Will
01/26/2011, Rodney Bay Marina, St. Lucia, West Indies

We left St. Vincent about 3 days ago. It was a rough passage. We got hit by a gigantic squall and winds got up to 35 knots. The winds otherwise weren't too bad -- about 20 knots. We were going to go to Vieux Fort, but decided to go to Soufriere instead. We got to Soufriere, but only checked in there because it is under the Pitons and everything under the Pitons is expensive. The Pitons are two large, dramatic peaks on the south-west side of the island. A lot of the tourism is focused there. Then we went to Marigot Bay and spent the last 2 nights there. Now we're in Rodney Bay, the beginning of our Caribbean cruises and the end of our Atlantic crossing. It's also the start of another section in our exploration of the Caribbean. If you want to go that route, it's also the place where we (supposedly, I wasn't paying real close attention) decided to end our trip and go to Seattle after Panama.

For now, however, we plan to go to Martinique tomorrow. We have repairs to do, so we'll likely stay there for a few days. After that, we'll probably head north, but I don't know. We have a friend coming in soon, so we may hang around here.

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Will
01/21/2011, Admiralty Bay, Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, West Indies

From Chatham Bay, we made it to Canouan. We did not originally intend to go to Canouan, but as the winds were up and the seas uncomfortable, we decided to split up the 26 n.m. journey to Bequia. Canouan was a nice island, for no particular reason. It is just like every other Caribbean island, but its quaintness, I guess, is what makes it so nice. We anchored in the considerably rolly anchorage right in the middle of the mooring field. They were well spaced, though, so it wasn't much of an issue.

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Will
01/18/2011, Chatham Bay, Union Island, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, West Indies

I haven't been able to blog in a while, so I apologize. We've been down to Grenada, and back to Union Island. Chatham Bay is a huge bay on the west, or 'other', side of Union Island. We came here on the recommendation of some friends that we just met in Sandy Island, Grenada. They are from Seattle, so we were excited to meet them.

Grenada is seemingly richer than most Caribbean countries. St. Lucia had that feeling as well. We stayed about a week in Prickly Bay and another few days in St. George's. Prickly Bay is a popular anchorage in Grenada, and St. George's is the capitol. I have no idea why Prickly Bay is so popular. It is lined with expensive houses with a ship chandlery, marina, and couple of restaurants. It is protected, but it isn't the only protected bay around.

St. George's is a "big" city. ('Big' meaning it can take cruise ships and freighters.) There are two harbors, the main one and the 'Lagoon'. No anchoring in the main one and the 'Lagoon' is mostly taken up by a huge, fancy, expensive, mega-yacht type marina. The first time we went, we had to set a stern anchor. The second time, we anchored on 3:1 for about an hour while we got our free Wi-Fi.

Now we are anchored in Chatham Bay. It is a nice place, and is rather secluded. There are three restaurant and bar combos and one just restaurant. There also appears to be a resort. There's good snorkeling over by the point.

Right now our plan is to have no plan, so I have no idea where we'll be going next. Probably the Tobago Cays, but who knows.

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Will
01/05/2011, Clifton Harbor, Union Island, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, West Indies

Today we were supposed to leave St. Vincent & the Grenadines. 'Supposed' is the operative word there. Now our plans are to head to the island of Carriacou tomorrow, which is in the country of Grenada.

So far, the only thing worth mentioning is Orion's birthday. If you're thinking that the Orion I mean is a constellation, then you may want to know that I am talking about my friend on s/v 'Juno'. But, back to Orion's birthday. Unfortunately he only got one present (from his grandparents, I think)

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Will
01/02/2011, Union Island, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, West Indies

Well, as you probably noticed, yesterday was one of the four big days of the year. The days with only 1's in the date. It was also New Year's Day, which may or may not be important, depending on who or where you are. Where we are, it is of little consequence. However, on the islands, it offers the locals a new way of greeting when they come out to our boat to try to sell diesel, water, lobster, mooring buoys, etc. which I just found out today. Since we spent the New Year in a small, out-of-the-way anchorage called Windward Bay on Mayreau Island, we didn't have many vendors come out to our boat. Now that we're on Union Island, that's all changed, because Union Island is much busier than Windward Bay.
There are several reasons we came here. For one, we are running low on food (rather important). For another, s/v 'Juno' is here, and has been for several days. For yet another reason, Union Island is close by and we wanted to move somewhere.

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Will
12/22/2010, Port Elizabeth, Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, West Indies

A lot has happened since we left Rodney Bay two days ago. Most importantly, we've arrived at the place where we are going to spend Christmas. That's also another important thing that's happened - Christmas is coming up in three days (I'm sure you know this, but just making sure!) and we've met up with our friends from s/v Juno. We are planning to spend Christmas on Bequia with them.

But for now, we're just relaxing and enjoying a very green pre-Christmas. I am sincerely hoping that we don't get a white Christmas like so much of the rest of the world is experiencing.

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