Exploring the Grenadines

Last time we left you, we were still anchored in Bequia, and having such a nice time, we were somewhat reluctant to move on! But move on we must, and actually, there was a huge amount more of the Grenadines waiting to be explored!

The first attempt to leave actually failed miserably. When Ailsa pressed the button to pull up the anchor there was nothing! The windlass was completely inoperable, so engine off, I then spent the next 3 days trying to find and fix the problem. Our windlass is hydraulically driven by a pump that is driven from the engine. Some of you may recall I had already had some issues with the windlass and had to come up with a fix in Martinique. Now it was looking like a more serious problem. Initially I thought damn, we are going to have to head to Grenada, the nearest place with boatyards, and get someone to help us diagnose and fix the hydraulics. It was quite depressing and it looked like we would have to try and get the anchor up by hand. This is something I had done once before in Scotland and it was far from easy. So I set about trying to diagnose the fault myself and learnt a good deal about hydraulics in the process. The pressure in the system actually looked good under load. This had me confused as the windlass was working the last time we used it when we left St Lucia. I could hear fluid flowing through the windlass motor, but there was no resultant movement. It took me three days in the end and I found that the issue was the gearbox again. Basically there was no oil left in it, it was full of dirt and pretty much seized up. So after a dismantle, clean and oil, we were back in business. After three days in the heat stuck in the anchor locker, I was overjoyed when it jumped to life. My celebration was cut short when a big gust of wind blew the door of the locker (heavy!) which proceeded to land on my head!!

They say cruising is doing boat jobs in paradise??? I am definitely starting to understand!

Attempt two to leave was successful, and we were both sad to say goodbye to Bequia. We left the harbour on a downwind sail and got a look at Bequia’s “moonhole”, a bizarre group of houses built in the 1960’s in to the side of the cliffs which have since been abandoned.

It was a gorgeous sail south to the little island of Canouan where we dropped the anchor in what turned out to be the very rolly bay of Charlestown.

We decided not to dwell here, so after an uncomfortable night, we left early the next morning and headed for Tobago Cays. Now this was something else! It is a tiny group of islands south of Canouan which makes up a marine national park. Tobago Cays was made famous by the film Pirates of the Caribbean as one of the islands was where Jack Sparrow got washed up and buried his treasure??

We anchored right in the middle of the islands, pumped up the canoe and set off to explore.

The place is stunningly beautiful, a small group of islands, surrounded and protected from the Atlantic ocean by horseshoe reef. Its hard to describe the colour of the sea here. Hopefully the pictures do it some justice.

The snorkelling was amazing and we had our first ever encounter with Turtles in their natural habitat. Have a look at the video I shot with the GoPro…

We had a lovely day exploring, and that evening we went to the main island for a barbeque of fish and chicken. It was a very cool little place, all set up as an outdoor restaurant. Before we ate we spent some time watching the fish and the spotted rays feeding on the fish scraps being thrown in to the water as the chefs were preparing the food.

We met up with another cruising couple called Caroline and Ken from the UK and Australia. They invited us back to their Catamaran “Water Music” for drinks and we had a lovely evening chatting about their and our adventures so far. A lovely couple and we hope to meet them again as we both cruise south towards Grenada.

It costs a fair bit to stay in Tobago Quays so the next day we moved to the Island of Mayreau which is about 2 miles away and anchored in Troisant Bay off the beach with great views of Union Island. Unfortunately it was another rolly night! So we didn’t actually land on Mayreau but headed for Union Island where we had to check out of St Vincent and the Grenadines within a few days.

Another short but beautiful downwind sail had us dropping the hook in a stunning anchorage called Chatham Bay on the west side of Union Island.

This bay was really sheltered from the swell and with a beautiful colour to the sea, it was like having our own enormous swimming pool.

First order of action was to go for a swim!. We chilled out for the whole day, swimming and snorkelling and watching the rays and fish nibbling on the growth on our chain.

All along the beach is a number of ramshackle bars and throughout the day we were visited by all the proprietors inviting us to visit their bars for the happy hour at sunset. We decided to visit the one recommended by the guide book, Seki and Vanessa’s place. It was very chilled out, drinking rum punch, listening to reggae and watching the sun go down, whilst meeting some of the locals, including Eldon who lived in a shack next door to the bar and had been fishing and living on the beach for the last 40 years!

We were short on cash and there was no ATMs around here other than in Clifton, about 5 miles away. Seki and Vanessa were very relaxed about the whole situation and just trusted us to pay for our drinks the next day after we had chance to get to the bank! We promised we would be back to try out their food too.

The next day we got up early and had a fantastic walk right across the island. It was pretty hot and we had a big climb to get out of the bay, but the view was well worth the effort. We made a new friend too, when one of the local dogs decided to come along for the walk. He followed us for about 3 miles until the heat got too much for the poor chap and he collapsed under a tree in the shade.

Close to Clifton, we walked past some salt flats that claimed to have resident flamingos. We didn’t see any!

Finally, after a 5 mile walk in the heat, we made it to the town. First we had to check out of the country which was pretty painless, then visit the bank and then we went to look for a cold drink. As in often the case, we were accosted by one of the locals, an old guy called Parrot. He insisted that we needed to avoid the local tourist bars and he would take us the locals bar! It was actually very cool. The bar had about 20 people in there, and they looked after us. One guy gave Ailsa a piece of cardboard for her to use as a fan because she looked so hot. Seats were provided at the bar, and we spent to next hour talking to lots of interesting people … the local musician, Bert, Andre the bar owner, and Chris the local “gangster” who was well in to his third rum of the day celebrating his 66th birthday!

We finally managed to extricate ourselves from the bar with promises to return someday, flagged down a local minibus and got a lift back to the top of Chatham Bay Hill. A lot easier than walking.

By mid afternoon we were back on the boat, swimming and relaxing, and then that evening we headed back to Seki and Vanessa’s bar where we were treated to a delicious dinner prepared on the BBQ with the sunset views of the bay. It don’t get much better than this!

We have to say that the Grenadines really are special and well worth a visit if you ever find yourself in this part of the world. The experience was made really special for us by the friendliness of the local people and welcome they gave us everywhere we went.

Join us next time as we sail south to Carriacou and Grenada to continue our windward islands adventure.