Still chilling in Bequia….

Thursday we came back on board to see that Winfield had done a great job – third coat of varnish applied now….. Looking amazingly shiny, I can’t imagine what it will look like when done. Thursday night had a really nice evening onboard Shamal with John and Georgina – great hosts, and another beautiful sunset.

 

Friday morning up early as usual and Winfield arrives on the dot of 8am. We have realised that our insistence on him not taking away our companionway boards as we need to lock the boat up at night, is giving him a bit of trouble as he can’t hang them up to dry so he rests them on cans each day and ends up with rings… So we decided to get some temporary boards made up so that he can take the original ones to his workshop. Richard measured them up, drew diagrams, and then we headed out to the wood yard. Yep – no worries – will be available later. Went back to collect them and realised that something had been lost in translation as they have made us 6 not 3, one of each! Oh well….never mind….at least the ones we brought back with us did actually fit!

Friday night is fish night at the Fig Tree restaurant;  Pnut the travelling chef is doing the BBQ;  and we have booked a table with John and Georgina. Chris is doing his acoustic guitar set too – supported by Linda. There was dancing, singing, and general fun…. with Cheryl (the owner) strutting her stuff; Pnut entertaining us with his Bob Marley rendition; and Mr Prince (didn’t catch his first name) wowing us with his great voice. Really good evening had by all – and we had a late night!

Saturday Winfield is back again bright and early as usual. He rubs down, varnishes the companionway first as always and heads off to start the bowsprit. Just finishes it and the heavens open…. He just sits with his head in his hands in the cockpit – totally despondent. Apparently rain on wet varnish causes holes and ruins the finish, so he will have to do this bit again…. And although it is only 11 am he actually takes the offer of a beer very gratefully! So we sat around chatting for a while – he is an interesting guy – and the rain cleared up. Hurrah…so he was able to finish the rest of Morphie. Not going to take any more photos of the varnish now as they are starting to look the same….will wait to wow you with the finished product! In the afternoon I went off on my own to the Fig Tree to take part in the reading club. Cheryl – as well as the Fig Tree also runs a bookshop in town – and is passionate about getting the local kids to read. On the cruisers VHF net each morning she has been appealing for cruisers to come by and join in…. Well I got the nine year olds – and had a crowd of eight – and we read a book called ‘Preparing for a hurricane’. During the reading they were a good bunch – when it was over they turned into monsters! Pinching, kicking and general unruliness…. Why did I have to get this lot!?! It took all my energy to keep them under control when each group was doing its summary of the books they had read and particularly when Mr Prince (who it turns out is a bit of a local celebrity) did his animated reading of a poem called The Banana Man. Shame the poem had to diss white tourists as pale and stuck up though….. Oh well – done my bit. Later on, we went onboard Troubadour for sundowners and an evening of Mexican train dominos. We finished in third and fourth place….was holding my own at second for a while but this game is mean!

Sunday is Winfield’s only day of rest so we decided to have a beach day – we feel the need to get off the boat for a while as during this work we have been getting a bit stir crazy…. So we really enjoyed lazing around in the sun, bobbing and chilling with our favourite brew and watching the local kids playing in the surf. And of course admiring Morphie in the anchorage alongside her large catamaran neighbour…. Chris and Linda swam ashore for a few bobbing beers too…. The funniest thing we saw was the lady from the Whalebone bar – she had two boys with her and they had a kayak. The kids upended the kayak and cleaned the growth off the bottom using sand and had a good time generally playing with it. Then it was time for them to go home – and the mum paddled off round the headland and left the kids to walk over the rocks to get back to town!

Back on board for a quiet dinner and an early night. During the night the heavens opened and it is still raining this morning, Monday.   A tropical wave has been coming off the coast of Africa – so this is probably the start of it?  Potentially I think rain might stop play today….although Winfield has arrived on time, even though it is a Bank Holiday here!  

Bye for now

Jan