December 15 – BEQUIA
Yes, we’re still in Bequia. We’re waiting for a motor part of the dinghie which is supposed to arrive from the States this Friday. In the meantime, Frank has been rowing to shore when we need; or good friends have pick us up or towed us.
Friends have been arriving at Bequia since my last blog. We now have 4 cruising friends in the bay, nearby. We’ve shared happy hours and gone on a very hot 5-km up/down hills hike, so far. One of these couples – Maria and Hugh on White Pearl - have invited us all to a potluck dinner on Christmas day! They’re coming over for dinner tomorrow. This week, we’ll also invite Laurie and Dawn on Cat Tales (a catamaran) for dinner to thank them for helping Frank while in Grenada a few weeks ago.
Hiking these hills, as we now know, requires a lot more water and fresh fruits (for their sweet juices) when there’s barely any breeze. It is way too hot. The respite we had was a bar that opened for us as we passed by in the last 2 kms. Those cold beers were welcome! When Laurie and Dawn organize a hike, there’s always drinks and lunch at the end. The 9 of us had rotis of all kinds: goat, conch (lambi), chicken, beef. Rotis look like burritos; but the stuffing is potatoes and protein with Indian flavors.
I notice that as we live in the heat of the islands, we eat a lot less: most of the time, 2 meals a day is plenty and sometimes only one. Like on the hiking day, we only ate a piece of bread and peanut butter for breakfast. The 15:00 roti “lunch” sustained us until the following day. Mixed nuts, fruits and fresh coconut sustain us between meals. Also, sometimes happy hours have enough food to become a full meal. So, living down South is a good way to lose weight, LOL!
You might remember that last April, I fell down in Carriacou and broke my right patella (knee) and left radius head (elbow). Because I spent the following month in a full-arm cast, my arm never recovered it full stretch after months of physio (it’s always bent). So, to extend this stretch, I have surgery back home scheduled for Feb. 24th. Therefore, I’ll fly home alone from Martinique on Feb. 18th. My sister Lucie has graciously offered to help me with the recovery afterwards. So she’ll fly to Toronto at the same time; and we’ll get home together from the airport. I’m really looking forward to spend time alone with Lucie! The weeks of physio following surgery will prevent me from returning South for this sailing season. So Frank will sail Komeekha back to Grenada for a few weeks.
Christmas in Bequia is very popular among the cruising community. Therefore, many boats will start arriving in the next week. Also, based on our experience last year, we’ll need to withdraw some cash before Christmas as the bank machines will empty during that period. Oddly, it’s the same with eggs: they run out.