Socony... The Musician

Well, I was wrong in my spelling of Socony's name - this is the correct spelling. Socony was the musician that came aboard Camille on Union Island to entertain us with his music, song and trivia!

Turns out, Socony has many YouTube hits!

Here is one of them... SOCONY - I CAN'T STAND YOUR SILENCE ANYMORE

Socony is an expert at trivia - both U.S. Presidential trivia, as well as other trivia. Here is one question!

Name five State Capitals that are also names of U.S. Presidents. (Don't cheat and use Google!)

Good luck!

Sailing the Grenadines! Final day on the boat...

Friday, 6/26/09
It was time to explore Chatham Bay – gorgeous beach with no people (but us). We wandered, hunted for sea glass and shells, and enjoyed the last peaceful morning on the boat. Our trip was about to wind down… time to set sail for Bequia.




After a long sail and late lunch, we were able to explore Bequia a bit. We went to Coco’s for dinner – wonderful dinner and the last one for our motley sailing group to experience together. There was supposed to be music, but for some reason the band did not appear - low season in the Caribbean, things are quite casual - even music engagements. We took some leftovers with us to try to feed the fish at the boat. We got strong flashlights, and thought we would have good luck getting fish to come over with our tasty leftovers. But, alas - they were either not hungry, or did not like what we had to offer as we did not do well finding fish to look at. By the time we finished our fish feeding experiment, everyone crashed.

Saturday, 6/27/09
Jackie and Neal had to leave first as they were flying out on SVG to Barbados for a night at the Crane. The rest of us went back to Sugarapple Inn where we spent a quiet day exploring Friendship Beach, and being lazy in the pool. We enjoyed a great lunch at the Bequia Beach Hotel.



For dinner on our last night on the island, we met Paul and Jan at Mac’s Pizza. We had to get in our Mac’s Pizza fix, it is a tradition for us to go to Mac’s. I had a lovely lasagna! They have many other things – not just pizza, although their pizza is wonderful. The evening was delightful. We had to say our goodbyes to Jan and Paul – the crew that had become good friends over the week!

Truly, this was “the” best vacation, relaxing and fun. We loved it so much, we are signed up for another week next June, British Virgin Islands this time! Can’t wait…

Sailing the Grenadines! More fun to come...

Monday: 6/22/09
Another wonderful breakfast and we were off – sailing to Mayreau. Paul and Jan dropped us off in Saline Bay. We donned our shoes, took a cooler bag with provisions and headed ashore. Our task – to climb the hill over the island and end up in Salt Whistle Bay.



At the top of the hill is the Catholic Church. If you go behind the church, you will find the most magnificent view! Don’t miss it… Keep following the road (the only road, so you can’t get lost) and you will end up at a beautiful beach where the Salt Whistle Resort is located.


During our jaunt over the hill, we ended up on a goat/sheep rescue mission. Many appeared to be tangled, so we helped untangle the goats, or were they sheep? Tails up – goats. Tails down – sheep. Our last rescuee’ was very sad when we left and cried and cried for Neil, his rescuer.


Well, after our tiring goat rescue mission, we were treated to wonderful appetizers and cocktails aboard Camille – and of course another fabulous dinner. This night was probably our best sunset! Beautiful…

Sailing the Grenadines! (continued)

Mustique was about a 2-3 hour sail. One of our crewmates was not feeling very well, a bit seasick, so put on Seabands and took Bonine that I had brought along (just in case). She seemed to feel better (about the time we arrived)! We sailed into Mustique, had another fabulous meal and took the dinghy to the dock. Our group of six decided to do the island tour. Wow is all that I can say. Compared to other islands, this island was pristine.

Being in education, I always pay attention to schools. The school on Mustique was beautiful. The facilities were up to date, and the children had a gorgeous playground. In all of my travels to the Caribbean, I have never seen a school that would even come close to that one! Since our visit, I have learned the the island is owned by the Mustique Corporation. The gorgeous school is not a public school, but a school built by the Corporation. It was donated, designed and built by the late Arne Hasselqvist, the acrhitectural mastermind behind 69 of Mustique's villas, the jetty, airport, boutiques, Basil's Bar and some offices. The school opened in 1987 and is financed in part by the homeowners' annual benefit, which provides local children with the best education possible. Some of the world's leading entertainers are numbered among visiting storytellers! Apparently the education is on the same par as the facility, and considered an "employee perk" for those living on the island working for the corporation.


During our tour we visited the Cotton House Hotel grounds – beautiful! (At a hefty price I might add.)


And of course drove by some magnificent homes. OK, who wants to live here?


We ended our tour at Basil’s Bar with a drink and sunset before heading back to Camille for another wonderful dinner. What a great day!

Sailing the Grenadines!

Part three of our adventure takes us aboard a 51 ft Privilege Catamaran named Camille. This was our first time sailing with Tradewinds, and we were REALLY looking forward to it. Our sailing experience is not recent, our last bareboat charter in 2005 visiting the B.V.I. We did not feel confident enough to attempt a sailing trip on our own, very rusty skills, so the Tradewinds option worked out great for us! We can do as much sailing as we like, and do not have the responsibility of cooking, provisioning, and the boat tasks. This truly was vacation! We met Paul and Jan (our captain and first mate), and they led us to Camille. She was great – looked beautiful and welcoming complete with a welcome sign with each of our names and pitchers of cocktails and appetizers. We all enjoyed the early evening waiting for the last two boat mates to arrive – Jackie O. and Neal. Once they arrived, we unpacked, stowed suitcases in the locked Tradewinds storage area and left the dock to anchor near Princess Margaret Beach for the night. Each meal was amazing and hard to believe that Jan could produce that kind of food in such a small area. Not only was it delicious, but the presentation was fabulous as well! Kudos to Jan.










Sunday: 6/21/09
After a nice breakfast, we were off for Mustique (island of the rich and famous). We left Bequia and got the closest view of Moonhole I have ever had! What a unique place… one of these days I do want to see it up close.

Sailing Trip, June 2009

After playing in the land of the rich and famous, Mustique, it will be time to set sail for a favorite area - the Tobago Cays. One of the cays, Petit Tabac, is also called Jack Sparrow's Island. Remember the scene where Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann were marooned on a tiny deserted island? They spent their time sitting on a perfect beach drinking rum! Sounds like the perfect Caribbean vacation, doesn't it? That is where we will be in eight months! Time flies, it will be here before we know it!

The whole island group is now a protected marine national park. The last time I was there it was not protected. I understand the snorkeling in the area is now much improved. I'm hoping to see lots of turtles here. Also, with this being a deserted area, there will be no light pollution, meaning we might have a great night of stargazing!

First day on the sailboat...

Once we leave the peaceful island of Bequia, we will most likely sail to the island of Mustique (home of the rich and famous). Mustique is a 1400 acre private island owned by shareholders of the Mustique Company. The island has 100 private residences, and 72 villas which are available for rental. We have been there before, but never have taken an island tour. This trip, we will absolutely tour the island! We can do a little shopping, walk up the hill to the Firefly for drinks and perhaps lunch, have a swim at Macaroni Beach, and finish our island exploration with happy hour at Basil's Bar. We will then head back out to our catamaran for a wonderful dinner...

How many days?