A hike and other sailing hikers

After we tackled, but failed to fix the water pump on Saturday (see "A pump and lights), Mick and I went ashore with a plan to walk to the summit of Mount Pleasant and then drop down to Friendhip Bay on the South East coast before walking round the bottom of island and back to Port Elizabeth. Things did not go entirely to plan....

It wasn't long before a friendly local pointed out that we had taken a wrong turn. By coincidence we came across him just as he and we were walking past his boat that was propped up on the roadside. It turned out to be an American design called a Shield and very similar to the UK Dragon. Other priorities had overtaken his sailing one and the boat had not been used for a couple of years. An all too familiar story.

After a lengthy chat he re-directed us and we set off once again up a very steep hill that got steeper and steeper. We were soon moving at a snails' pace. Arriving at a junction we guessed a right turn was required. Up and up we went until the road just stopped at the end of a few houses.

The scenery was delightful....

What looked like a fairly well trodden path continued on through initially sparse undergrowth. However, this gradually became thicker and the path through it more difficult to spot. After another twenty minutes all semblance of the path had disappeared and we were moving down a steep bank through dense undergrowth and trees. We paused a couple of times to consider our options but the thought of re-tracing our hard won steps spurred us on. Google maps also indicated we were not far from a road. 

Then we came across a very steep deep drop. Fortunately we found a way round it and were soon on a disused concrete track. This eventually joined the road down into Friendship Bay and the Bequia Heritage Museum by which time we were gasping for a drink and had visions of gulping an ice cold beer in the museum bar!

Of course the museum was .... CLOSED! Mind you even if it was open I think the most we could have hoped for would have been water. The small Heritage building did not look like it could possibly have accomodated a bar as well as exhibits!

We were however able to admire the old  whaling boats in the adjacent open air building....

After doing so we headed down to the beach in search of refreshment and very soon discovered a (very expensive) beach bar. Twice the price of the already expensive bars in town, but by now we would probably have paid anything for a drink. In the end we had a light lunch of potatoe wedges as well. Rayelle and Elliot had very kindly donated significant $s to the boat maintenance kitty which we plundered 🫣!

Whilst drinking and eating we got chatting to a couple from Norfolk who were staying in the local posh hotel. They told us the beach and surrounding area had been bought by a Swedish property Tycoon, around which he had developed a tasteful resort and apparently provided excellent job opportunities for local people.

After lunch we continued on our way and crossed back over the island by way of a saddle valley. The inclines were still steep but thankfully not as long as our earlier walk up and down Mount Pleasant!

As we descended down the hill towards Princes Margaret's Beach and dithered about which fork in the road to take an American woman with her student son asked if we needed help with our directions. It turned out we were all heading for the beach and so off we went chatting as we went. It turned out that they - Laura and Conrad -  were also on a boat - a Trimaran - and unusually, Laura was the owner/skipper. We said our goodbyes on the beach where they went for a swim and we continued back around the coast to our dinghy.

The next day after hours fighting with the water pump, we went ashore for a late afternoon walk around the west side of Admiralty Bay. Fort Hamilton on the north side of the bay's entrance was our destination. Half way there, two figures came down the hill with the sun behind them. It was Laura and Conrad!

We had another long chat and they climbed back up the hill with us for their second look at Fort Hamilton. 

[Laura, Mick and Conrad on top of Fort Hamilton with Admiralty Bay in the background.]

On the way back down the hill we exchanged contact details and we'll probably meet up again before both boats leave Bequia.