Enroute to Grenada

Steve arrived onboard on Tuesday night - almost 3 days since leaving Oz.  As Steve only has a week with us and we need to be in Grenada to drop him off we made a move as soon as we had cleared out the next day and set course for Bequia which is part of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Steve joins the crew

The conditions for sailing were just about perfect with almost constant easterly wind of around 20kts once we had left the lee side of St Lucia.  There is a problem onboard with the autopilot at the moment so we have to take shifts on the helm but in these conditions its really fun sailing.  Steve got the hang of the helm pretty quickly.  Will probably not get the autopilot fixed until Grenada as there are no huge distances to sail between now and then.  The day was kind of hazy and we did not see St Vincent until we were around 10NM off which was surprising considering there is a huge volcano on the north end called Mt Soufriere.  Once sighted we sailed about half way down the coast and found a small anchorage at a place called Cumberland Bay.  

Steve getting the hang of helming Dulcinea

Originally we had planned to bypass St Vincent and head straight to Bequia due to things we had heard and read about the island.  It has a reputation for being a bit rougher and not as safe as the other islands.  Also there are not as many favourable anchorages on the west side.  However given that we had to start the transit from the North of St Lucia to get to Bequia it was a good overnight stopping point.

The coastline of St Vincent was very rugged and similar to Dominica but without the high mountain range down the middle.  Cumberland Bay is about halfway down the west coast and is a small indent but has very deep water as have most of the anchorages around St Vincent.  When anchoring where the seabed slopes away so steeply the boat is usually secured by the bow anchor  dropped off the shore plus a stern mooring led to shore and secured around a convenient palm tree or other strong point.  This then has the bow anchor pulling into and up the seabed slope rather than out and down.  We dropped our bow anchor in 20m of water and then reversed in towards the shore.  After about 40m of chain had been paid out we were in about 10m of water and one of the local boat boys took the stern line ashore for us and secure it.  We had a couple of attempts before we were happy with how we were lying.

Cumberland Bay - St Vincent

The bay was very tranquil even though there were five other yachts nearby.  The entrance to the bay has cliffs covered in vegetation which become ledges underwater.  Once in the bay there is a dark sand beach fringing the central part of the bay.  Right in the middle of the beach a river empties into the bay.  The fresh water emptying into the bay produces a cold upper layer on top of the warm salt water.  Around the river the land rises slowly through a valley to the hills beyond while on the sides the land rises steeply.  There are banana and coconut trees on the lower slopes.  A few huts or basic houses are dotted just back from the beach.  A small wooden jetty juts out from the beach and locals fish with hand lines.  As you settle down the boat boys with various wares come around to try and sell you something but they are not overly pushy or aggressive.  An old guy  in a row boat comes over and tries to get us into his beach bar for dinner.  His name is Joseph the Fisherman and he has had his beachside bar for over 40years he tells us.  We decline the dinner but agree on taking some bread off him the next morning.

Chatting with Joseph the Fisherman

The whole bay is very peaceful as dusk approaches and we all agree this is a magical spot.  We will probably do a bit more research and try and visit again on the way up.  Scott used to go to school with a guy from St Vincent so maybe we will try and look him up. 

Steve and Calley out for an early morning paddle in Cumberland Bay

The next day we pushed on to Bequia.  Again great weather for a sail and the island is only about 16NM away.  Steve helmed most of the way and and even got into a bit of a race with a catamaran although the cat was motorsailing.  We arrived in Port Elizabeth and picked up a mooring close to town and cleared in.  We had heard of Bequia from our days working on the Endeavour around 1989.  At that time there were a couple of guys working on the project (Carl and Chris) from the island and they had raved about it.  The harbour is very protected and the local town very relaxed and colourful with a good vibe.  It reminded us of Les Saintes.  We managed a walk around town and have dinner in the evening.  The island is that small that when we got talking to a local lady in one of the shops she knew of Carl and Chris.  I guess everyone’s business is everyone’s business here.

The next day we moved again headed for Tobago Cays.  We had not even heard of this place until we started reading up the guide book a few months ago.  The Cays are three small islands fringed with reefs which provide good protection in normal conditions.  With the favourable forecast we wanted to have an explore.

We dropped the anchor just out of a channel between two of the islands late in the afternoon after another good days sailing.  There are reefs everywhere here and it is very reminiscent of the Bahamas.  The reefs and sand patches give the water an amazing spectrum of colours from deep blue in the deep water to bright tourquoise blue over the sand and then green and brown over the reefs.  The islands themselves are small but quite high and covered in low trees with small stretches of beach along the shoreline.  There were a couple of other boats moored in the channel.  We went for a quick explore in the dingy and around the other side of the island facing the seawards reefs were about another 15 boats.  We could not see these from where we were.  We settled down in the evening to dinner and a movie on deck.

Tobago Cays

The next morning a dingy came around the boat and to our suprise it was Dimitri from Windchaser.  They are anchored on the other side of the island and saw us on the AIS system.  We had last met up with Dimitri, Michelle and their boys in Georgetown in the Bahamas and since then had been missing them all the way down the Caribbean so it was great to finally catch up.  Calley went off for the day to play with their kids and then we all met up in the evening on the island where we had a few drinks and a BBQ on the beach.  Its amazing that we only really met these guys once but have stayed in contact and when we see them its like it was yesterday.

The Windchasers - Dulcinea Reunion

The Tobago Cays is a relaxed place and there is nothing here in terms of places to eat or shops.  The islands are deserted.  During the day a couple of boat guys come over from Union Island and you can buy/order fish or provisions from them.  As such it is a pretty laid back stopover and we have just hung around the boat or caught up with Windchasers.  Steve goes for a paddle every morning taking Calley with him for part of it.  Apart from that we swim, snorkel, look at the fish and read.  There is a turtle sanctuary here and you can snorkel with them and see them grazing in about three feet of water.  

Today we will bid au revoir to Windchasers and move on to the first of the Grenada Islands called Carriacou and then the day after we will reach Grenada.