Heading south: Windward Islands
04 June 2017
Photo: Weight out, Martinique.
Our last night in Portsmouth, Dominica, a localised storm appeared and not long after we went to bed we were awoken with flashlights and to the sound of horns. Several boats had dragged their anchors, and one its mooring, and were heading out of the bay. It appeared the local PAYS guy had spotted the boats and was organising to get them re-anchored. After a short period of time all was under control and we returned to bed. We were up and away by 05:45 the following morning and headed down to St Pierre, Martinique 53nm away. The trip down was the usual of no wind behind Dominica, we then sailed across to Martinique with the highest wind speed of 30 knots, eventually motor sailing the last 7nm with little wind into St Pierre, where we anchored and Brian took the dinghy into town to clear in.
There is nothing at St Pierre and Brian commented the town looked pretty ordinary, so Saturday morning we sailed 16nm and anchored in Grand Anse D’Arlet. D’Arlet was a small holiday spot with a few cafes and holiday homes on the beach. The cliffs at the entrance to the bay were a popular dive spot, we saw several dive boats on our way in and others leave the anchorage. Apart from one boat that came in after dark with no lights on and decided he wanted to anchor close to shore, it was a quiet night.
Sunday we motored around to the Cul de Sac at St Annes. Whilst there we went and said goodbye to John and Kerry “Lurata” who were heading off to the ABC islands and onto Panama. We have enjoyed their company over the last 5 months and will catch up again when both yachts are back in NZ. Brian also used the calm waters to touch up some of the varnish spots that had deteriorated faster than the main parts which will be done down in Grenada, as our plans have changed and we will leave Dol in Spice Island, Grenada and not Trinidad as originally planned.
Tuesday 16th we sailed the 25nm across to Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia. We did not want to suffer the Rodney Bay roll again and it will give us the opportunity to get some canvas work modified, wash the boat and fully charge the batteries. Oh and run the air conditioner as the humidity has certainly increased in the last week or so.
Two days later we filled the diesel tanks with duty free fuel and headed out of Rodney bay, motor sailing 8nm down to Marigot Bay where we picked up a mooring. We hadn’t visited Marigot on our way north so it was a new place for us. Marigot Harbour is an interesting place, the outer harbour has moorings and room to anchor either side of the channel, the inner harbour is moorings and a marina with an up market resort and facilities. Covered in the mooring fee, US$30 you can use all the facilities of the resort, we had to check out the Rum Cave. The harbour is a busy place with an eco-resort and several restaurants and cafes. Water taxis run constantly taking people from one side of the harbour to the other, as it is bordered by mangroves and there is no track around. All the staff we came into contact with were very friendly and helpful. We went ashore and walked the Ridge Trail to the lookout for great views across St Lucia. In the evening an outdoor movie was set up dockside, not sure what the movie was as we were just too far away.
05:30 the following morning we were motoring out of the bay for the 63nm trip to Admiralty Bay, Bequia. The trip was largely uneventful, we managed to sail over half of it and motor sail the rest. In the channel between St Lucia and St Vincent we experienced a couple of heavy rain squalls that had wind of 34 knots. We also saw a couple of water spouts from whales, they did not surface fully so we could not tell the type of whales. We had the anchor down in Bequia at 15:00, completing the loop as this was our first anchorage after we came across from Barbados in January. After Brian had cleared in with Customs, he snorkelled the anchor to make sure it was buried, he saw a couple of really nice eagle rays under the boat. We spent the weekend at Bequia, relaxing and enjoying swims and a couple of walks in town. After dark it was amusing to watch people motoring around the anchorage in their dinghies trying to locate their boats.
Monday we headed off and sailed to Canouan Island 20nms away, spotting two very nice large turtles on the way, but decided it did not look the most attractive anchorage, there were no other boats there, so we carried on another 5nms and anchored at Petit Bateau, Tobago Cays, having navigated our way through the reefs. A very pretty spot, there is a strong current and some water movement but not unpleasant. Tobago Cays is a national park and the ranger came alongside to collect the $10EC per person for the night. Tobago Cays is an area of uninhabited sandy cays and reefs, the area is not large and with the strong easterly winds we had, 18-24knots, the larger anchorage was not tenable. On the largest of the cays there is a lobster bbq and small stalls. We could see why the place is a mecca for kite surfers, with the year round constant trade winds they are guaranteed winds and plenty of room. It was best to swim from the beach as the current in the anchorage meant that you hung onto the boat or had fins on, one yachtie has reported the current at 2 knots. We were happy to visit the Cays in the low season, it would be crowded in high season. It would have been better if we had less wind, calmer days would have been ideal to snorkel the reefs and the turtle watching area. After a broken night’s sleep, we motored out of the Cays and around to Saline Bay, Mayreau Island, for morning tea. The bay is large and open with a sandy beach, although the wind was blowing the anchorage was quite calm. We stopped for morning tea watching the local fisherman casting their nets. On the way into the bay we almost went too close to two of their fish spotters who were snorkelling looking for fish, unfortunately they were towing clear plastic bottles not flags so were very difficult to see.
After morning tea we left the bay and motored across to Chatham Bay, Union Island. The bay again is large with a sandy beach and high hills, so there were a few gusts, but the holding is good in sand.
The bay has several bbq places ashore, one more up market than the rest, there were also lots of turtles coming up for air, making the snorkel interesting along with the shoals of fish. After a quiet night we motored around to Clifton Harbour to clear out. Clifton is a lot busier anchorage, most boats anchor behind the reef or take a mooring closer in the harbour. Again there were several kite surfers enjoying the flat water and winds behind the reefs.
Once we cleared out it was a pleasant sail with only the headsail down to Carriacou Island, Grenada, our last country for the season. We anchored in Tyrrel Bay in 5ms of water, with plenty of other yachts many we have seen during our trip south, all heading down to be below the hurricane lattitudes by 1 June. We took the dinghy into the dock and cleared in at Customs and Immigration, then went for a walk along the beach to the mini market. On the way back we stopped at the Slipway Restaurant and were happy to give a donation to the Carriacou Children’s Education Fund in return for the password to their Wi-Fi which we could access from the boat.
Thursday 25th May we left Tyrrel Bay at 06:30 and sailed down to the bottom of Grenada Island, 33nms away, careful to ensure we stayed outside the exclusion zone for Kick’em Jenny, an underwater volcano that last erupted in 1989. The volcano lies in almost a direct line between Carriacou and Grenada and you certainly do not want to be on top of it when it blows. We had the anchor down in Prickly Bay, Grenada at 12:40, this is the last anchorage for us, as we leave the Dol in Spice Island marina for the hurricane season and we will head back to NZ for a break. Time to start all the jobs that need doing to prepare for leaving Dol for an extended period of time.
Friday 2nd June, 09:00, we were at the travel lift and Dol was lifted out of the water, power washed and placed on the hydraulic transfer “truck” and taken to her allocated place in the yard. The cradle was then constructed and the tie downs put in place. Although this is below the official hurricane lattitudes, every precaution is taken. We decided not to stay on the boat in the yard and moved into Cool Runnings Apartments for 3 nights while we did the jobs.
It has been a long season but an enjoyable one. We have travelled over 6000nm from Licata in Sicily out of the Mediterranean, down to Morocco, Canary Island and then across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Time for a break at home.