We left Trinidad on December 1st as planned and did an overnight sail to Grenada. We left early enough so that we passed by the Hibiscus Production Platform during daylight hours. The platform is easy to see at night but the supply vessels aometimes get lost in the lights of the platform. We both felt fine so we keep going past Grenada and up to Chatham Harbour on the west side of Union Island and anchored for the night. Union Island is at the south end of the Grenadines.
It was a total of about 24 hours underway. Chatham looked very pleasant but we could not get off the boat as we had not yet checked into the country. It will be a stop on the way back to Trinidad.
Yesterday we had a close hauled sail (sailing close to the wind) and motor for about 25 miles NNE to Bequia at the north end of the Grenadines. So far we have net progress of about 150 miles in 30 hours underway – not bad considering several hours were beating (zigzagging upwind). The weather is warm but the trade winds blow steadily and keep us from overheating.
Tag Archives: Bequia
St Vincent & The Grenadines
On May 8th we sailed to Wallilabou on the main island of St Vincent. This is the bay where part of the first Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. We picked up a mooring ball and then explored the beach to see what remained from the set of the movie.
Our next stop was Port Elizabeth on Bequia where we picked up a mooring ball. We spent a few days here enjoying the lovely island. Richard and Mike rented scooters and toured the island but neither took a camera with them. I guess that is my excuse for going back next season! It is an island that is known for its whaling; the islanders are still allowed to catch 1 or 2 whales each year, using the traditional methods involving a sailboat and a hand-thrown harpoon, taking the whales to the nearby uninhabited island of Petit Nevis for butchering and rendering. It would be interesting to be there when they brought one in…
We had a great sail to Mustique, the home of the rich and famous. We had drinks at Basil’s Bar where Mick Jagger is known to frequent. We didn’t see anyone famous but we did see tortoises on our walk around the island.
From Mustique we sailed to the Tobagos Cays, a national park with great reefs that are home to numerous fish and turtles. We took our dinghy to Turtle Island where we snorkelled with the Hawksbill turtles. I was surprised to see the turtles eating the grass off the ocean floor, I never knew what they ate before!
We sailed to Union Island to check out of St Vincent. We had a drink at Happy Island, an island built on conch shells by Janti, quite a unique place…