Guido and "Hinano" leaving Frigate Island Anchorage
Palm Island
Back to Frigate Island Anchorage
Ashton and Union Island
Hillsborough, Carriacou Friday, 27 February 2009
Carriacou and Union
Guido and "Hinano" leaving Frigate Island Anchorage Palm Island Back to Frigate Island Anchorage Ashton and Union Island Hillsborough, Carriacou 
Carriacou
On Thursday 20 February, we dinghied ashore. Having put a stern anchor out to prevent the dinghy being blown under the pier, we padlocked the dinghy to the pier. We could now start our walk to Salt Whistle Bay. It was only a mile or so, but it was half a mile up and half a mile down – not quite vertical. The bay was beautiful. A crescent of white sand and overhanging palm trees edged a lagoon blue stretch of calm water. Beyond was an isthmus leading to a headland, so Kathy and I walked along accompanied by two mangy, but well mannered dogs. Here we passed piles of garbage as we looked out to the idyllic Tobago Cays. Blocked by huge boulders we returned to the bay and tried the other way. I picked up a coconut, broke it open and we ate the contents looking towards Canouan. We returned to Mayreau Village and stopped at Robert Righteous and De Youths for a couple of beers. These were lovely and cold, but 50% up in price compared to the beach bar in Rodney Bay. Robert himself was Rasterfariously entertaining. Following lunch on board “Sally D”, we went to a northern reef and snorkelled. It was quite rough and I, in an attempt to find the ship wreck, nearly joined it. The final chore in the evening, was for me to mend my sandals and trainers, both of which found Mayreau hills heavy going.
We left Mayreau for Union island the following morning and it was quite gusty (above 22 knots). Initially we tried to anchor in the capital, Clifton, but between an annoying boat boy, who would not go away, and a slightly dragged anchor, we decided to leave for a better anchorage at Frigate Island, near the quiet “town” of Ashton. During the trip, the log (speedometer from a little wheel under the boat) stopped working. Soon “Hinano” was anchoring behind us and our Belgium friend Guido later arrived on SD with three bottles of beer. After helping him with these, Kathy and I swam and then went to an Oyster 55 called “Ostrika”. We met Eliot and Marion from London and Bernard came across from his Westerly 49, “Happie Hippie”. Eliot had earlier given us advice on where to anchor and had later invited us for drinks. It was a more social day than we had had in a long while.
We had to dinghy in against the wind and waves for about ¾ mile to Ashton. Here we found friendly people and several “supermarkets”, but little in the way of fresh produce. Eventually we bought some tomatoes, carrots and oranges at a bar. Back at SD, Kathy did some washing, while I stripped … a sheet winch which had become tight again. Kathy then found a COCKROACH in the toilet, which I was instructed to kill. Surprise,surprise, Kathy cleaned the whole toilet area while I withdrew the log, scrapped off the sea life and re antifouled it. Later I discover two ferrous metal screws in the cockpit wooden seating. I removed one but the other is resisting!
On Sunday we were having a lazy old time until Guido arrived with an unexpected present – a beautiful, huge, conch shell. He felt he needed to give us a gift as we may not meet up again (he is going north and we south). We were all staying put, by the way, as the winds were 30 knots and over (coming close to gale force). Following our ritual afternoon swim (it is a good way to keep cool and to wash as we have a shower on the stern afterwards), Guido popped across for supper.
Early the following morning, Guido rowed over with his daughter’s email address and very shortly he left heading for Saltwhistle Bay. Kathy and I worked on our possible route post December, but it is difficult as we’ll not be in the right place as it were. Looks like we shall have to spend a couple of months in the A B C islands. Emily’s gift of the “Lonely Planet Guide to the Caribbean Islands” has come in very handy.
On Tuesday Kathy and I decided to explore Frigate Island on foot. We dragged the dinghy up a beautiful but small beach. Here there were tens of weathered white conch shells, left presumably by humans who had devoured the contents. The walk along the windward side of the island was interesting with much coral and ferns thrown ashore in the recent strong winds. We were surprised by a vicious, barking dog, which backed away from us and ran up the hill. We discovered a lobster pot made with rough wood and chicken wire washed up. In it was a lobster, a ferocious looking eel (nasty spiky teeth) and several attractive reef fish. All were dead. After lunch on SD, K cooked bread. Following a pleasant siesta, we went snorkelling and saw many, large star fish and two live conch. The latter have a mandible (is that like an arm?) and an EYE on the end of a stalk! When I waved at it, it fled into its shell. As Kathy is out first and showering, I usually spend some time with the reef area which used to be Sal Darago’s keels. To say the antifouling is breaking down would be a powerful understatement. I have seen wrecks with less growing on them. This, of course, has an adverse affect on our speed. If I spend about 20 minutes a day scrubbing above and below the water, we can generally move the next day. We had bacon supper. The next day I told Kathy the use by date – 01/08/08. She was not impressed, but I had not seen it in the shop, because the lady in the shop had taken it out of the freezer and put it into our bag.
By 0800 Wednesday, the anchor was up and we sailed a couple of miles to the private Palm Island. It was very rolly and, although there was a smashing beach, we thought we would move on to Chatham Bay back on Union Island. This was a grand wooded bay (about one a half miles wide). Sadly, we had to anchor three times before the plough held. And now the bad news: the hot water tank had ruptured again. This was the third time. I spent quite a time trying to repair it. Kathy plotted our route to Carriacou. We took the dinghy and snorkelled from it, seeing many colourful reef fish. We actually were less than five feet away from some Pelicans peering into the water, but they did not seem bothered by us peering out of the water!
At 0700 we left Chatham Bay to return to Frigate Island anchorage. From here we dinghied in to Ashton and took a bus to Clifton. Here we had to go to Customs and Immigration to “Clear out” from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Having completed the paper work, we went shopping at the various market stalls for fresh fruit and veg. The prices were about 4x as much as Vieux Fort on St Lucia, but Kathy grinned and paid. Then to the supermarkets for other stuff and back in the bus to Ashton, into the dinghy and finally unload at Sal Darago … all this before noon. We relaxed in the afternoon. Kathy joined me to scrub the hull, which she thought was “very hard”.
Today we left Frigate Island to sail the 7 miles to a new country Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. We anchored in Hillsborough, Carriacou at 0840. Shortly afterwards we had to go to Customs (on the pier), Immigration (in the Police Station), back to Customs and finally to The Port Authority (on the pier). It all went very smoothly and everyone was very polite. Kathy and I walked to the Anglican church, “Christ, The King,” followed by the inevitable shopping. We had found some orange to dilute in St Lucia and hopes were high, but we could only buy SORREL. It does dilute, but tastes rather like cinnamon and dead leaf mould. The museum was small and interesting with many ancient artefacts found on Carriacou quite recently. This afternoon we found that there was WiFi in the bay and we have been wedded to the keyboard ever since. Thank you for your comments, both on the Blog and in emails. It is a pity that some of you cannot just pop over for a couple of days. Tomorrow we are off to Petite Martinique as they apparently sell drinking water to yachts and we have very little water left. Insert “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”:- "Water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink, Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.”
And on that thought, night, night.
We left Mayreau for Union island the following morning and it was quite gusty (above 22 knots). Initially we tried to anchor in the capital, Clifton, but between an annoying boat boy, who would not go away, and a slightly dragged anchor, we decided to leave for a better anchorage at Frigate Island, near the quiet “town” of Ashton. During the trip, the log (speedometer from a little wheel under the boat) stopped working. Soon “Hinano” was anchoring behind us and our Belgium friend Guido later arrived on SD with three bottles of beer. After helping him with these, Kathy and I swam and then went to an Oyster 55 called “Ostrika”. We met Eliot and Marion from London and Bernard came across from his Westerly 49, “Happie Hippie”. Eliot had earlier given us advice on where to anchor and had later invited us for drinks. It was a more social day than we had had in a long while.
We had to dinghy in against the wind and waves for about ¾ mile to Ashton. Here we found friendly people and several “supermarkets”, but little in the way of fresh produce. Eventually we bought some tomatoes, carrots and oranges at a bar. Back at SD, Kathy did some washing, while I stripped … a sheet winch which had become tight again. Kathy then found a COCKROACH in the toilet, which I was instructed to kill. Surprise,surprise, Kathy cleaned the whole toilet area while I withdrew the log, scrapped off the sea life and re antifouled it. Later I discover two ferrous metal screws in the cockpit wooden seating. I removed one but the other is resisting!
On Sunday we were having a lazy old time until Guido arrived with an unexpected present – a beautiful, huge, conch shell. He felt he needed to give us a gift as we may not meet up again (he is going north and we south). We were all staying put, by the way, as the winds were 30 knots and over (coming close to gale force). Following our ritual afternoon swim (it is a good way to keep cool and to wash as we have a shower on the stern afterwards), Guido popped across for supper.
Early the following morning, Guido rowed over with his daughter’s email address and very shortly he left heading for Saltwhistle Bay. Kathy and I worked on our possible route post December, but it is difficult as we’ll not be in the right place as it were. Looks like we shall have to spend a couple of months in the A B C islands. Emily’s gift of the “Lonely Planet Guide to the Caribbean Islands” has come in very handy.
On Tuesday Kathy and I decided to explore Frigate Island on foot. We dragged the dinghy up a beautiful but small beach. Here there were tens of weathered white conch shells, left presumably by humans who had devoured the contents. The walk along the windward side of the island was interesting with much coral and ferns thrown ashore in the recent strong winds. We were surprised by a vicious, barking dog, which backed away from us and ran up the hill. We discovered a lobster pot made with rough wood and chicken wire washed up. In it was a lobster, a ferocious looking eel (nasty spiky teeth) and several attractive reef fish. All were dead. After lunch on SD, K cooked bread. Following a pleasant siesta, we went snorkelling and saw many, large star fish and two live conch. The latter have a mandible (is that like an arm?) and an EYE on the end of a stalk! When I waved at it, it fled into its shell. As Kathy is out first and showering, I usually spend some time with the reef area which used to be Sal Darago’s keels. To say the antifouling is breaking down would be a powerful understatement. I have seen wrecks with less growing on them. This, of course, has an adverse affect on our speed. If I spend about 20 minutes a day scrubbing above and below the water, we can generally move the next day. We had bacon supper. The next day I told Kathy the use by date – 01/08/08. She was not impressed, but I had not seen it in the shop, because the lady in the shop had taken it out of the freezer and put it into our bag.
By 0800 Wednesday, the anchor was up and we sailed a couple of miles to the private Palm Island. It was very rolly and, although there was a smashing beach, we thought we would move on to Chatham Bay back on Union Island. This was a grand wooded bay (about one a half miles wide). Sadly, we had to anchor three times before the plough held. And now the bad news: the hot water tank had ruptured again. This was the third time. I spent quite a time trying to repair it. Kathy plotted our route to Carriacou. We took the dinghy and snorkelled from it, seeing many colourful reef fish. We actually were less than five feet away from some Pelicans peering into the water, but they did not seem bothered by us peering out of the water!
At 0700 we left Chatham Bay to return to Frigate Island anchorage. From here we dinghied in to Ashton and took a bus to Clifton. Here we had to go to Customs and Immigration to “Clear out” from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Having completed the paper work, we went shopping at the various market stalls for fresh fruit and veg. The prices were about 4x as much as Vieux Fort on St Lucia, but Kathy grinned and paid. Then to the supermarkets for other stuff and back in the bus to Ashton, into the dinghy and finally unload at Sal Darago … all this before noon. We relaxed in the afternoon. Kathy joined me to scrub the hull, which she thought was “very hard”.
Today we left Frigate Island to sail the 7 miles to a new country Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. We anchored in Hillsborough, Carriacou at 0840. Shortly afterwards we had to go to Customs (on the pier), Immigration (in the Police Station), back to Customs and finally to The Port Authority (on the pier). It all went very smoothly and everyone was very polite. Kathy and I walked to the Anglican church, “Christ, The King,” followed by the inevitable shopping. We had found some orange to dilute in St Lucia and hopes were high, but we could only buy SORREL. It does dilute, but tastes rather like cinnamon and dead leaf mould. The museum was small and interesting with many ancient artefacts found on Carriacou quite recently. This afternoon we found that there was WiFi in the bay and we have been wedded to the keyboard ever since. Thank you for your comments, both on the Blog and in emails. It is a pity that some of you cannot just pop over for a couple of days. Tomorrow we are off to Petite Martinique as they apparently sell drinking water to yachts and we have very little water left. Insert “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”:- "Water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink, Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.”
And on that thought, night, night.
Photos from the Grenadines
Petit Nevis complete with old whaling station
Baliceaux anchorage - not really tenable
Bulldozer on the beach? Canouan Island
Charlestown, Canouan
Paradise? Petit Tabac, an amazing islandNo. Ben, you can't have a machete.
A little Behind in the Grenadines
(As per usual we have not found internet easily so we are a week or two behind as it were. We hope to attach photos soon too.)
Happy birthday, Dodo. Happy birthday, Pat. Happy Valentine’s Day.
We’re still in the same country but we are now in the Grenadines part of St Vincent and the Grenadines. These small islands depend on the tourist industry and welcome visitors. They are very beautiful. Our first port of call was Port Elizabeth in Admiralty Bay, Bequia (Beck-way). We celebrated 200 days of living aboard Sal Darago. We had arranged to meet up with some friends on “Yara”, whom we’d last seen in Madeira and with whom we had a long running joke about a cup of tea they were making for us. I was suffering with the largest cold sore ever right on my bottom lip, which wasn’t sure whether it was a mouth ulcer or a cold sore and swelled up internally and externally. I had managed to buy a tube of Zovirax which cost about the same as a bottle of brandy! The treatment was working and I didn’t look too awful when we met up with Poll and Kyra from “Yara”. It was great to exchange news with them as they were travelling north and had already spent some time in the Grenadines. We also met up with Guido again and saw that he is still sleeping with all his hatches closed in spite of the heat.
We were sad not to have a chat with Freya and James from “Otahi”, whom we saw behind us as we left Port Elizabeth in strong, gusty winds. We anchored at Petit Nevis which was once a whaling station. We saw the ruins, walked on the palm fringed beach, found a green coconut, walked along an old road with a well-maintained, stone wall and snorkelled off the pier. Later we made our way to Friendship Bay on the south side of Bequia, where there is a secluded resort. We had a couple of juices in their beach bar, looking out to the islands of Petit Nevis and Mustique, watching the waves lapping only a few feet away. Later, they let us fill our containers with water from the hotel kitchen.
The next morning, Jeremy weighed our bow and stern anchor. As we left a strong gust of wind flipped our dinghy and we were still in the shelter of the bay! The squall which followed brought gusts up to 39 knots and heavy rain. Several more squalls followed as we made our way slowly and uncomfortably to windward towards the uninhabited islands of Battowa and Baliceaux. We anchored in Landings Bay, but going ashore was out of the question in the heavy swell. We hauled the dinghy on the roof, had a quick snack, made sandwiches for lunch and set off towards Mustique. We stopped at Mustique only to take photographs. You probably know that the island is privately owned and has homes of many celebrities. It is very exclusive – a week on a premier estate costs US$150,000! Minimum mooring charges are a mere US$50 but we didn’t stop to find out the cost of a glass of beer! We continued south to Canouan and anchored in Endeavor Bay, where the snorkelling was good and the small beach inviting until you realised you’d just missed being flattened by a giant earth mover/bulldozer! The adjoining bay has a cement works and huge heaps of sand so we don’t understand why the bulldozer comes so close to Endeavor Bay beach. We had a walk round the centre part of Canouan. The whole of the north of the island is the Raffles Resort. After gaining permission at the barrier, we were allowed to skirt the edges of the resort on our walk. The main form of transport is by oversized golf buggies. Jeremy thought he’d just walked on to the set of “The Prisoner”. There was certainly a feeling of being in another world, a beautifully manmade world of thatched beehive beach huts, tennis courts and secluded cottages set against a natural azure lagoon looking out to the Atlantic Ocean breaking on the protective reef. Wow!
We were soon in a fabulous azure setting in Sal Darago, sheltered only by Horsehoe Reef and a few uninhabited islands. We were in the Tobago Cays Marine Park. Many yachts were anchored or moored in this amazing place. We walked right round three of the islands and across one. They all had white sand beaches and palm trees. We saw iguanas one metre long with orange spines down their backs, swam with turtles and watched them feeding and saw a ray sweep past beneath us as we snorkelled. Absolutely amazing.
We were fascinated by a small, palm fringed island called Petit Tabac on the Atlantic side of Horseshoe Reef. We couldn’t get there by dinghy as it was too shallow on the reef so we went round the reef with Sal Darago the next day and anchored. The water was crystal clear, the beaches soft and white and we learned how to split a coconut husk. It would have been perfect had I not slipped and fallen into the dinghy hitting the plastic seat full force with the hard part of my chest. I lay still for a few moments wondering if I could breathe. Once I realised I could, we had to get out of the surf and row back to the boat.
We’re still in the Tobago Cays Marine Park anchored off an inhabited island called Mayeau. Our neighbours from La Restinga, El Hierro, were anchored in the bay on their yacht, Argo. We had a drink with them and exchanged news. We were very pleased they had crossed the Atlantic safely. Last year their yacht sank 7 days away from Barbados and they were rescued by an Irish yacht. Tomorrow, we’re going to walk the length of the one road to Saltwhistle Bay and back.
Happy birthday, Dodo. Happy birthday, Pat. Happy Valentine’s Day.
We’re still in the same country but we are now in the Grenadines part of St Vincent and the Grenadines. These small islands depend on the tourist industry and welcome visitors. They are very beautiful. Our first port of call was Port Elizabeth in Admiralty Bay, Bequia (Beck-way). We celebrated 200 days of living aboard Sal Darago. We had arranged to meet up with some friends on “Yara”, whom we’d last seen in Madeira and with whom we had a long running joke about a cup of tea they were making for us. I was suffering with the largest cold sore ever right on my bottom lip, which wasn’t sure whether it was a mouth ulcer or a cold sore and swelled up internally and externally. I had managed to buy a tube of Zovirax which cost about the same as a bottle of brandy! The treatment was working and I didn’t look too awful when we met up with Poll and Kyra from “Yara”. It was great to exchange news with them as they were travelling north and had already spent some time in the Grenadines. We also met up with Guido again and saw that he is still sleeping with all his hatches closed in spite of the heat.
We were sad not to have a chat with Freya and James from “Otahi”, whom we saw behind us as we left Port Elizabeth in strong, gusty winds. We anchored at Petit Nevis which was once a whaling station. We saw the ruins, walked on the palm fringed beach, found a green coconut, walked along an old road with a well-maintained, stone wall and snorkelled off the pier. Later we made our way to Friendship Bay on the south side of Bequia, where there is a secluded resort. We had a couple of juices in their beach bar, looking out to the islands of Petit Nevis and Mustique, watching the waves lapping only a few feet away. Later, they let us fill our containers with water from the hotel kitchen.
The next morning, Jeremy weighed our bow and stern anchor. As we left a strong gust of wind flipped our dinghy and we were still in the shelter of the bay! The squall which followed brought gusts up to 39 knots and heavy rain. Several more squalls followed as we made our way slowly and uncomfortably to windward towards the uninhabited islands of Battowa and Baliceaux. We anchored in Landings Bay, but going ashore was out of the question in the heavy swell. We hauled the dinghy on the roof, had a quick snack, made sandwiches for lunch and set off towards Mustique. We stopped at Mustique only to take photographs. You probably know that the island is privately owned and has homes of many celebrities. It is very exclusive – a week on a premier estate costs US$150,000! Minimum mooring charges are a mere US$50 but we didn’t stop to find out the cost of a glass of beer! We continued south to Canouan and anchored in Endeavor Bay, where the snorkelling was good and the small beach inviting until you realised you’d just missed being flattened by a giant earth mover/bulldozer! The adjoining bay has a cement works and huge heaps of sand so we don’t understand why the bulldozer comes so close to Endeavor Bay beach. We had a walk round the centre part of Canouan. The whole of the north of the island is the Raffles Resort. After gaining permission at the barrier, we were allowed to skirt the edges of the resort on our walk. The main form of transport is by oversized golf buggies. Jeremy thought he’d just walked on to the set of “The Prisoner”. There was certainly a feeling of being in another world, a beautifully manmade world of thatched beehive beach huts, tennis courts and secluded cottages set against a natural azure lagoon looking out to the Atlantic Ocean breaking on the protective reef. Wow!
We were soon in a fabulous azure setting in Sal Darago, sheltered only by Horsehoe Reef and a few uninhabited islands. We were in the Tobago Cays Marine Park. Many yachts were anchored or moored in this amazing place. We walked right round three of the islands and across one. They all had white sand beaches and palm trees. We saw iguanas one metre long with orange spines down their backs, swam with turtles and watched them feeding and saw a ray sweep past beneath us as we snorkelled. Absolutely amazing.
We were fascinated by a small, palm fringed island called Petit Tabac on the Atlantic side of Horseshoe Reef. We couldn’t get there by dinghy as it was too shallow on the reef so we went round the reef with Sal Darago the next day and anchored. The water was crystal clear, the beaches soft and white and we learned how to split a coconut husk. It would have been perfect had I not slipped and fallen into the dinghy hitting the plastic seat full force with the hard part of my chest. I lay still for a few moments wondering if I could breathe. Once I realised I could, we had to get out of the surf and row back to the boat.
We’re still in the Tobago Cays Marine Park anchored off an inhabited island called Mayeau. Our neighbours from La Restinga, El Hierro, were anchored in the bay on their yacht, Argo. We had a drink with them and exchanged news. We were very pleased they had crossed the Atlantic safely. Last year their yacht sank 7 days away from Barbados and they were rescued by an Irish yacht. Tomorrow, we’re going to walk the length of the one road to Saltwhistle Bay and back.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Pirates and Muggers Photos
One of the Pitons
Our beach near Vieux Fort, St Lucia
Pirates Location, Wallilabou Bay, St Vincent.
Rain Forest ... and it did rain, and rain and rain.
Young Island Cut for a hot February Birthbay.
Pirates and Muggers
Happy birthday, Jeremy! Waking up to blue skies and sunshine, the beach close by and the sea gently washing against the inviting sands has got to be a great way to spend a birthday. Back to the blog and St Lucia.
The Pitons are two volcanic peaks that rise almost vertically out of the sea and the “anchorage” between them is in a beautiful setting. It’s just a pity that you are not allowed to anchor there, unless you happen to have a superyacht or supercruiser. Other yachtties have to pick up a mooring and pay $40EC. We had a good look around, took photographs and left before the boat vendors arrived to hassle the tourists. Our last port of call was Vieux Fort which had no boat vendors and no hassle (or so we thought at the time). We enjoyed swimming, walking on the shore amongst countless conch shells and generally relaxing. The only hassle was that Customs was based at the commercial ship port and Immigration was based at the airport 3 miles away. We needed to clear out with both. As usual, we looked fairly smart to show some respect for the officials. Unfortunately, we were caught in a tremendous downpour of monsoon variety and dripped into the Customs’ office like half drowned rats. By the time we had crossed the bay in the dinghy, walked to the bus station and reached the airport we were dry again. We were soon in receipt of ONE rubber stamp on our Customs’ form and so could leave St Lucia.
The next day we experienced gusty winds, up to 33 knots, on the 6 hour crossing to St Vincent. We passed Chateaubelair Bay, where several boats have been boarded and the occupants robbed by men carrying machetes, and continued to Wallilabou Bay. We booked a mooring in advance ($20EC a day) and dealt only with Davis, which helped us to avoid being hassled. I won’t go into there being more than one Davis! Because the water is deep until very close inshore it’s advised that you use a mooring and let the “boat boys” tie your stern line to the dinghy pier. Those yachts that insist on anchoring have a stern line taken ashore and tied to a palm tree! No kidding! You will have all realised that Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed here (see photo). We walked ashore amongst numerous coffins, had a meal in the restaurant next to a lifesize model of Captain Jack Sparrow climbing his mast and snorkelled near the arch where Jack saw his friends hanging in the film. On another day in Wallilabou, it rained all day so we donned our waterproofs and went to look for the waterfall. For many hikes you need to have a guide for your own safety and protection but this was just a short walk up the road. We saw a very small waterfall but carried on looking for something spectacular. When we arrived at the prison and refuse dump at the top of a very long hill, we realised our error. We turned back quickly and experienced a rain forest feeling during quiet moments on the road. The interior of St Vincent is largely a tropical wilderness. We were disturbed to see a man carrying a machete behind us and our pace quickened until we reached the waterfall. Then we saw another man carrying a machete so we stopped at a craft centre and chatted to the owner. Apparently, we had nothing to fear as these men were only looking for bananas or coconuts! On our return to SD a Halberg Rassy 42 with an English ensign had bumped into us exploding one of our Man Overboard lights. They invited us for drinks and paid up very apologetically.
Two quiet nights and peaceful days followed in Buccament Bay and Byahaut Bay with no hassle at all. It was here that we learned our friend, Guido, had been mugged in Vieux Fort. Guido had just been to the bank. Some “guides”, allegedly taking him to an internet café, led him to a quiet place where he was attacked by a heavyweight accomplice and robbed of $500 EC.
We have just spent three nights in Young Island Cut on anchors (bow and stern). It’s a very pleasant place used to tourists, but expensive if you use the moorings. We’ve been to Kingstown on the bus twice. Do you know how many people you can squeeze into a minibus? We do! The driver then puts his foot on the floor, hoots his horn regularly and blasts your ears with calypso or rap until you yell that you want to get off. You can have this experience for $1EC for each journey! (about 25p). Why bother going to a theme park?
Good to hear from the Speares and Colin, EL CID in the comments. So who else is reading this?
The Pitons are two volcanic peaks that rise almost vertically out of the sea and the “anchorage” between them is in a beautiful setting. It’s just a pity that you are not allowed to anchor there, unless you happen to have a superyacht or supercruiser. Other yachtties have to pick up a mooring and pay $40EC. We had a good look around, took photographs and left before the boat vendors arrived to hassle the tourists. Our last port of call was Vieux Fort which had no boat vendors and no hassle (or so we thought at the time). We enjoyed swimming, walking on the shore amongst countless conch shells and generally relaxing. The only hassle was that Customs was based at the commercial ship port and Immigration was based at the airport 3 miles away. We needed to clear out with both. As usual, we looked fairly smart to show some respect for the officials. Unfortunately, we were caught in a tremendous downpour of monsoon variety and dripped into the Customs’ office like half drowned rats. By the time we had crossed the bay in the dinghy, walked to the bus station and reached the airport we were dry again. We were soon in receipt of ONE rubber stamp on our Customs’ form and so could leave St Lucia.
The next day we experienced gusty winds, up to 33 knots, on the 6 hour crossing to St Vincent. We passed Chateaubelair Bay, where several boats have been boarded and the occupants robbed by men carrying machetes, and continued to Wallilabou Bay. We booked a mooring in advance ($20EC a day) and dealt only with Davis, which helped us to avoid being hassled. I won’t go into there being more than one Davis! Because the water is deep until very close inshore it’s advised that you use a mooring and let the “boat boys” tie your stern line to the dinghy pier. Those yachts that insist on anchoring have a stern line taken ashore and tied to a palm tree! No kidding! You will have all realised that Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed here (see photo). We walked ashore amongst numerous coffins, had a meal in the restaurant next to a lifesize model of Captain Jack Sparrow climbing his mast and snorkelled near the arch where Jack saw his friends hanging in the film. On another day in Wallilabou, it rained all day so we donned our waterproofs and went to look for the waterfall. For many hikes you need to have a guide for your own safety and protection but this was just a short walk up the road. We saw a very small waterfall but carried on looking for something spectacular. When we arrived at the prison and refuse dump at the top of a very long hill, we realised our error. We turned back quickly and experienced a rain forest feeling during quiet moments on the road. The interior of St Vincent is largely a tropical wilderness. We were disturbed to see a man carrying a machete behind us and our pace quickened until we reached the waterfall. Then we saw another man carrying a machete so we stopped at a craft centre and chatted to the owner. Apparently, we had nothing to fear as these men were only looking for bananas or coconuts! On our return to SD a Halberg Rassy 42 with an English ensign had bumped into us exploding one of our Man Overboard lights. They invited us for drinks and paid up very apologetically.
Two quiet nights and peaceful days followed in Buccament Bay and Byahaut Bay with no hassle at all. It was here that we learned our friend, Guido, had been mugged in Vieux Fort. Guido had just been to the bank. Some “guides”, allegedly taking him to an internet café, led him to a quiet place where he was attacked by a heavyweight accomplice and robbed of $500 EC.
We have just spent three nights in Young Island Cut on anchors (bow and stern). It’s a very pleasant place used to tourists, but expensive if you use the moorings. We’ve been to Kingstown on the bus twice. Do you know how many people you can squeeze into a minibus? We do! The driver then puts his foot on the floor, hoots his horn regularly and blasts your ears with calypso or rap until you yell that you want to get off. You can have this experience for $1EC for each journey! (about 25p). Why bother going to a theme park?
Good to hear from the Speares and Colin, EL CID in the comments. So who else is reading this?
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