Yes, our boat dragged. That is not good.
It was about 7:30, and darkness had fallen upon us. We felt as if the boat was moving. All of a sudden, Tim said the anchor is loose. We were no longer stationary. And now we had to find a new spot, And fast.
We pulled up our anchor and set off to find a new position. In the darkness. With many, many million-dollar residences to avoid.
I was at the bow (front), with my "marriage savers" tightly affixed to my ears. Btw, "marriage savers" are Bluetooth headsets that allow us to communicate without yelling at each other. This is exactly the time that we needed to stay calm.
We motored around, looking for a place to squeeze in. Several locations were attempted, but the anchor would not hold. Finally, after several hours and many attempts, we ended up almost where we started. Finally, our anchor grabbed the seabed, and we were set!
Whew! What a night! We turned on our anchor alarm. This would let us know if we began to drag again. Finally, we went to bed and fell fast asleep. We were so happy to awaken to the early morning sunlight and not the anchor alarm.
Here’s to sweet dreams,
Miriam
Our stop in Bequia was wonderful!
Deep in the Southern Caribbean is a tiny green island, just seven miles square, once known as "Island in the Clouds." Life moves slowly here; days are long, languid, leisurely. Most visitors arrive not by cruise ship but by sailboat, anchoring alongside fishing boats in natural bays fringed by white beaches and tangled foliage. Like their ancestors, many islanders still make their living from the sea -- fishing, lobster diving, boat building and working on yachts and cargo ships -- and live in small, sustainable homes with no running water. Shops and stands offer not duty-free goods but genuine local handicrafts, from pottery to scrimshaw (etchings made in whale bone), as well as local fruits and vegetables.
Where is this idyllic hideaway? It's not some Caribbean island of decades ago, before the onslaught of mass tourism and mega-ships; this is modern-day Bequia (pronounced BECK-way), the second-largest island in the nation known as St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Bequia does welcome some cruise visitors, but only from the likes of SeaDream Yacht Club, Island Windjammers, Silversea, Windstar and Star Clippers -- all lines with ships small enough to anchor alongside the yachts in Admiralty Bay and tender passengers to shore. With the construction of a small airport in 1992, the island is now more accessible to visitors than it was in the past, but it remains refreshingly unspoiled, just the way locals -- and visitors -- like it.
Bequia's "Island in the Clouds" moniker comes from its original Carib name, Becouya. The Caribs were the native tribe in control of the island when the French arrived in 1664, and they put up a fierce resistance to European colonization. But by the 1700s the French (and later the English) had gained control and set up a number of thriving sugar plantations. Today there are few remaining signs of Bequia's sugar-growing past; the trade largely died out in the mid-19th century and gave way to the marine industries that remain Bequia's main livelihood. The island was particularly prominent in the whaling industry for a time, though today's environmental regulations mean that Bequians are only allowed to harpoon two whales a year (an affair accompanied by great festivities throughout the island).
Bequian life remains inextricably tied to the sea -- from the fresh-caught fish and lobster of its restaurants to the revolving mix of sailors and cruise visitors who become welcome friends while they're here.
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