End Of Another Sailing Season

 Captain Steve steering the schooner Friendship Rose with Laurie (Cat Tales) closely watching to make sure I don't hit anything!

Sunset in Bequia, St. Vincent.  Our friend Dean on Dream Catcher took this amazing picture!

Maria in Bequia, posing on Aspen, as she did 14 years before (see the following picture).

Maria in Bequia on Aspen, 2005

Aspen will rest in the bay, located far in the distance on the right, Prickly Bay, for a rest.

Hiking with friends on Bequia.  Picture was taken with the drone.  Aspen, Fezzywig (Mel and Don), Oasis (Bob and Carol), Jumbie (Kathy), Dream Catcher (Kim) and Dakota Dream (Sandy and Fred).

Sweet Bequia with Aspen

Pool time at Port Louis Marina, Grenada with Cat Tales (Laurie and Dawn) and Maria.

S/Y Aspen – May 1, 2019 – Log #165
Aspen Position: 12 degrees 02’ N  061 degrees 44’ W
Grenada, Caribbean

Six months of sailing and how fast that went by! 

Exploring the Windward Islands and a few of the Leeward Islands passed our time, along with happy hours, making new friends and visiting with familiar faces during the course of this sailing season.

Captain Steve was also occupied this sailing season by writing another book.  Oh no, not that again?!?  Yes, but this one is about the Leadville Trail 100: that extreme 100-mile ultrarunning event that shaped my very being, for so many years.  Luckily (?) Maria was around to relive all those years as I pounded the keys, finishing the book.  I co-authored the book with my running friend, Marge Hickman, so there is more to the story than just explanations of VO2max, training regimes and finishing numbers.  The book is called: Leadville Trail 100; History of the Leadville Trail 100 Mile Running Race.  Here is a link for the book or through your friendly Amazon site as well: www.lt100history.com

We will haul Aspen out of the water here in Grenada, once again, where she will rest and relax before our return for yet another sailing season in these tropical, little latitudes.

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

You can track our voyages using this: https://us0-share.inreach.garmin.com/SYAspen
Our sailing book, Voyage Into Hell, is available at Amazon.com
And the new book, Leadville Trail 100; History of the Leadville Trail 100 Mile Running Race is also available at Amazon.com

Sweet Bequia Once Again

Ladies lunch on Bequia

Bequia whale distribution.  The islanders harpooned a humpback whale and are using all the parts to distribute much needed food to the residents.  This is an amazing picture taken by our friend Nicolle.

Steering the Friendship Rose schooner toward the Tobago Cays.  Laurie Corbett (Cat Tales) is photo bombing as usual!

Rum tour on Bequia

 Another shot of the rum tour, in case you couldn't guess!

Sailors lunch in the Bequia hills!

Maria helping Steve steer the Friendship Rose between squalls

Dawn Corbett (Cat Tales) showing Steve where the flat flounder is hiding in the reef

Laurie Corbett (Cat Tales) warning the big ship to stay away from the reef?

S/Y Aspen – April 2, 2019 – Log #164
Aspen Position: 13 degrees 00’ N  061 degrees 14’ W
Bequia, St. Vincent/Grenadines, Caribbean

It is hard to believe nearly a month has gone by since we arrived in Sweet Bequia.  Bequia is part of the Grenadines and belong to St. Vincent, another x-British country.  While the mainland of St. Vincent is pretty “rough”, Bequia is a jewel in the Caribbean and very sailor friendly.

We took a ferry to the mainland of St. Vincent when our friend Brent Weigner of Wyoming arrived on a cruise ship to run a marathon with a group of other passengers and local runners.  Watching him run up and down the old airport runway was intriguing, to say the least.  At least Maria had a massage in a beautiful villa overlooking Indian Bay while we were there too, followed by KFC for lunch.  Now those two things were a real treat!

Back on Bequia, we took a day trip on the locally built, 100 foot schooner, Friendship Rose with 18 of our sailor friends to the Tobago Cays.  What a difference it made not to worry about squalls, running aground or hitting another vessel since we were all passengers.  And we could drink as much rum as we wanted!

Then there are the rum tours, hikes to remote lookouts and beaches, ladies only lunches and just playing in the sea with sailor friends that help pass the tropical days in these little latitudes.

Three days ago the islanders on Bequia got their first whale in over two years.  Bequia is one of the few places on the planet that is allowed to take a whale for food, since their heritage is whaling.  The International Whaling Commission grants them four whales per year, but that number of whales is never taken.

When a whale is harpooned, just like in days of old, it is drug to shore where the local population strips the whale of everything and distributes all the meat to every family on the island.  The whale provides much needed food for the island residents.  The sight was very amazing as you can see by the picture on our blog.

Now that spring is here we will eventually sail further south toward Grenada, when the winds, seas and time is right and continue our exploration of the Windward Islands in the sun.

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

PS - You can track our voyages using this: https://us0-share.inreach.garmin.com/SYAspen
Also, our book, Voyage Into Hell, is available at Amazon.com