may 2018cruisingworld.com30
Point of View
B
oards were missing from a rickety
dinghy dock where cruisers tie up
upon arrival to Bequia’s Admiralty
Bay. Last year’s devastating hurricane sea-
son wasn’t to blame; peeling paint and
weathered shingles nearby tell a bigger
story of long-term inattention. An old-
er man with varicose-rippled legs, the left
one encumbered by edema, limped down
the pier with a greeting. “Do you know
Tango?” he asked.
Well, we did now, as that’s how he
introduced himself. His gray coils sprungaway from a friendly face that was spright-
lier than the rest of his form. Tango was
the fi rst step in what I anticipated to be
a challenging quest on Bequia: to fi nd the
identity of “R. Williams,” and meet him
or her if possible.
Who is R. Williams? I didn’t know,
but the name is stitched at the bottom
of an apron I’ve had for a couple of de-
cades. Spelled in zigzag at the top is
“BEQUIA,” and between these sewn let-
ters are appliqued shapes and fi gures that
tell the story of everyday life on a small
Caribbean island: people cooking and
working, a pair of birds swirling next to a
silhouette of the island, fi sh tempted by
the fi sherman’s hook. Worked in bright
colors on a base of cotton sackcloth, it
might not sound special, but this apron
is one of my treasured possessions. Its
vivid folk art captures the imagination:
images telling a kind of sepia-tinted, ide-
alized view of a simple life in the tropics.For years before our cruising adventures
on Totem started, it was a reminder of our
plans. Someday we’d get to Bequia, and
maybe we’d even see people carrying ba-
nana stalks on their heads, standing to
pound grain in a tall mortar or fi shing
from a pointy-stern boat.
We had only two days to stop at Bequia
on our northbound track to meet a fl ight
my husband, Jamie, needed to catch from
Martinique the following week. Two days
to soak in an island with a prized reputa-
tion among cruisers, treasured for clear
water, lush hillsides and beautiful beach-
es. But it was two days that I could spend
focused on looking for this apron artist if
that was all I had.
Tango pointed to the freshfruit-and-vegetable market. “Mebbe dey
know dis R. Williams.”
A fruit seller plied me with
honey-sweet slices of juicy mango, then
sent me to the craft bazaar. Once there,
I was directed to a pair of older wom-
en at an inner stall. For a few minutes,
they clucked over the design, turning the
apron over in their hands, then stunned
me by saying, matter-of-factly, “This
here is Rita Williams’ work.” The wom-
en went on to describe exactly where I
could fi nd Rita, a short walk away to the
south side of the village. Less than 30
minutes after reaching the shore, I was
standing outside her place, thrilled and a
little anxious.
Meeting Rita opened a windowThis apron, given to the author many years ago, depicts everyday life on the
island of Bequia. Meeting the artist who made it became her goal.Worked in bright colors on
a base of cotton sackcloth,
it might not sound special,
but this apron is one of my
prized possessions.A STITCH
in TIME
We had only two days to stop at Bequia, but it was two days that I could spend focused on
looking for this apron artist if that was all I had.BY BEHAN GIFFORDCOURTESY OF BEHAN GIFFORD