Bequia, Grenadine Islands

Anchored in Admiralty Bay
Bequia Island
Grenadine Islands
Caribbean Sea
13'00.6N/61'14.5W
369nm from SV Christa...

After a 24-hour run straight downwind with a night of heavy rainstorms we arrived off the north coast of Bequia Island at sunrise. A large cruise ship and cargo ship were our only traffic, passing a mile down our starboard side. Sandpiper averaged 5 knots with a double reefed main out to port all night and just a small part of the jib poled out to starboard. We were trying to slow down in order to not make landfall before sunrise. This was the first test of the 'rig' since putting the mast back on, and everything held tight.

The winds overnight kept changing direction every time a rain squall passed over. Sandpiper was rolling all over as the winds and swells straight off the stern, sometimes at over 25 knots. Once we rounded Bequia Island we entered Admiralty Bay where we had hoped that the high winds would lay down. But they seemed to get stronger the closer we got to the anchorage. 

Arriving at Admiralty Bay, we found hundreds of sailboats all over the place, most being on mooring buoys. This left us little room to anchor. Being that we are now in the heart of the Caribbean, many of the boats around us are charter boats and are just here for a short time. So they have no problem paying to be on a mooring buoy at $20.00 U.S. a night. But for Sandpiper, after about 30 minutes of motoring around the harbor, found a very small area where we dropped the hook for free.

The winds honking over 20 knots made us a bit nervous being in the middle of so many boats. So as soon as we dropped the hook I jumped into the water to make sure that our anchor was set. We have not been ashore yet and will post updates as soon as we can. But after being in Barbados where we were the only 'cruising' boat around, we are a bit tainted being around so many other boats.

We were hoping to have internet on the boat at this anchorage for Skype and to update our very outdated pictures and videos.  But it is a bit expensive for WiFi, so we are hoping to find a cheap internet ashore today. So keep on checking.

Also in the next few days we will be posting our newest addition to this site: ‘The Rum Report!!’

More, once we get ashore,
Tom and Amy