Christmas in the Caribbean

 

Aspen in sweet Bequia with Maria watching all the activity

Fred on Dakota Dream at the old Battery, overlooking Admiralty Bay, Bequia

Maria and Dawn (Cat Tales) after hiking to the top of Peggy's Rock on sweet Bequia

Admiralty Bay, Bequia with Aspen in the middle of the anchored boats

Maria relaxing at the top of Peggy's Rock, Bequia

Hiking on Bequia is not always flat, ha ha!

Captain Steve installing new batteries on Aspen

Aspen and her crew at the dock amongst the ARC+ boats in Port Louis Marina, Grenada

 

S/Y Aspen – December 22, 2022 – Log #186

Aspen Position: 13 degrees 08’ N, 61 degrees 14’ W

Admiralty Bay, Bequia, Caribbean

 

Christmas in the Caribbean

 

It was one year ago on Christmas Eve when Steve arrived in the Galapagos Islands, getting precious fuel for Aspen before being told to leave immediately, after only 8 hours anchored out and forbidden to touch land.  Rules were rules without any compassion, even on Christmas Eve for an exhausted wayward sailor.

 

Things are different and much more pleasant here in the tropical Caribbean this year, and that is why we sail in these little latitudes.

 

Luckily, Aspen’s new batteries arrived in Grenada so we sailed north to Sweet Bequia for Christmas celebrations.

 

People on Bequia are so welcoming and friendly, greeting us on the streets and excited to have us back.  Bequia really is a special place in our watery world.

 

Sailing friends have also arrived in Bequia: Fred on Dakota Dream, Skip on Peacekeeper and Dawn & Laurie on Cat Tales are all here for the Christmas festivities.

 

More of the reasons we enjoy Bequia:

·      The veggie truck is well stocked and waiting for us by the ferry dock

·      African, a local sailor and handler of many moorings brought us a bottle of his homemade Rum punch, as a gift

·      African’s helper, Dee Dee, waves to us when she passes by, while showing charter boats to a secure mooring

·      The bread guy dinghies by, bringing baguettes, croissants and even banana bread to our boat

·      Lobsters are crawling out of the lobster guy’s little boat, looking for a hot steaming pan of water to make a tasty lunch or dinner

·      The conch horn blows, signaling the local fishermen’s catch is ready for anyone interested

·      Music bounces off the water, day and very late into the night, for local holiday traditions

 

It’s Christmas time in the Caribbean and we’ve shelved the ole’ log book for these days.  Aspen and her crew swings at anchor in sweet Bequia, walking blinding white beaches beneath a blazing tropical sun.

 

Merry Christmas to all from Aspen and her crew!

 

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

 

Steve and Maria

PS - More pictures can be found at:  http://syaspen.blogspot.com/

1.     You can follow Aspen’s route here: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV_Aspen

2.     Aspen also has a Garmin tracker working so you can follow along:  https://share.garmin.com/SYAspen