Cruising the Grenadines Pt. 3

Though not as developed as Bequia, Clifton Harbor has stores, water, ice, etc. It's also the last chance to clear customs and immigration when heading south from the St. Vincent territory to Carriacou which is part of Grenada. The dock isn't much. It's easier using the dinghy or water taxi from the anchorage unless you have to take on water. The customs and Immigration offices are at the airport, which is a short walk from the harbor.
One of the best secrets of Union Island is Chatham Bay around the other side from Clifton. It's back to nature there with far fewer visitors than the Tobago Cays. There's only one water taxi called "Shark Attack". James, the operator also makes carvings out of local wood there. The snorkeling was excellent despite an algae bloom. There were eagle rays, a nurse shark trying to hide in the algae and an 18 inch fish called a flying gurnard that shuffles along the sand and spreads it's huge pectoral fins like wings when startled. We were more startled than the fish to see the display.
The next stop was Canouan Island but not before putting Paul in charge of the passage and having him also do his man overboard drills. Bareboat Charter students are required to demonstrate two different return methods to complete the standard. Paul did three… a quick stop, a gybe and a figure eight.
The Moorings is now operating at the Tamarind Resort in Charlestown Bay. I ran into Michael Schantz, the CFO of The Moorings who told me about plans to develop a marina with a breakwater to make boarding the boats there easier than it is with the pier now in use. Canouan is in a nice location in the middle of The Grenadines and can be reached on an American Eagle flight from San Juan. We had dinner at one of the Tamarind Resort restaurants, which has a wood fired pizza oven. The pizza and calzone were great.
It was a close hauled sail from Canaoun back to Bequia to position ourselves for a morning return the next day to Sunsail. There was a fresh breeze of at least 20 knots so we double reefed. It would have been perfect except that I neglected to check the hatch over my forepeak cabin. I had earlier dogged the hatch in the upper position to let in some air so everything in the cabin became very wet by the time we discovered the situation in Bequia.Fortunately, it was a sunny afternoon so we were able to get the cushions dried out. Also, Daffodil was there to take our wet linens and laundry to wash, dry and bring back before dinner time. It was a bargain at $10 U.S. for each 10 pounds of laundry… weighed dry, not the way we gave it to them.
The final passage was a relatively short beat of 8 miles back to Blue Lagoon in St. Vincent. We left early in order to get the boats back in time to check in, have lunch and make a 2:10 p.m. flight back to Barbados, the connection point for St. Vincent instead of San Juan. Sunsail was very efficient in helping us get checked in and there was plenty of time to spare. We spent the night in Barbados at a beautiful beach hotel. Then, the flight in the morning got us into San Francisco by 5:00 p.m. via a Miami connection.
All in all it was an excellent trip with everybody agreeing that it would have been nice if we'd had a few more days. That's the way I like it to go. Of course, I'll be doing another trip in just a few months. Our Tahiti trip is in September. That's why my job is the best job in the world.

Cruising the Grenadines Pt. 2

Bequia is the most civilized island in The Grenadines with shops andrestaurants on the water's edge in the main harbor, Port Elizabeth in Admiralty Bay. Water taxi operators greet each arriving boat to assist with mooring buoys and offer the usual services such as bread, ice and taxi service. Daffodil Marine Services will answer a VHF call and come out to your boat to bring ice, water for the tanks and even pick up laundry to be cleaned, folded and brought back in a matter of hours. I think it's a good idea to accept a mooring buoy. The cost is only $15 to $20 (U.S.) and it's likely to be in a better place than where you might find to anchor. It's also easier getting along with the water taxi operators (often called boat boys) when they see you are spending into the local economy. One of our boats anchored away from the others and found upon returning from dinner ashore that the boat had been entered and relieved of a couple hundred dollars in cash. Compared to B.V.I., security is a greater issue down island. It's important to lock shut all hatches when leaving and even lock the dinghy and its engine with the cables and locks provided. Violent crimes are uncommon. Burglary can generally be avoided by making sure all the hatches are properly latched and anchoring or mooring in the vicinity of other cruisers instead of in isolated areas. In the morning it was time for the sail to The Tobago Cays. The passage (past Mustique and Canouan) of about 26 miles was a reach with 20 or so knots of wind. How sweet it is with the temperature in the mid 80's and the water a deep clear blue. We let Paul do most of the driving so he could get used to a 46 foot boat. Later in the week he would have to demonstrate proficiency in steering, man overboard drills, anchoring, navigation and use of systems to complete the on the water requirements for his certification. His prerequisite courses were completed at Spinnaker Sailing prior to the trip. The front door to the Tobago Cays is entered from just north of Mayreau Island along a range marked by the towers located on two of the little Cays, Petit Rameau and Petit Bateau. After following the range for over a mile, you pass between the two cays to anchor in the lee of Horseshoe Reef. There are no stores, restaurants, or any establishments ashore here, only 4 uninhabited cays. The anchorage is protected by Horseshoe Reef from the seas generated by the easterly trade winds. Water taxis provide the only services; bringing out bread, ice, freshly caught fish, tee-shirts, etc. They can also provide a fish barbecue on the beach of one of the cays for you. Diving services are also available and can be contacted via VHF. This is a place to enjoy nature. The snorkeling on Horseshoe Reef is fantastic. There are dinghy buoys over the reef so snorkelers don't damage the reef with their dinghy anchors.We got into the water as soon as we could after settling into the anchorage. The coral was in good shape with lots and lots of small fish. While snorkeling, Melinda saw a black tip shark and tried to call our attention to it but we were only paying attention to our own discoveries and missed the shark. We stayed in Tobago Cays two nights and had a fish barbecue on the beach organized by one of the water taxi operators. It was overpriced and we had to bring our own plates and silverware but it was fun getting all of us ashore together from the 4 boats. The barbecued fish was plentiful and very good. They provided potato salad, rice and beer to go with it. I don't even want to tell you what we paid but I will say: Be sure you know what you're going to get when negotiating a price with any of the water taxi operators. We slipped out the southern Back door of the Tobago Cays the next day to head directly to Clifton Harbor in Union Island. Unless you're familiar with the area, this should only be done when the sun is high because the gap through the reef isn't marked. We probably wouldn't have gone that way ourselves except for having seen the area the day before by dive boat.

Cruising the Grenadines pt. 1

As I prepare for another trip to the Grenadines in June 2006, I relfect upon the last trip in June 2003.

Some people say I have the best job in the world. Sometimes I even think so myself. My job, in addition to teaching sailing, directing the sailingschool program at Spinnaker Sailing in Redwood City and brokering chartervacations is to organize and lead group flotilla charters on behalf of Spinnaker Sailing. This has been going on three or four times a year sincethe late 1980's.
Our most recent trip was to The Grenadine Islands in the Windward Antillesfrom May 2 to May 11, where we chartered 4 boats from Sunsail in St.Vincent. We were 19 people in all making comfortable boat loading of 4 to 6people on boats ranging from 45 to 50 feet in length. The daytime temperatures were in the mid 80's and the wind was steady in the 20 knotrange just slightly north of east. My boat was an Oceanis 461 which also carried my wife, Melinda, Harry Gull who has done numerous trips with us and Paul Disenso, a student going for his ASA Bareboat Charter certificationduring the trip.
There are several bases for a Grenadines charter both inside and outside theimmediate area. Bases outside the Grenadines in the north are in St. Lucia and even further in Martinique. It's a glorious reach south into theGrenadines from the north. The distance is about 70 miles from The Moorings base at Marigot Bay in St. Lucia (north of St. Vincent) to Bequia in thenorthern Grenadines. Getting back isn't so easy and many charterers chooseto continue one way to Grenada to finish their charters. If you choose tostart in Grenada where both Moorings and Sunsail have bases, it's 40 miles(mostly upwind) to Carriacou in the southern Grenadines. Between Carriacou to Bequia it's generally reaching with gaps between the islands of less than15 miles. Returning to Grenada is another glorious sleigh ride.
For those who don't like or don't have time for long passages, there are currently two places to charter right in The Grenadines. The Sunsail baseis at the Blue Lagoon Marina at the southern end of St. Vincent. From thereit is only 8 miles into Admiralty Bay in Bequia. Also, The Moorings hasrecently opened up a base in Charlestown Bay at Canouan Island right in themiddle of the Grenadines. From California, both places can be reached by 3flights which means getting to either base is almost as easy as getting to B.V.I. We wanted a charter location where we could enjoy as much time aspossible in The Grenadines. St. Vincent fit the bill quite well.
After a mid-afternoon arrival in St. Vincent and a night on the boats, Sunsail provided us with boat and chart briefings. Before setting sail on a bareboat vacation there's more to do. There's checking and stowing the provisions and checking out the boat and all the equipment. Sunsail has aprovision and beverage ordering system via the internet that is reminiscent of ordering from Webvan. The cold and frozen stuff was bagged up and waiting for us to pick up in the market at the marina and the rest was aboard the boats when we arrived. It was mid-day before we set sail for the short passage to Bequia on an easy reach.