Aleria Update 8

Hello all, We had heard about the Grenadines but never sailed them and hadn't imagined how idyllic they truly are. It is a bit confusing in that some belong to Grenada while others are territory of St Vincent, yet all are considered Grenadines from Grenada to St Vincent. Yet you can almost toss a ball from one island to another. So the sailing is a matter of pulling up the anchor mid-morning and dropping it back down before lunch. Which is what makes the area so ideal for chartering, and there are loads of charter boats on parade going every which way among the islands.  Yet, there is a huge difference between being on a charter boat for a week or two and what we are doing by living aboard. If we see a place we like, we stop, explore, try out several different anchorages, make many dinghy trips to secluded beaches and reefs, and get to know some of the people and their customs and beliefs. The charter boats on the other hand all rush in around noon. Drop the hook, go for a dinghy ride and maybe a swim, have dinner ashore, then go to sleep. The next morning, they are up early and off to the next island. In this way, they can say they "did the Grenadines." But it is only a glimpse. They rarely stop to talk to Roberto who sells the mangrove oysters from the swamp in Carriacou, but they do go home with T-shirts from each island as a memento.  We hardly spent enough time in the Grenadines and there are many little ones we skipped. So we'll just have to come again. Basically, this has been like a grand reconnaissance mission because others can tell you what they liked best, but the only way to truly find your own paradise is to search for it yourself.  So, based on our experience, we loved three places in the Grenadines best. We loved Grenada for its natural beauty, cruising friendly territory, unspoiled and undeveloped shores, great food, and lovely genuine people. We could easily live there, or at least spend loads of time there. We've already written about Grenada and it still remains a favorite. We loved the uninhabited and protected Tobago Cays and sparsely inhabited Mayreau next door for their isolation, raw natural beauty, spectacular reefs for snorkeling, and memorable idyllic anchorages.  Imagine anchoring inside a coral reef with nothing but wild Atlantic Ocean on the other side of it. The anchorage is flanked by three islets with beautiful beaches and palm trees providing shade to beachgoers. You can swim with the turtles off one beach or jump off your boat and swim with millions of tiny fishes inside the reef. As you watch, huge schools of them jump out of the water and land in perfect unison like a synchronized swimming team. We don't know how they all know this is a sanctuary but they surely seem to.    You can take your dinghy out to the reef and swim with large schools of "eatin' size fish", as Alex says, following the canyons among the colorful corals.  Or you can dinghy to white sand beaches and swim in the perfect turquoise waters, then hike to the top of the islands amidst tropical foliage to get an aerial view of the anchorage. What's not to like? Of course, you have be self-sufficient as you are not allowed to fish in the marine sanctuary.  And there aren't any tiki bars, although Mayreau has plenty of funky restaurants and bars to explore. There are no all-inclusive resorts here. Just people cooking for their new friends. They also have the sweetest little Catholic church at the highest point of the island decorated with primitive art. It has the most magnificent view overlooking the Tobago Cays you could imagine. The day we were in Mayreau, we had anchored in Saline Bay with about four other boats when a windjammer cruise ship anchored and started disgorging hundreds of nudists onto the bay-wide white sand beach flanked by coral reefs. They brought everything along including beach chairs, a full bar, BBQ lunch, floating toys, sailing dinghies, etc. We walked up to the bar where perfectly “groomedâ€� guests were preening, posing, romping, and otherwise showing off while sporting glowing bright red sunburns on their first day out. We ordered a couple of beers at the beach bar and realized this was an all-inclusive group! Free drinks for the rest of the day. You should have seen all the other cruisers sticking out like sore thumbs and dumbfounded at their luck of finding a free bar in paradise.  Meanwhile, our dinghy got wedged under the dock and swamped, and we had to remove engine, tanks, etc, then try to empty the water and all the sand. But the two of us couldn't flip it, get it up the beach, and or get the water out between wave surges. A very healthy athletic couple saw our dilemma, came traipsing up gaily, and flipped it to our grateful thanks.  When the cruise ship left at about 4 pm which they all do, we found ourselves in one of the loveliest anchorages yet. The other Mayreau anchorage, Saltwhistle Bay, looks even better but was jammed with charter boats as we passed by. Next time we'll tuck in there on a Saturday - changeover day for charters. The other islands we visited included Carriacou where we anchored in Tyrrel Bay, a sleepy village by the sea. We visited funky Hillsborough by bus because the winds had blown up and that anchorage was exposed. Hillsborough has 100 bars, 1 gas/petrol station, 1 police station, at least 5 supermarkets and loads of boutiques carrying tourist stuff. Yet no two shops or markets have a full repertoire of goods. So you have to go from one to the other until you find everything you need. Carriacou, part of Grenada, did not show as much pride as Grenada. There was garbage everywhere which spoiled some of the natural attraction. We checked out with customs and immigration and then moved on to Union Island, where we checked into the St Vincent Grenadines.  Union Island is surrounded by reefs that form a natural harbour at the main town. It is here that we first experienced anchoring on the edge of the Atlantic. Unfortunately, there are loads of charter boats that don't know how to anchor properly and there were horror stories of boats ending up on the reef and taking other boats with them in the blow the previous week.  There is a tiny airport on Union for private flights that was financed by the Chinese and this is where customs and immigration reside. It is a 5 minute walk from the Anchorage Yacht Club - AYC, which has a cruisers bar with free wifi. Union is very colorful, with market stalls painted in bright primary paints. There is also a German ex-pat artist who has built a most amazing establishment of boutiques, art gallery and bars on her property. But, in general, the people were far more surly than they were in the Grenada Grenadines, and that's what held us in reserve about the island. We would still like to visit lovely Chatham Bay on the Southern shore another time. We were en route to Mustique, home of Mick Jagger and many other celebs, for the Blues festival but the wind was blowing on the nose about 25 knots so we diverted to Bequia. Truthfully, sailing down here has been quite challenging since we arrived. In January, there were few days when it wasn't blowing over 25-30 knots with large swells causing difficulty in many anchorages and marinas. We heard that many inexperienced charterers had had difficulty and ended up staying put on their boats in safe harbours rather than venturing out. We witnessed several boats out of control as we sailed.  Aleria likes a bit of wind so we were lucky. It is a beat going from Grenada northward and most of the time you are sailing along the western lee shore where all the harbours usually are. Wind tunnels form between the islands where the velocity accelerates; and shadows are cast by the mountains where you stall until strong gusts, sometimes over 40 knots, come down passes between the mountains in conflicting directions to the prevailing northeasterlies. Add to that strong currents along the coasts and water going from 600 feet to 60 very rapidly and you've got interesting conditions. Luckily, most of the islands are just a few miles apart so you don't usually suffer long.   Bequia was a lovely stop. Admiralty Bay is a vast anchorage with the village of Port Elizabeth catering to cruisers at one end, towering jagged mountains at the other end, and two long beaches in between. The hills are dotted with gingerbread houses with wide porches in pastel colors. There are lots of British ex-pats. The Rastafarians rule the vegetable market, and everything else is just right. Loads of good restaurants. Plenty of dinghy docks. We didn't have nearly enough time here after three days, so we'll be back for more.  Once again, we ran across our friends Ali and Shane aboard Talulah in Bequia and had a massively fun dinner together. We also shared cocktails aboard Lolita, a Swan 56, with Clive and Alice, Captain and Crew from Cork who we met first in Prickly Bay. These are friendships we will continue for a lifetime.   Pirates of the Caribbean has had a huge impact on some of the islands. Several served as locations for the blockbuster movie series, including private tiny Palm Island, towering St Vincent and others. One couple was making a point of visiting every one. We passed by them all for various reasons.  St Vincent was one we would have liked to have seen. But the level of reported crime in St Vincent against yachts has caused everyone to advise against going to all but one port in the south where the local businesses have bought a boat and finance patrol the anchorage. As we sailed past, we marveled at the fantastic beauty of the island - jagged peaks, majestic valleys, lush foliage. It is one of the largest, most unspoiled, least populated and poorest islands in the region.  So after a 70-mile jaunt from Bequia to Rodney Bay, St Lucia via a quick stop to check in at Soufriere near the Pitons, we will be meeting up with Alex’s mother Meike for a weeklong adventure sailing the legendary coast here. We already miss the Grenadines, but our minds are open to all adventures yet to come. There are so many more islands and so little time to explore before hurricane season commands our exit. Next come the French islands where we will restock our supply of wine, not a moment too soon. Food has been an interesting exploratory mission. We have fallen in love with inexpensive Portuguese wines, Madeira exotic fresh fruit drinks, La Gomera Palm syrup, Bajan spice and flying fish fry, Grenadian nutmeg jams and jellies, Grenadine spiny lobsters, Carriacou mangrove oysters, as well as hot sauces, curries and local beers from every district. It has now become a passion to discover the specialty of the place. In most places, it’s the smile that carries the day.  Fair winds,Daria & Alex & Onyx