The first fundraiser for the Junior Sailing Club was a pig roast on Isle a Quatre, an uninhabited Island close to Bequia. I had no problem selling tickets for the event, word had gone out that we were raising funds to build sailboats for the Junior Sailing Club and people were eager to participate. The party would set out from Bequia on board Wave Dancer, a large wooden schooner built at St.Hillaire by the Mitchell family.
I was in charge of the food and my only worry was the actual roasting of the pig. Mac, Mackie Simmons and Hodge Taylor had volunteered, and with that dangerous combination of weed-smoking drinkers I had visions of a badly charred beast on a spit. People had paid money for the pig roast and I wanted the meat to be good. The men assured me that the pig would be fine, they had roasted them before and knew what to do.
Mac decided that they would start roasting the pig at Lower Bay Beach, it was a large sow and would therefore take several hours to cook. Before dawn they would transfer the pig to Mackie’s boat Kiruna, then sail over to Isle a Quatre where they would start another fire. By the time Wave Dancer arrived with the party-goers the pig would be turning on its spit as though it had been there the entire night. I had serious misgivings about that plan, why not simply do the roasting on Isle a Quatre? Having to make two separate fires made little sense, not to mention getting a smoking pig onto Kiruna in the dark. My misgivings fell on deaf ears, the three men had made their plan and they were sticking to it!
The Pizzeria was chaotic the day before the event, between a busy restaurant and the prep counter covered by a large pig it was hard to get through the lunch hour. Mac had made a blend of ticky thyme, garlic and onions, and the three men smeared it inside the sow before trussing the beast to a metal pole. There was a large audience in attendance and I had to keep chasing people out of the kitchen. My staff were busy slicing and dicing food for the pig roast as well as filling orders for the dining room, and I was relieved when the three men picked up their beast and left.
I had my work cut out for me, I would be up most of the night preparing the rest of the food for the pig roast. Once the Pizzeria had closed for the evening I started cooking, and by 3:00 A.M. everything was done, at least as much as I could do beforehand. I decided to go to Lower Bay to see how the men were managing with the pig, they had dug a pit beside De Reef during the afternoon and I wanted to check to make sure all was going according to plan.
By the time I got to Lower Bay the three men had new names; Mac was “Piggy One”, Mackie was “Piggy Two” and Hodge was “Piggy Three”. They had been smoking weed and drinking Heinkens since the afternoon and were totally wasted, and I do mean TOTALLY. I was relieved to see that the pig seemed fine but was apprehensive about its safe arrival on Isle a Quatre. To get the half-cooked pig to the Island they had to put it in a row boat, hoist it on board Kiruna, off-load it at Isle a Quatre, build another fire and then finish roasting it before the Wave Dancer’s arrival at 10:00.
I decided I couldn’t bear to watch, it would only make me more nervous. Wishing the three wasted piggies a “bon voyage” I walked home, I needed to take a quick nap and get the girls ready for the trip on Wave Dancer. If the pig didn’t make it to Isle a Quatre at least I had made plenty of back-up food!
A few days after I landed on Bequia, there was a boat being launched at Friendship Bay. Everyone was talking about it & so excited. I spent the whole day standing in the water waiting as it took forever to haul her over the logs. The guys were frustrated & cursing at each other! I never did see her first float.
If I recall correctly, it was Wave Dancer – Sept of 1981?