with Baracuda, a Lemon Shark, Puffer Fish and Rays just off our stern. We snorkeled around magnificent shallow water reefs that were so clear we felt we were in a swimming pool.
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| Our Rasta neighbour with his 3 dogs and Chantal the goat |
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| Wine on the water |
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| Does Stephen look comfortable?? |
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| 50 SHADES OF BLUE, TOBAGO CAYS |
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| Taking photies to send to Damon for his birthday |
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| Life is good in the Tobago Cays |
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| The clearest water |
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| The shadow seen under the water is a shark that was hanging around the boat |
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| Toes out the water, sand in the ass! |
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| Pete and Nets |
Sadly all good things come to an end and we had to make our way back up to St Lucia. We decided to do an overnight sail, which wasn't such a good idea. It took us 15 hours into the swell and the wind and we were pushed off course by a strong current. We arrived in Rodney Bay weather beaten and exhausted! Night time sailing is not for me!!
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| The sleeping quarters for the boys |
We had such happy times with the Heaths, Tayne and Tim spent every waking moment in the water or fishing, the kids all hung out together and had lots of laughs and good times and the parents drank far too many cocktails and beers for our own good!
Tears for me again as my lovely 'old' friend Antoinette left in the taxi and our little family made our way back to a very quiet Katz. We feel so privileged that so many of our friends have made the effort to come all the way to be part of our amazing adventure.
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