Grenadines, the Islands

May 5-18, 2015

After leaving St. Lucia, we sailed past St. Vincent and headed towards Bequia, the northernmost Grenadine. The 70 mile sail consisted of about 15 miles in the lee of St. Lucia, 20 miles between the islands, 20 miles along the coast of St. Vincent and another 15 miles through the current and waves towards Bequia. Despite the photos, Caribbean sailing is not the flat water downwind paradise that I had imagined. Even after we reached Martinique, we had more than our share of sailing to windward with varying amounts of current and waves against us. We have been told that this has been a particularly windy season, but I think in general, 20 to 25 is the expected wind at any time. Since it gets a bit annoying for me, I tend to be at the helm

along the lee of the island, while Jason helms the more open sea passages.

 

As we approached Bequia, Two Fish and Jason were thrilled to see Kenmore Henville  motor up in his dinghy to take some photos. This was at the point where I thought our sails should be coming down. Never mind, it was only blowing a consistent 30 knots. Most impressive was Kenmore’s ability to handle the camera and the dinghy with Two Fish barreling down on him.

Once we got into the harbor, we found a spot near Princess Margaret Beach. We weren’t too happy with the anchor set but stayed there anyway. The highlight of our stay was a small model boat museum, staffed by a boat builder. He escorted us through all of the models and photos, reliving his past. It was a great island for walking and looking at the various businesses. We even found a store with fresh lettuce. “Where is your lettuce from?”, I asked. “Miami,”, the woman responded.

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On the third day, we went to shore so I could read my book and drink coffee while Jason went for a scuba dive. As we tied up the dinghy, he said “Keep an eye on Two Fish, in case she drags.” Thank you – there went my relaxation for the morning. After a third night of anchor anxiety, I said to Jason that we should either find a new spot, or leave. We weighed anchor and headed to Mustique.

 

Mustique is a bit like a theme park. All of the fancy houses are spread around the island, but every once in a while you walk down the wrong road and end up behind the scenes at the workers’ quarters or the golf cart repair lot.  Once you get beyond the first level, there are great paths and roads for hiking and the harbor is enjoyable. The day that we arrived, the harbor employees were conducting an oil spill drill. It was good to see how serious they were about containing any accident and I am sure they hoped they would never have to use their skills. A few of the Grenadines are owned by individuals, which is a bit tough to get your head around. Mustique was purchased in 1958 by Colin Tennant, who turned it into a party spot for the rich, royal and famous. Mick Jagger and Princess Margaret were noted visitors. It is now owned by the Mustique corporation and is a bit less of a party spot.

On our first hike, we noted some red rings around several trees and figured the rings were marking the path. A bit later, we read the sign that noted that the trees were red rings were maniocheel trees, extremely poisonous to the touch. Good thing we didn’t hug the trees. Besides the hiking, we had a fun afternoon watching local cricket and Jason had what he considers to have been his best Caribbean Roti at Firefly. I had the flying fish sandwich.

One of Jason’s favorite pastimes is helping boats tie up to mooring balls and docks. Mustique was no exception as Jason kept an eye out for candidates. The bonus is that we often meet some very nice people. Here Jason helped Elpis tie up and we hung out with Umberto and Anne for a few days, visiting the Cotton House and talking boats. Umberto is a guitarist but he has circumnavigated solo and is just as eager to talk boats as music.  Anne is the best-dressed boat crew I have seen. She claims that they left Europe so quickly that she didn’t have time to buy boat clothes. Many boaters complain about Mustique because they are only passing through for a night and the mooring balls are charged in increments of 3 nights. We stayed through two cycles! I am looking forward to returning.

Next stop was Chatham Bay on Union Island, at the foot of the Grenadines. It is an interesting bay; every two or three minutes, a howling wind tears through the bay. Then it stops. Then it starts. You get the picture. It is also far from any town but has a few restaurants, all vying for your business. We were there for several days and discovered that as long as you patronize a place once, they stop bothering you. Jason enjoyed paddling the harbor every evening, until the French boats showed up with their unclothed crew. It has been a surprise to us that many upper-middle-aged Europeans enjoy wandering around their boat in the buff. As soon as the anchor is “set”, off comes the Speedo for a walk around the boat.

For our trip into Clifton to check out, we got a ride from one of the businessmen. The car was a decomposed Volvo-who needs floorboards? It was a nice town, but the harbor looked crowded and rolly, so we were glad that we had chosen to anchor at Chatham.  We walked home, and passed by our namesake guest house, but did not go in.

After a few days of peaceful floating with bouts of gusts, we decided to move on, so we prepared for a sail South towards Carriacou.