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American Spirit II - Day 450; We Tour Bequia, Including a Whale Museum; Poisonous Apples; Green Flash # 42; & a Loud Night in the Anchorage; Wednesday, April 1, 2015



One year ago today:

"Day 88; Fueling Celebrate, Trillium Dingy Transfer, Snack Shop BBQ and Tsumani Alert; Tuesday, April 1, 2014. Up at 6:00 AM. Throat still sore, nose still running. Started generator at 7:00 AM to recharge batteries. This is something we do usually every morning and every evening for about 2 hours at at time. We only burn about .36 gallons of diesel an hour when we do this, which is not a great amount of fuel. While under sail, we charge our batteries with the hydro generator and wind turbine; and use the generator only if we're going less than 5 knots of boat speed."

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Up at 6:00 AM. Started generator. The sun rose over the hills or mountains to the east at 6:44 AM. A nice sight to behold.

Breakfast is at 8:15 AM and consists of eggs, sausage mixed in with potato, and chilled fruit cocktail. During breakfast we notice a square rigger anchored in the bay a half mile behind us. Joel thinks its a bark. We find out later that its name is 'Sea Cloud II.' The first two masts are square rigged; and the third or mizzen mast is not and has a fore and aft sail. After breakfast I finish proofing 2 logs before sending them out via email.

At 10:00 AM we start a tour with Randy, a local taxi driver. He talks as Joel and I drive along in his SUV taxi. We learn that the population of Bequia is 6-7,000;that the island has one gas station; that unemployment is 20%; and that whaling is still practiced on the island.

Our first stop is Fort Hamilton. The 'fort' actually consists of only 5 guns on this 300 foot hill overlooking the entrance to Admiralty Bay, where we're moored. The fort was built in the late 1700's to protect the British from attacks by American privateers and French raiders. Fort Hamilton was named after Alexander Hamilton (1775-1804), a founding father of the United States Constitution, (and President?) who was born on the West Indian Island of Nevis. So how is that possible if the 'owner' of the island was the British? I doubt that they would have named a fort after an American hero.

As we drove along Randy stopped by a cinnamon tree, broke off a small branch and let us smell it. It smelled like cinnamon. Quite strong, actually.

Next we stopped at the Hegg Turtle Sanctuary. It was founded in 1995 to protect in the conservation of the endangered Hawksbill Turtle. The sanctuary raises new turtles until they are 5 years old, then returns them to the sea. By 2006 they have raised over 800 of them. I think those are the turtles we swam with at Tobago Cays and see around our boat when we're moored or anchored.

Our next stop was at the Bequia Boat Museum. Actually, a whaling museum. There on display were a number of whale boats, including a whaleboat named 'Dart,' 27 feet long with a beam of 7 feet, 4 inches. Another boat on display, a large dugout canoe, was named 'Couloura' and was built in 2009 and measures 40 feet in length with a beam of 5 feet. Next was a two bow whaleboat tender that was 11 feet, 8 inches in length with a beam of 4 feet, 5 inches. This boat was a 'shark catcher,' whose primary job was to keep sharks away from a whale that had been killed as it was butchered on the beach. Another whaleboat on display was 27 feet in length with a beam of 7 feet, 6 inches. It was constructed differently than the other whaleboats in that it was 'deeper' than them to accommodate the blackfish or pilot whales that they would catch and kill. They would then haul them into the boat for transport back to the beach to butcher. These blackfish or pilot whales are 18-20 feet in length.

As we were at the whale museum a whale hunting boat was out on the sea looking for humpback whales. Spotters on high hills assist. We next went to an area on the island full of fishing boats pulled up onto a concrete and wooden parking area; along with one active whaleboat parked there and named the 'Perseverance.' This boat was a sailboat, as all the whaleboats are, had a bamboo and wooden mast, and 6 lances or harpoons in it. These boats are crewed with 6 men. Bequia Island is allowed to harvest 4 whales per year because they have 'aboriginal whaling rights' authorized by the International Whaling Commission. Eskimos in Alaska have similar rights. Subject to the limit of 4, they are not allowed to take a whale under 30 feet in length; nor are they allowed to take a mother that has a calf or a calf by itself. They harvest the whales between February and April. The Bequia whale book 'Blows, Mon, Blows!' has in it, for example, rules that govern the harvesting of whales amongst competing whaleboats date back to 1887. Rule Number 1 states: "If a whale is seen from the shore and the boats of both companies shove off and give chase, the boats which get nearest to the whale have the preference." A whaleboat has a crew of 6: Captain or boatsteerer; leading oarsman; tub oarsman; midship oarsman; bow oarsman; and harpooner. The hand thrown harpoon has a six-inch brass barbed-blade that swivels or toggles at a right angle upon impact. The blade is attached to a 2 1/2 foot iron shank fastened to a 10 foot long cinnamonwood shaft. The harpoon or 'iron' weighs about 20 pounds and can be 'pitched' or thrown accurately a distance of only 12 feet. The movie 'Moby Dick' with Gregory Peck had Queequeg throwing a harpoon must further than that and with extraordinary accuracy. Hollywood.

Enough about whale hunting. Hopefully, the Bequia people will learn to live without it and stop harvesting humpback whales.

Our tour ended at 12:30 PM and I paid Randy $80 US. We then walked around Port Elizabeth, stopping in a number of shops. Joel bought a polo type shirt. During our walk we met and chatted with a couple our age who were from Alaska, Jack and Sherry. Since Joel and Darlene had spent 6 months there 2-3 years ago they had a lot to talk about. Since I have a daughter named 'Elizabeth' I was trying to find a souvenir with that name on it, but was not successful. I think we checked most every store in Port Elizabeth.

We stopped in the Whaleboner Restaurant for lunch. Two bar counter tops were made of whale bone; as were the seats around the bar. They were regular wooden stools, but with a white whale vertebrae bone at the top which you sit on. Very interesting. To enter the restaurant, you had to walk under an arch of 2 whale bones; maybe large jaw bones. I ordered a BBQ pulled port sandwich and fries and Joel had a chicken wrap. The food was good, but the service was very slow. Island time. We walked around the small town again after lunch. I bought some post cards and two small phamplet type books. One was called 'Blows, Mon, Blows!'; and the other was called 'Banana Cookbook.' The latter book contains 145 banana recipes, including Banana Fritters, Banana Curry, Bananas n' Bacon, Baked Bananas in their Skins and my favorite, Banana Marshmallow Pie!

After returning to the boat Joel attached a new zinc to the propeller. It appeared that in Cape Town or Salvador another boat had 'consumed' our zinc; which is used to prevent electrolysis. 'Consumed' meaning that a boat near us had a bad ground; or something like that. I'm not an electrician. Ask Joel if you must know. After that I hopped in the dingy, went to the dingy dock by the ferry dock and walked to the Customs and Immigration building. After clearing out of the country, I went back to the boat, arriving at 5:35 PM.

While reading a tourism magazine on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, one of the items listed said that the Manchineel Apples, which grow in the country, are poisonous and to not eat them or stand under a Manchineel tree during a rain storm as the water dripping off the apples and from the tree trunk and branches will give you 'fruit blisters.' Who knew?!

Sunset at 6:16 PM is a good one, resulting in our seeing Green Flash No. 42. A sailboat anchored behind us a half mile away almost ruined our opportunity of seeing the flash. But it actually silhouetted the sun as it set. A pleasant sight.

We departed the boat for the short trip to the dingy dock at 6:42 PM; and had dinner on the 2nd floor balcony of the Gingerbread Restaurant. Joel ordered Pineapple Chicken and a Humus dish as an appetizer; I ordered Spaghetti and had some Chicken Curry Soup as an appetizer. We also ordered some Papadam, a type of Indian cracker. As we finished dinner Tommy and James from Alpheratz joined us and had dinner. For dessert Joel had a nutmeg ice cream sundae with caramel sauce; and I had a vanilla sundae with caramel sauce. During dinner one of the conversations was about the green flash. Tommy and James had both seen green flashes on the trip, and regularly look for them at sunset. Not having seen a sunrise green flash, I think that they'll be looking for that one now.

We're back on the boat at 9:45 PM. There are 3 bars on shore that are playing music that is so loud that even with all the hatches on the boat closed, you can still hear them. We had the same problem in Tyrrel Bay on Carriacou. If I was planning on staying on Bequia longer I might have shortened my stay due to the loud music. Its not right to be blasted with music from a bar a quarter or half mile away. And I think these bars are locals bars, not bars catering to cruisers. Maybe I should email the tourism office and let them know.

Joel and I read in the cockpit for a while. I went to bed at 11:00 PM and Joel followed later, time unknown. He said later that at 2:00 AM during a bathroom visit that one of the bars was still blasting music.

Brian Fox

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