Lagniappe: St. Vincent and the Grenadines

St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is composed of several islands of which St. Vincent is the most populated and largest. It includes the Tobago Cays, Union Island, Canouan, Mayreau and Bequia. St. Vincent Island is generally not considered safe for cruising boats as there is much theft and aggressive boat boys and aggressive beggars onshore. We cannot attest to that from first hand experience as we avoided St. Vincent Island based on reports of others cruisers and safety nets. However, we did enjoy several of the other islands in the country of SVG.

11/12/2015 We left Carriacou and sailed to Clifton on Union Island where we could check in. Greg, Greig and Paul went ashore in a water taxi to check in thinking we would not even take our dinghy off the deck because we intended to continue on to Petit St. Vincent a few miles away but had to stop in Clifton to check in. We anchored off the reef in Clifton and found it quite calm and comfortable. There is a neat little island with the only thing on it being the Happy Hour bar that we anchored just in front of. However, it wasn't open when we were there. We decided not to go to Petit St. Vincent and instead put the dinghy in and the girls checked out the small town. We peeked into a few shops and bought a couple of veggies but found their produce prices really high.

The Happy Hour Bar in Clifton

Waterfront in Clifton

Paul form S/V Tehani and Grieg from S/V Lequesteau going to check in in Clifton

11/13/2015 We left the next morning and sailed around the north side of Mayreau and into the Tobago Cays. We anchored off Petit Rameau in the cut between Petit Rameau and Petit Bateau. Lequesteau and Tehani anchored beside us. We had a great sail making 5 to 7 knots. We bought some Mahi Mahi from a local fisherman (the Tobago Cays are uninhabited but fishermen come over from Mayreux and Union island to sell to the boats) and Greg cooked it that night. It was the most delicious fish we have ever had. We spent 3 lovely days snorkeling, swimming and hiking in the Tobago Cays. It was wonderful after the “social life” scene in Grenada.

Enjoying the water right off the boat in Tobago Cays

On the beach at Petit Bateau

View from up the hill on Petit Bateau

All the boats anchored out behind the reefs

All the colorful clothes for sale on the beach

on the beach at Petit Bateau

Snorkelling shots from Tobago Cays

Some sort of spotted eel

Fan coral

Day charter boat coming into Tobago cays

Snorkelling another day near Jamesby island; sea urchins

Brain coral

Spotted this sea turtle swimming by

11/16/2015 We sailed from Petit Rameau to Mayreau making 5.5 to 5.8 knots with only the jib up. We anchored in Salt Whistle Bay which is a beautiful setting. Not much there but we enjoyed walking along the shore and checking out what appeared to be a defunct resort.

Mayreau's Salt Whistle Bay from the Eastern side (coming from Tobago Cays)

Other side of Salt Whistle Bay looking toward Tobago Cays (East)

Salt Whistle Bay

Remains of the resort

Sign for one of the ladies doing hair braiding on the beach

Back to my childhood---climbing trees

Not quite like climbing our old magnolia in Bay St. Louis

11/17/2015 We set sail for Bequia (Beck-way) and were there in about 4.5 hours. We made 5.5 to 6.5 knots with the jib and main up. It was so nice to get to really sail and not have to motor sail as we did heading into the prevailing winds most of the way south earlier in the year. However, when we were heeled over, we discovered two leaks, one on the port side in the V berth and one behind all the electronics on the port side near the nav station. Obviously those required immediate attention to reseal the leaking areas when we got to Bequia. We anchored near Princess Margaret beach in Admiralty Bay in Bequia. We snorkeled in the bay and saw more aquatic life than we had in the Tobago Cays. We played dominoes one afternoon in town and tried a couple of the restaurants for lunches. One evening our outboard died and we had to row quite a ways back to the boat. Greg worked on the outboard but couldn’t get it started. We had a local mechanic take a look and he said we needed a new CDI module (a mini computer) which they did not have on the island. He thought we could get one in St. Lucia. We checked with marine stores in St. Lucia but they did not have any so we ordered one from the U.S. and had it shipped to our friend, Bill’s (S/V Baidarka) mail forwarding service in Florida where he had a box waiting to ship to St. Lucia. Time to head north again.