Salt Whistle Bay, Mayreau
From the previous blog entry:
"On June 8 we rounded the corner and headed back north
to Salt Whistle Bay at Mayreau. We expected the 5-mile trip to be horrible; in
fact it was quite tolerable. And why head back north? To attend a pig roast!"
Salt Whistle Bay is a picturesque little anchorage.
The locals have put out a number of buoys, and there is also room for a limited
amount of anchoring. Willie and Mark (Liahona) had been issuing up
and down the eastern Caribbean invitations to what they called the "first
annual" pig roast, so the bay was fairly crowded by the afternoon of June 9.
Here are some pictures of the bay area, taken before the party began:
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Flamboyant trees are in bloom at this time of year ...
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... and the manchineel trees are shedding their poisonous "apples" (cf. text below)
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On shore an elaborate resort has gone defunct
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View out from near "Black Boy" bar
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Dresses, T-shirts and blouses for sale on the beach
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Panorama from the other side of the bay
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I have written about manchineel trees before, but it bears repeating.
Manchineel are considered one of the most poisonous trees in the world.
The sap is so caustic that merely touching a branch or a leaf can cause severe
blisters. Hiding under a manchineel in a rainstorm is a no-no; the water
dripping through the leaves and down the branches can pick up enough sap to be
highly toxic. Ponce de Leon died in Florida fighting Amerindians that shot
him with an arrow whose head had been dipped in the sap. Columbus reported that
several of his men died when they ate some of the initially sweet-tasting
apples. The current Spanish name for manchineel translates to "apple of
death".
The pig roast happened not because Mark and Willie
decided to subscribe to something that already existed. Rather, they
conceived the idea, and did what it took to make it a reality. They
recruited "Black Boy", who has a bar at Salt Whistle Bay, and worked with him in
creating a venue for cooking and serving the pigs. This entailed Black Boy
building a new grill for the cooking, sprucing up his bar, and adding a toilet
to his establishment. He also was responsible for obtaining the pigs that
were roasted.
Pictures while waiting for the pig to be done:
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Black Boy, Mark, and Marilyn (guest on Nirvana)
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Lori, David (both on Persephone) and Elizabeth (Skylark)
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Morgan (Nirvana) and Mark (Liahona)
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Willie (Liahona)
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Barb
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Mark and Ed (Skylark) check the progress of the cooking
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Locals launching their boat (with the unusual name of "Fake Friend")
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Willie
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Using the waiting time to do something productive
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Ellen (Boldly Go) giving a photo lesson to a young enthusiast
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And then eating and dancing:
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Guests brought side dishes to accompany the pig
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Black Boy delivers first of several heaping trays to the serving table
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"Before" picture of the platter of pork
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"After" picture
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Anna (Unicorn) and Barb
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Jim (BoldlyGo) reads a poem dedicated to Willy and Mark
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And then the dancing began
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Mayreau, St. Vincent -- Pig Roast: June 9, 2012 
