Mr. and Mrs. Armour were a very proper English couple who visited Bequia for two weeks every year. They had invested in a time share at the Sunny Caribbee hotel, and always arrived in February to take up residence in their cabana. We used to make jokes about Mr. Armour’s bathing suit, beachwear he donned and dried three times a day – you could practically set your watch by that bathing suit! Every morning the Armours took an early dip in the sea, then carefully rinsed their suits with fresh water and placed them on the cabana’s railing to dry. After eating a hearty breakfast, the Armours would stroll a bit before putting their swimsuits back on until lunchtime. At 12:00 off came the suits to be rinsed and dried again before the couple headed out for lunch. By 3:00 the bathing suits would be back in action, then rinsed and draped over the balcony railing at day’s end.
Ian Armour was obviously a patriot, because his rather baggy swimwear resembled a replica of the British flag. You certainly couldn’t miss him in a crowd; his bathing apparel was easy to spot, and gave us the giggles whenever we saw him wading at the beach or lounging by the pool. He and his wife were sociable, chatty people; we got to know them well over the years, and happened to be present at the Sunny Caribbee hotel when disaster struck.
“My bathing costume is gone! It’s been stolen!”
Mr Armour, quite red in the face and obviously upset, ran towards the beach bar to report the missing swimsuit. All eyes swiveled to the Armour’s cabana, and, sure enough, the spot where the bathing suit always dried in the sun was empty. A careful search of the property surrounding the cabana to see if the wind had blown it off the railing proved fruitless, it looked like the trunks had been plucked from their usual spot in broad daylight!
Mr. Armour was incredibly distraught – he loved those bathing trunks and wore them with pride, and had no way of replacing his “bathing costume” on Bequia. Dr. Eric Rogers came to the rescue and loaned Ian a swimsuit for the duration of his visit, but they didn’t fit well and were worn with reluctance. The theft of his trunks had left a sour taste in Ian’s mouth, and put a blot on his otherwise carefree vacation in the Caribbean.
A few days later Ian and Doc Rogers were walking through the harbour, and Eric’s description of the moment Ian spotted his stolen swim trunks still makes me laugh! Ian grabbed Eric’s arm and, pointing towards the open doors of the New York Bar, shouted;
“there’s my bathing costume! That fella is wearing my bathing costume!”
Eric later told us it took a great deal of control on his part not to burst out laughing. There, leaning against the bar, bare-chested and obviously quite drunk, was one of Bequia’s known “bad” boys. The swim trunks were far too small for him and had split at the crotch, plus they wear smeared with dirt.
Photo of New York Bar courtesy of Pennie Tilston
Holding Ian back from a confrontation, Eric told him to forget about the swimsuit; when all was said and done, did he truly want it back? Ian looked at Eric, looked at his filthy, torn trunks and heaved a big sigh;
“No, old chap, I don’t suppose I do”.
The two men trudged back to the Sunny Caribbee, where rum was poured to sooth frazzled nerves. Mr. Armour arrived the following year with a brand new patriotic swimsuit, and it NEVER graced the cabana’s balcony to dry…..