We Found a Golf Course!

It was time to leave Canouan and make the 13 NM journey to Mustique. We did not stop in Mustique on our way down and wanted to check out the island. Mustique is a very private island that has only 90 homes on it. The homes are very exclusive and private. Mick Jagger, Tommy Hilfiger and Brian Adams are a few of the well known homeowners. There is no anchoring allowed in Mustique. You are required to take a mooring ball and pay a minimum 3 night fee to visit the island. The mooring fee for three nights is $220 EC which is about $80 US. You pay the fee whether you are staying 3 nights or 1. Many cruisers complain about the fee and skip the island.

The journey to Mustique was directly into the wind with 5 foot seas. It was an interesting ride. When we arrived, we had our choice of mooring balls. We chose one not too close to shore as we weren’t sure how loud the music would be. We should not have worried. Once we finished grabbing the mooring ball we were approached by the rangers collecting the fee. In addition to collection the fee, they gave us the rules of the island. We could only go on the island from the dinghy dock to the village. No walking around the island on our own. We could not take the dinghy past two points right in front of where we were anchored. If we wanted a limited tour of the island we would have to hire a taxi to take us. Now I see why some cruisers skip this island.

Mustique was developed by Colin Tennant as a playground for the rich and famous. It is run by the Mustique Company. The area around the dinghy dock has a the famous Basil’s Bar, where Mick Jagger once gave an impromptu concert. I don’t think he was on the island when we were there. We decided to go into town and check out the area. We stopped in Basil’s and had a beer. The bar was very cool. Built of wood and bamboo and over the water. The Mustique Company bought it from Basil. It was pretty pricey for a Caribbean bar, but we were in the land of the rich and famous. The water in front of the bar had incredible snorkeling.

We made our way to the Village and found Lisa Lewis’s restaurant which had a spectacular view of Britannia Bay, which was the bay where we were anchored. The island residents either have their own businesses or work for the Mustique Company. The island is impeccably clean and the entire landscape is meticulously maintained. Margie called it the Disney World of the Caribbean.

We decided to take a taxi tour, which the taxis work for the Mustique Company. Our driver gave us the history of the island the development. He drove us past Mick’s house. We saw Tommy Hilfiger’s house. We did get to go on two of the beautiful beaches since he was with us. Overall pretty quick tour of what he could show us. We asked him if we could walk on our own and he told us no. We learned that lesson the hard way, when one morning we started walking south on a road we thought we could walk. Security caught us pretty quick and let us know we needed to turn around. They were polite about it. Oh well, nice try.

Mustique was very beautiful and worth a visit. I am not sure I would go back due to the restrictions.

After 3 days we headed for Bequia, one of our favorite islands.

We had a great 13 NM sail to Bequia as the wind angle was about 80 degrees. Perfect conditions for us. Last July, when we arrived in Bequia, we had one engine that worked and we needed to grab a mooring ball. This time we decided to anchor. The anchorage was fairly congested with a mixture of mooring balls and anchored boats. Our first attempt was too close to the other boats around us. I spotted a perfect spot with clear water and nice sand to anchor. The only problem it was too close to the floating bar. Having been there before, I knew the floating bar wasn’t a night late hangout and it would be ok. Margie wasn’t so sure. The first night, just i figured, they shut down about 9:00. We were there for 10 days, which is the longest we have stayed in one spot, and the music was only loud one night.

Bequia is a collection of great restaurants and services for yachts. It is well-connected by ferries to St. Vincent. It has a tradition of boat building on the north side of the island. Admiralty Bay is where most of the yachts anchor. The only town on Bequia is Port Elizabeth. Belmont Walkway connects Port Elizabeth with Princess Margaret Beach and Lower Bay. It is a cool walkway that goes along some pretty good cliffs.

After not being able to walk around Mustique, we were anxious to get out and re-explore Bequia. We did the hike up to Ma Peggy rock, which we did with Chip and Sue Wertz on our last visit. Once at the top, you are rewarded with an amazing view of Admiralty Bay. Very spectacular.

Our next adventure took us north on the road to find the par 3 golf course on the island. We walked about an hour outside of Port Elizabeth and found the Firefly restaurant. I asked if they had a golf course and the waitress looked at me funny and asked “You want to play golf”? She pointed to the corner of the bar, where there where old golf clubs and golf balls. We picked our clubs and balls. She asked how many balls we took, because if we lost them we had to pay $2 EC for them. It was $30 EC each for us to play. I guess the restaurant is normally closed on Monday, but they were open for a cruise ship that was in port. The golf course was laid out in a field that used to be some sort of plantation. There were no greens, just a wooden marker you aim for. I kind of like this kind of golf. No putting. It was a lot of fun and we had the course to ourselves.

Ten days flew by in Bequia and it is time to move on. Until next time.

Notes for cruisers are below our photos.

One of the many “Disney-type” structures on Mustique.

Our view from our mooring on Mustique. You can look, but don’t touch. Made it a few yards to the right of this photo and were stopped by security.

View from Lisa's restaurant on Mustique, where her son Tyler served us.

We see a lot of rainbows, but not always double ones with a sailboat at the end.

Bar One - our neighbor in Bequia. I hate it when Joe is right. It was hardly ever too loud.

Our hike up to Ma Peggy (Princess Margaret) Rock. A little like Colorado here, without the elevation.

A little bit of Colorado at Maria's on the main street of Bequia.

Our third fresh lobster. Joe's becoming quite the lobster chef.

Bequia Golf Club. Who knew?!?

Par 3 just like South Suburban and Cherry Hills. If you squint.

Notes for cruisers/yachties:

Easy to get over to St. Vincent on the ferries for $50 EXC per person. Big supermarkets right off the ferry dock.

Do the Ma Peggy Hike. Not super easy, but not too hard. We found a way to get down to Lower Bay from there but it was very tricky and hard to find.

The golf course was way fun if you're into golf. Took 30 minutes to walk there.

There are mooring balls but we anchored. Best to anchor from Plantation back.

Snorkeling and diving was great at Devil's Table. We used Dive Bequia.

Travis comes by every morning to sell you croissants. He was so nice.

We used Miranda for laundry. Excellent for about $20 US a load.

Shout out to Mac's pizza and Marion for their pizza and service.