Petit St Vincent is another private island and an exclusive holiday resort. If you can afford over $900US per night then this is the place to stay (or you may prefer the Cotton House Hotel on Mustique for roughly the same price). Fortunately for us we could anchor just off the island for free and use the resorts beach bar and restaurant. Unlike Mustique you can't explore the island but could use the beach by the anchorage. It was another beautiful spot to drop the anchor and we did enjoy a pleasant evening up the hill in the restaurant bar where there was live music.

Opposite Petit St Vincent just half a mile away is Petit Martinique. We decided to dingy over to Petit Martinique despite it being a bit windy and a little choppy, we just might get a bit wet. We had heard of a little shop on the island that sells reasonably priced wines. Wine in the Caribbean is expensive as like everything else it has to be imported. Our stocks were getting dangerously low so we were lured over to go in search.
This island is a complete contrast to Petit St Vincent. There are no posh hotels just homes for local people. The vast majority of black Caribbeans live very basic lives, eking a living from tourism, fishing or working in the hotel and restaurant industry. Bill and I feel a little uncomfortable about this. There is still an obvious difference in wealth between black and white but despite this difference we've found the Caribbean people to be wonderfully generous and friendly. The school children are delightful, extremely polite saying good morning/afternoon as they pass you. They are beautifully turned out with whiter than white shirts and wear their uniforms with pride. It was the 44th anniversary of Independence Day and the children were all dressed today in the red, green and yellow colours of their flag.

We took a little walk off the beaten path, when a man came out of his house calling over to us. I thought we were in trouble for trespassing on his land. However he just wanted to say hello and tell us all about the charity work that he does. His name was Osbert Felix Founder. Since 2002 he has been buying the Bluggoe bananas, drying them using solar powered dryers and then hand grinding the bananas into flour which is then distributed to the poor. He dries other fruit and vegetables and told us that the flour is used to make bread. He also feeds stray dogs with watered flour as it is full of potassium and other nutrients. Osbert was really proud of his humanitarian food product which he funds through donations and from the Catholic Church. We of course made a little donation and Osbert gave me a sample of his flour.

With the booze cruise completed we stepped back into the dinghy to go the half mile back toour boat. The wind had picked up and we would be motoring into the waves. We weren't sure if we would get back. Obviously we did but only after enduring the waves crashing over the bow of the dinghy absolutely soaking us. But hey the water is like a warm bath and the sun was still shining.