Location: Bequia, St. Vincent
I AM FINALLY SKIPPER AFTER A FULL MONTH ON THE BOAT!!! YAYYYYY!
My much anticipated day started at six am when my alarm went off, and I asked The Mountain if she wanted to get up and work out. She did not. So back to my cozy bunk, I went for another half hour of lovely sleep. But by seven, I was ready to start the day (and so was everyone else, with the help of some jammin’ tunes!). Breakfast was tacos – WITH EGGS! (it’s been a while) – which paired well with last night’s tacos. After our fastest clean-up to date, we were assembled and ready for oceanography class early, a rarity for us (moms, be proud). We learned about seawater, thermoclines, haloclines, and pycnoclines (regions of change in temperature, salinity, and density), then gathered our gear for a free day on Bequia!
Shipmates dispersed instantaneously as our feet hit the dock, disappearing in search of fresh fruit, ice cream, solid Earth, food not prepared by anyone living on Ocean Star, and, most importantly, the laundromat. After dropping off my clothes, I set off with The Mountain, Lucy, Mackenzie, Eulalie, and Sophie for the nearest cafe, where we bought delicious fruit bowls (banana, mango, starfruit, and grapefruit) and fruit smoothies (mango, mango guava), and took advantage of the free wifi while deciding our next steps. We ended up heading off into town with a vague plan to locate maybe some clothes, maybe some snacks, maybe some souvenirs, maybe some food. Our first stops took us along the main drag next to the water, where tiny dinghies wound around anchored sailboats, mooring buoys, and bright red ferries against the backdrop of brilliantly green hills adorned with brightly painted houses of every color. The small boutique stores of Bequia held some items we just couldn’t live without fantastic Hawaiian print shirts, scrimshawed (dad, is that the right term?), whale-tooth necklaces, and beautiful, locally-made linen pants, shorts, and shirts.
With our new purchases in hand and the fruit just settling in our stomachs, we set out to find some lunch by the water, following my Google Maps. Which promptly led us on a tour of the residential (and quite hilly) side of the island, nowhere near the ocean. Whoops.
But the views were beautiful all the same, and we made it to a restaurant eventually (though not the one we started out looking for. It turns out The Fig Tree is closed on Monday the 18th of October, 2021, at approximately 12:45 pm). Most of us dined on pizza (Margarita, “Tuscan” (it has eggplant), and a large “Nirvana” (BACON, pesto base, no shrimp, add caramelized onions) – guess which one was mine). We drank refreshing concoctions of fruit juice and, in mine and Stef’s case, ginger. Full near to bursting, but still considering ice cream, we set out back to downtown, which, as it turns out, was only a short walk away along the water after all.
Back in town, we wandered back and forth, poking around at sidewalk stands for jewelry and souvenirs and markets with potential snacks. Then, we walked all the way back along the water to find homemade ice cream, only to find the shop closed, so we returned (there’s another ice cream shop, thank goodness). After a cold treat and another promise that I-won’t-eat-anything-more-I’m-so-full, we went in search of swimsuits (turns out I did not bring nearly enough…), then snacks. Sadly, we only found the latter.
By this point, our group had shrunk to only me, The Mountain, Lucy, and Mackenzie. However, the rest of the student crew of Ocean Star could be seen intermittently, strolling the streets drinking mango-avocado smoothies, buying things, and probably getting in the way (honestly, why can’t we all just agree on one side of the road and stick to it?!). Finally, we found ourselves back in the original cafe, drinking just one more smoothie with Steph, (not The Mountain), who had been busily and proficiently provisioning for all of us all day (thank you, we love you Steph!).
I called my family from the dock to show them the glowing sunset as our group reunited to meet Kris and the dinghy. I swear I sat in about every available, dry spot on that dock trying to evade the giant splashes of the local kids cannon-balling into the water next to me (was it just me, or were they following me around?).
Back on Ocean Star, we caught up with everyone who stayed behind on the boat to dive or get some rest, packed away some provisions, and ate Tate’s delicious Pad Thai. For Squeeze, we reflected on our appreciations from the day and on our newfound habits since coming to the boat (parents/guardians, get ready for your children going to bed at 9:30, waking up at seven, never sitting up in bed for fear of the bunk above them, pumping the toilet at least 50 times after each use, and drinking still water (Maxime)).
Now it’s raining lightly, and we are all getting ready for bed after a long but fun day of getting to know another quirky little island with our new boat family. I can hardly believe it’s already been almost a month since we nervously stared at potential shipmates in the airport and finally got our first glimpse of Ocean Star’s masts at Antigua Slipway. Thanks for reading :). Good night!
To my family back home, I love all of you guys so much!
Pictures
1: Getting ready for class this morning!
2: Stef and Lucy welcome you to Bequia
3: Maria’s Cafe with me. Lucy, Eulalie, and Stef. We were so ready for some mango smoothies 🙂
4: Fruit salad (yummy yummy)
5: More fruit salad
6: Wandering around trying to find lunch with Eulalie, Mackenzie, Lucy, Sophie, and Stef
7: The view while wandering around trying to find lunch
8: The remains of The Nirvana
9: Pretty dock/water
10: Pretty hillside
11: Me, Lucy, Mackenzie, and Stef trying to find ice cream
12: Steph enjoying her mango smoothie
13: Sunset from the dinghy
14: Another view from the dinghy
15: Mackenzie, Kris, and Eulalie
(I’m sorry for the lack of group photos/photos of more people. Since we were split up for most of the day, I didn’t get to take many…)