Grenadine dawdle
30 May 2017 | Mayreau
Then on to the Tobago Cays where we anchored and spent two nights without doing much as the wind was blowing 25kts. So no snorkelling or going ashore – we were a bit pathetic really.
Anyway we cut our losses and went the three miles west to Saltwhistle Bay on Mayreau. This is a lovely sheltered bay with a find sand beach, a walk to the headland and a road up to the main settlement with its stunning views of Tobago Cays and nearby islands. The bay has lots of moorings but when we told one of the local guys who came out to meet us that we wanted to anchor he found us a very good spot close to the shore. He then persuaded us to eat at ‘his’ restaurant that night which seemed to be the right thing to do – we said we would come for 1800 and no sooner had we sat down than the food appeared. It was OK but we cannot recommend eating ashore here or indeed at the other Grenadine islands.
On Saturday 13th May we motored the 5nm to Chatham Bay on Union Island and chilled for a couple of nights, before going to Clifton for fruit and vegetables and outward clearance. Chatham Bay is nice with plenty of space to anchor, a slight katabatic wind effect and beach bars ashore. We had a drink with Richard and Shelley on ‘Ailsa’, fellow OCC members, so that was nice.
Clifton we did not like much … and ace outboard mechanic Roger in St Lucia had not properly fixed the 9.9hp Yamaha outboard which again lost power and we had to use the 2.5hp Suzuki which was not great in the 18-22kts wind blowing into the anchorage.
Why did we not like Clifton? There are some quite aggressive people ashore wanting to sell fuel, ice and so on, and apart from fruit and vegetables at the small market everything is geared to charter boats. However we had a walk to Ashton where the people were very friendly, wishing Norma “Happy Mothers’ Day” and giving advice on alternative routes to walk. Clearance is easy in the town of Clifton and then it was the 11nm to Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou.