Our time in Bequia this year was fantastic fun with lots of hiking and getting together with friends. Despite fully intending heading off somewhere for a few days we instead stayed right where we were! Most unlike us. On Saturday we joined a "rum shop tour" to Southside with around 30 other cruisers. A great opportunity to visit a part of Bequia we would otherwise not have seen, walking between the various and numerous small rum bars (shops), starting off in the fishing port where the traditional whaling boats head out from when whales are sighted. It's an unpleasant end for the whale but a tradition which has endured for decades. These days they are limited to catching four whales a year but it is often only one or two.
So this morning we were swimming with turtles again, only a matter of a few feet away from them grazing the sea bed. Amazing. And snorkeling the nearby reef is like being in an aquarium. We're very lucky to be able to be here.
Only 4 more days afloat now before we start decommissioning Tumi in readiness for her summer storage. Three days of cleaning, removing sails, deflating the dinghy are ahead of us before we haul out in 8 days time. Hey ho, hopefully a sunny summer awaits!