Above: The 80-foot sailing schooner, Friendship Rose, was the last of its kind to be built on Bequia. Launched in 1967, she worked for 25 years as Bequia’s faithful ferry boat between St. Vincent and Bequia. Now, she enjoys a more relaxed schedule of day trips to Mustique and the Tobago Cays. Below: In Bequia a ‘double-ender’ is a boat with two bows, modelled on the New England whaleboat form introduced into Bequia in the 1860s by William Thomas ‘Old Bill’ Wallace. From 12ft to 28 ft. in length, today’s double-enders are strong race contenders in Bequia’s famous annual Easter Regatta, when the whole island comes out to cheer them on.
here; the sea and maritime activities will always be the lifeblood of the island and its people. Boat building remains an honoured calling whether in life or miniature size, using tools and techniques that have been passed down from generation to generation. From the earliest days of Bequia’s settlement and until quite recent times, boatbuilding has laid at the heart of the island’s success. Critical to the survival of Bequia’s small, close-knit community, this home-grown ‘industry’ was the cornerstone of the development of inter-island trading, whaling and fishing – all of which sustained the island and its people in the difficult postsugar years and on into the twentieth century. Bequia was not just blessed with a superb natural harbour and quiet, protected shores on which to build; it also enjoyed a vital abundance of White Cedar for use in construction. Bequia’s first British settlers in the 1760s included a small but crucial core of carpenters, shipwrights and mariners whose skills – passed down, shared and augmented – were to form the basis of Bequia’s maritime strength in future generations. Between 1923 and 1990, seventy-one major trading vessels were built in Bequia – almost half the total for the entire country in that same period. With the majority built in the 1930s and 40s, the list of the thirty-seven builders reads like a roll call of Bequian families: Gooding, Sargeant, Adams, Mitchell, Wallace, Ollivierre, Hazell, Tannis, Cozier – their sheer numbers alone amply demonstrate the breadth of both the skill and the industry that supported the community. Today, with new technologies and materials superseding traditional methods of marine transport and its associated activities, classic, old-time boat building in Bequia is now something of a rarity. Thankfully though, there are a few who are still building, working hard at keeping this tradition alive and quietly proud to call themselves Bequian boat builders. In 1979, St. Vincent and the Grenadines gained independence within the British Commonwealth. Bequia and the rest of the Grenadines is governed from the ‘mainland’ island of St. Vincent, whose governmental system is based on the Westminsterstyle of parliamentary democracy. For many years, Bequia could only be reached by sea and it continues to be a favourite destination for yachtsmen from around the world. Vessels of all shapes and sizes fill the harbour, from luxury yachts and motorised boats to old wooden schooners and small cruise ships. The opening of the J.F. Mitchell Airport in 1992 has made the island far more accessible, with regular scheduled and charter flights from Barbados. Bequia has enormous appeal, and although visitor traffic has increased in recent years, the island remains relatively untouched. Here, change takes place at a snail’s pace without altering the magic and charm which prevails on this dazzling, sun-drenched little isle.
Bequia 69 MAYREAU SECTION 69