Tuesday, February 22, 2011



This is our second blog of the 2010-2011 winter cruising season.

On January 2, 2011 we departed Prickly Bay, Grenada and sailed to Chatham Bay at Union Island, part of St Vincent and the Grenadines. This 35nm passage began with favourable wind, but required assistance from ouriron jenny” most of the way after the unforecast wind shift toward the ENE.

Chatham Bay is one of our favourite anchorages in the Grenadines. Check it out on Google Earth at 12-36.1'N 061-27.0'W. Its attributes include a scenic anchorage with secure holding. There are no “facilities” for yachts and only minimal development. It is “off the gridof electricity and drinking water, so its inhabitants rely on generators, solar panels and rainwater catchment.

There are several wonderful hiking trails on Union Island. The trails are moderately strenuous because of slope and overgrowth. We made 3 hikes of 2 to 5 hours duration, one of them in the Uiem Nature Preserve, totally wild, with many large specimens of ancient native trees. Watch out for the small cacti hidden in the long grass!



Hiking days were interspersed with days on the beach; reading and swimming.



As usual, we were happy to visit again with friends making their livings in Chatham Bay. Jerry is well underway with a new roof for hisPalm Leaf Bar”. Unfortunately, the wandering cows have eaten most of his small palm trees. Seckie and Vanessa continue to operate their “Sun, Beach and Eat” restaurant. Seckie recently installed a new solar panel and requested a tutorial from Peter in practical DC circuits so he could complete its wiring. Self reliance is alive and well in the Caribbean!



The “Sun, Beach and Eatwas also the venue for renewal of wedding vows by a holidaying couple from Georgia & Tennessee. We were pleased to be invited, especially because they changed their original plan of Peter presiding at the ceremony. Apparently, Peter is qualified for such a role as Captain of a Ship, but he would not have been willing to come up with the religiosity that the couple wanted from the officiator. Fortunately, there was someone else, in a Captain's Hat, willing to produce the desired words. We were better off as witnesses.



We had some enjoyable conversations with our fisher friend, Mate, who taught Catherine how to make Tamarind Tea and gave Peter a lesson in repair of fishing nets.



When we finally departed Chatham Bay after a layover of 9 days, it was for a short sail over to Petit St. Vincent. We like this anchorage because of the secure holding on a shallow sand dome and the lovely, long beach. Check it out at 12-31.7' N 061-23.3'W. It was unusually windy during our stay. Nevertheless, the swimming and beach were spectacular.

On January 21 we sailed further north to Bequia (13-00.0'N 061-14.7'W) for the Jazz and Blues Festival (www.bequiatourism.com/bequiamusicfest). We have always enjoyed this festival, especially since a daytime venue was added at The Bequia Beach Hotel in Friendship Bay. We were pleased to be joined there by our cruising friends from Isle of Man.



Of course, a hammock under an Almond tree on the Tony Gibbons Beach is the perfect place to read once again the terrific novel by James MichenerCaribbean”.



On January 26 we joined our cruising friends from the Isle of Man on the ferry from Bequia to the big island of St Vincent, leaving our two boats securely anchored in Admiralty Bay, Bequia.



We walked to the bus terminal in Kingstown Harbour (13-09.00'N 61-14.00'W) and found the public bus for the northbound trip up the west side of the big island of St Vincent., passing through the villages of Buccament, Barrouallie, Cumberland, and Chateaubelair, each with their own lovely Bay. It is a wonderful ride through the mountains along the coast. We got off the bus at Chateaubelair for our lunch at the Beach Front restaurant (13-18.5'N 61-14.9'W).


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It turned into a rainy afternoon in the mountains so we abandoned our plan to hike to the Dark View Falls and got on the return bus to Kingstown for a walk through the Botanical Gardens in intermittent rain. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we came away with samples of fresh shadow benny, lemon grass, allspice, and whole nutmeg/mace. Of course, we had to see the Amazona Guildingii Parrots, national bird of St Vincent and the Grenadines.



On Jan 31, we departed Bequia for the 60 nm sail north across the St Vincent Channel, along the west coast of the big island of St Vincent that we had recently toured by bus, across the St Lucia Channel, past the Pitons, and along the west coast of St Lucia to Anse Cochon.

St :Lucia and Martinique will be topics of our next blog.

Peter and Catherine, aboard S/V Charlotte D now in Martinique.

We don't know 1 millionth of 1 percent about anything.” Thomas Edison \