North Thru the Grenadines
Thursday, November 1 - Friday, 9
November 2012
After leaving the marina in Grenada we
thought we would have a nice sail up to Chatham Bay on Union Island
in the Grenadines. But the wind was on the nose so we motor-sailed
all the way, except for 1 hour as we passed Carriacou and the storm
over to the east. We stayed dry with mostly sunny skies and the seas
were only 3 feet so with the main out it wasn't too bad of a trip.
After a 6 hour trip we were anchored by 3 in beautiful Chatham Bay,
Union Island, Grenadines flying our yellow Q flag. It is early in
the season for boats to be heading north so not to many cruising
boats in the anchorage, just a few charter boats. Vanessa from Sun,
Beach & Eat came by to see if we wanted to come in for dinner,
Tim from Jerry's also stopped by, they both have wonderful food but
we had food on board that needed to be used. Should have asked
Vanessa if she could sell some of her breadfruit salad to go, it is
the best we have ever tasted. Beautiful water and turtles swimming
all around the boat, just love this place. Around 4:30 we see a boat
come in and anchor near by and it is friends Judy & Gordon on
Dreamcatcher. We wave & after they get settled in call
them on the VHF radio to invite them over for dinner. They are also
on their way up to St Lucia to meet with mutual friends and ex
neighbors Phyllis & Dennis. They have been VERY busy getting
boat work/projects done before picking up Phyllis & Dennis on the
5th in St Lucia. Friday we sleep in and by the time we
are up Dreamcatcher is long gone. We head out to go
over to the town port of Clifton to clear into the Grenadines. Since
it is slow season there is plenty of room to anchor, which is NOT
usually the case. Always guys meeting your boat to try to put you on
a mooring but not sure of the quality or ownership of the moorings so
we always prefer to anchor. IF it is not crowded and you find a good
spot it is really a nice anchorage, but that is a big IF. We arrive
just after noon so of course customs is at lunch, so we have lunch
while we wait. Even the town is not fully back into boating season
with several stores closed, even a few of the veggie stands are
closed. After checking in and picking up a few things that we forgot
to get in Grenada we leave Union Island and make the short (less then
30 min.) trip over to the Tobago Cays and are anchored by 3:45.
Never enough time spent in Chatham or the Cays, 2 wonderfully
beautiful places. Saturday we take the dinghy over to one of the
islands (Jamesby) so we can beach it to be able to clean the bottom.
During our 3 month stay at the marina in Grenada we were stern to at
the dock so we had to keep the dinghy in the water next to the boat
the whole time. Marine growth loves to grow on things sitting in the
water, so the bottom of the dinghy was very nasty !!! Beaching this
dinghy is not so easy. Steve & I pulled it up as far as we could
then Steve removed the motor and gas can, everything else had been
emptied out earlier, and we were able to pull it up a little more and
then flip it over. Then we went to work scraping and scrubbing the
bottom of the dinghy for the next 3 hours. We might have cleaned
more BUT the tide was coming in so we had to get the motor back on
the boat and launch it back into the water. I got to TRY to hold the
dinghy steady in the water with waves coming in while Steve got the
motor back on. Then we had to get into the dinghy, not easy for me
to jump in from waste high water!! Mission accomplished a very
clean dinghy bottom and no mishaps with the motor. Sunday we spend
the day just swimming and relaxing. Monday we get underway by 11 and
have a wonderful sail to Bequia. As we are approaching the anchorage
near Princess Margaret beach I am on the bow getting the anchor
ready. I say to Steve, look at that boat to our right, looks like
Dreamcatcher. He agrees but we can't see the name,
then someone comes up on deck and I say that looks like Gordon again
Steve agrees but too far away to be sure. The reason we are
questioning if it is Dreamcatcher is this is the day they are
supposed to be up in St Lucia picking up friends Dennis &
Phyllis. We get settled in and call them on the radio to learn their
engine fresh water coolant pump failed. SO as it turns out Phyllis &
Dennis will be coming a few days later bringing a new water pump. It
worked out okay for them also as Phyllis's dad just got out of the
hospital so it gave her a few more days to get him settled in. We go
in that night to have pizza at Mac's, and hear about the revised
visit plans. Tuesday we have internet so spend the morning getting
caught up then go into town for a few things and to just walk around.
Admiralty Bay is a BIG Bay with lots of room to anchor, but think
this is the least amount of boats we have seen anchored here,
everyone still down in Grenada. When we got here Monday there was a
cruise ship in and Tuesday there was another so things are starting
to pick up and getting busy. Wednesday
just hanging out doing a few errands & chores a great dinner
on-board. Then comes Thursday, as most of you will already know we
had a boarding incident. This is what I posted on Facebook pages as
to what happened.
Burglary in Admiralty Bay Bequia,
Thursday 8th November 2012
Ocean Star a 50 ft. Beneteau
anchored by Princess Margaret Beach just off the point leading to
Lower Bay. Some time between 3 am and 6 am during this rainy night,
our boat was boarded and items stolen. We were asleep in our forward
berth during the incident and did not know someone had come aboard to
take 2 phones, a kindle, a Leatherman and around. $100.00 EC until we
awoke at 7 am Thursday morning. The following is our best guess
summary of what we think most likely happened.
We were up late reading, I went to
bed at 12:45 doing my usual cockpit and surrounding area check before
going to bed. Steve was still up reading in the salon with the
lights on. At 3, I awoke and got Steve to turn off the lights and
come to bed. At 5:40 (I have a clock by the bed) I awoke and noticed
the hatches between our bed and the bathroom were open and the floor
was all wet from the rain. I cursed and turned the light on then
went to the bathroom. Got some towels to dry up the floor and
hatches. Then went through the salon to the back ¼ berth to get
another towel. I did NOT notice anything at this time, but in
hindsight think I might have scared the person off the boat when I
put the light on. I went back to bed and awoke again at 6:45. This
time when I went out into the salon I noticed Steve's backpack up in
the cockpit on the floor. I got distracted by also noticing that the
hatch over his desk in the port side aft room was also open and rain
had come in there also. After cleaning that up I went to check on
the backpack up in the cockpit. It was on the floor by the closed
back door to the swim platform with all the compartments open. I
knew it was NOT there when I went to bed and it was just a little
damp, not wet like the cockpit cushions from all the rain during the
night. Steve confirmed that there was no reason his backpack (where
the Leatherman was kept) should be in the cockpit especially since he
had not used it the day before, and it should have been in the ¼
berth where he always puts it away. It was then that we realized our
phones, that were out on the center island in the salon were gone.
It was at this moment that we
realized that some one had come on board while we were sleeping and
taken things. A very disturbing feeling !!! We kept a “fake”
“throw down” wallet on this center island also and the cash was
all gone. As we looked around we discovered my kindle was also gone.
Thankfully still sitting on the salon table 3 feet away was my
computer, and Steve's computer was still back in his office. We do have a sensor mat (http://www.swann.com/s/products/view/?product=1095) that at night we place under the rug at the companionway that rings a door bell in our bedroom. Who ever came on board stepped over this. NO one had been on board to know that this mat is used at night, so either he got lucky or they know about these “security” mats and avoid stepping on rugs.
It is a very unpleasant felling knowing some one was on our boat. We are extremely thankful that the intruder did not come into our forward berth, and try to get more money from us and know we are lucky by only having a few items taken. We feel the island of Bequia and the Grenadines as a whole need to take these incidents much more seriously. We did file a police report but do not expect to hear much from them. We heard talk that they know who this “cat burglar” is but can't do anything about it. We hope that is not the case and that something will be done to add security to the anchorages. We want to come and visit and spend money on these beautiful islands but if incidents like this keep occurring we will stop coming.
The rest of the day was great, Phyllis and Dennis finally arrived by ferry, via air to Barbados and an overnight in St Vincent. We joined them and Judy & Gordon for lunch on shore then Steve & I snorkeled the point by where we are anchored and walked the beach. Finishing up the day with a wonderful meal on Dreamcatcher. Friday Gordon & Dennis worked on replacing the water cooling pump on Dreamcatcher so we can head north. I did laundry, both hand and send out, while Steve worked on finding and fixing another water leak from the generator. Yes the generator does get a lot of mention in our blogs, but the pulley rig we had made in Grenada is holding up great, the leaks were quickly found, one from the sea water pump cover and one from the exhaust hose. Sea water always leaves a nice trail of salt to track the source. A quick replacement of the cover plate with a new Speed Seal, a couple of hose clamps tightened, and leaks fixed. Of course there was the 30 minutes of moving things out of the way to get to the leaks, and 30 minutes to put it all back together, but that's life on a boat. Friday afternoon went into town to check out and pick up a few things. Steve and I were determined to leave Bequia with a pleasant memory so we went into Jack's for a wonderful dinner.
Saturday
early departure St. Lucia here we come.
Link to Pictures; https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/NorthThruTheGrenadines?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNnx_56-uru2wQE&feat=directlink
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