Grenadines

Cruising Log of Grenadines

Contributed By: Captain Randy Williamson; Mate: Susan Williamson - June 28-July 13, 1998

See Current Cruise Permits Fees in Grenada

27 June

Was shocked at the American Airlines counter to be told that there is an embargo on shipping boxes to the islands. We had packed all of our junk food in two cardboard boxes! After some discussion they agreed to take the boxes. Next time we will pack the food in suitcases.

Arrived without incident at Marigot Bay with boxes safely delivered. Had dinner at the newly refurbished Marigot Yacht Club 9previously Doolittles). An excellent buffet - the grilled fish was outstanding (cost for 5 people was $260EC)

28 June

Checked out the boat - everything appears in good condition. Provisioned for breakfasts and lunches and a few dinners at the Moorings store (cost $250US). Normally we would do this by sailing to Castries but we decided to go directly south this time and not bother sailing to Castries for provisions.

After our briefing we sailed to Anse Chastanet and snorkeled the reef. Betty learned to use her snorkel equipment off of the sand beach and was proficient by the time we left. Snorkeling was good.

Sailed to Jalousie and picked up a mooring for the night. The government's moorings have been removed and the resort's moorings go for $15/night (though the resort has been bought by a large hotel chain and is currently closed for renovation). The nigh was the worse I have ever had at a mooring with a swell out of the north causing constant, violent rolling. The crew agreed that they would throw the captain overboard if we had one more night like this (and the captain agreed with the assessment).

29 June

Left at 0630 for Bequia. Moderate wind - used full main and jib and did 7 to 8 knots most of the way. Quite choppy in the channel between St. Lucia and St. Vincent. After the bad night, most of the crew just slept on deck during the sail. Arrived at Bequia at 1430.
We took a mooring at Bequia ($15US). Later we checked out Princess Margaret Bay by dinghy. This would be an excellent anchorage next trip. Cleared customs and had dinner at the Trailhouse Restaurant - great meal. Total cost for 5 was $309EC with only a few drinks. Service was good.

Great night for sleeping - good steady wind and no swell. Crew has given the captain a conditional pardon from the night at Jalousie!

30 June

Beautiful morning, everyone well rested. Sailed to Mustique. Snorkeled the reef for a few hours then rented a mule (a large golf cart capable of seating up to 6 people) to tour the island. I had obtained a license when we cleared customs in Bequia on Saturday because I was not sure if the police station on Mustique would be open on Sunday. Called the rental company from Basil's bar and they picked me up to take me to their office for renting the mule. Normally they are not open on Sunday but the manager was in the office and he accommodated us. Cost of the license was $18US and the rental of the mule for 24 hours was $78US. Did a three-hour tour of the island via mule. They have many beautiful houses to see and some of the views from the tops of the hills are spectacular.

Had dinner at Basil's bar - both the food and the service was good. Cost for food and drinks were $201US for the 5 of us.

1 July

Betty, Jean and Susan shopped the stores on the waterfront. Bought 5 loaves of delicious fresh bread from the bakery. Unlike previous trips there was no ice available for purchase. One of the store owners started up her ice machine and gave us all of the ice that it made in two hours - about 2/3 of a bag. She would not take any payment because it was not a full bag.

Snorkeled the reef, then left at 1300 for Tobago Cays. Arrived at 1600. Crew too tired to snorkel. Fixed pasta salad for dinner and retired early

2 July

Morning rains delayed snorkeling until 0930 but then we had a great 2 hours on the reef with no current and no swell. Had lunch then a nap! In the afternoon we did some beach walking and tried to snorkel the reefs off the beach but the water was quite shallow and snorkeling was difficult. Went back to the reef and the snorkeling was great as always but there was a strong current to contend with.

Fee

Left Tobago Cays at 0830 to sail to Union Island to provision and clear customs out of St. Vincent. Sailing toward Catholic Island under a single reef main and full jib on a broad reach with autopilot engaged. Suddenly the auto pilot threw the rudder hard over to starboard and we went into a series of tacks and gibes - looked like a racer doing 720 degree penalty turns after a rules violation. We did two complete turns before we could regain our balance and disengage the autopilot. Very exciting time! We then discovered that the bracket that attaches the sensor unit for the autopilot to the bulkhead had broken loose (it was installed with four small screws to the fiberglass bulkhead). When it broke free the sensor perceived that we were way off course and sent a signal to the computer telling the boat to turn right as hard as possible. Even though we turned, the sensor continued to perceive that we were off course because it was hanging at the extreme of the piston so it continued to tell the computer to turn as hard as possible.

We pulled into Salt Whistle Bay to inspect the autopilot and, after consulting with the charter company's representative, we agreed to wait until we got to Secret Harbor in Grenada for repairs. Rick agreed to phone the base and tell them that we would want a mechanic to repair the damage on Friday. At the same time he informed them that we wanted the gypsy on the anchor windlass replaced as the chain was constantly skipping when we tried to raise the anchor (even with only the weight of the anchor as strain) and we had to raise the anchor by hand.

Cleared customs at Union Island and then sailed to Hillsboro to clear in to Grenada. From Hillsboro we sailed to Tyrell Bay for the evening. At Tyrell we had dinner at Scrappers. An excellent meal that was reasonably priced at $155EC for 5 including drinks.

4 July

Raised anchor at 0600 to sail to Secret Harbor. Great day of sailing with the wind off the port quarter all day until we rounded Saline Point. In the lee of Grenada the wind was 10-15 knots and reasonably steady. Around the point the wind was 25-35 and right on the nose. We motored the last 45 minutes to get to the marina before the maintenance staff left for the day so we could be sure that they were prepared to fix our gypsy and autopilot.

Met the new senior supervisor (Yachtho -real name Augustas Henry) and talked with David, the base manager about needed repairs. Told them that we planned to do an all day tour of Grenada the next day so they could have the boat for the entire day to do required repairs.

Arranged with Keith Alexander (K and J Tours, phone: 440-4227 (home) or 441-9621 (mobile)) for a tour on Friday. Had dinner at the Moorings restaurant - good meal but quite pricey at $580EC with almost no drinks. Night was a little warm laying dockside but not unbearable. Had some mosquitoes and flies.

5 July

Repairs under way at 0800 we left for our island tour at 0900. Started with a tour of the rum distillery and sugar factory. Quite interesting to see the integration of the operation that they have accomplished with almost no waste coming out of the factory or distillery that was not used.

Next we visited Laura's Spice Plantation. Had an excellent tour of the plantation with Jillian, our guide. She knew all of the many uses for the many varieties of plants that are grown in the plantation. This was one of the better tours that we have had in all on the islands and one that we will repeat.

We visited the volcano lake (Etang Park) - interesting but not spectacular. Then to lunch at the Heliotrop Restaurant overlooking St. Georges Harbor. Good view but the lunch was mostly fried food and much more than we needed to eat.

Drove through the rain forest and the banana plantations to Concord Falls. The forest was interesting but the falls were not much. We would recommend Annandale Falls which we visited our last trip (though they are not spectacular by world waterfall standards).

We ended the tour at the IGA Foodland supermarket in St. Georges. This is an excellent store for provisioning with a wide selection at reasonable (for the islands) prices. They have a dinghy dock across the street from their store and later in the trip I talked with several charter captains who said that they always sail into the inner harbor and anchor to do their provisioning at this store.

We returned to the marina at 1730. The cost for the entire day was $100US and we gave Keith a $20US tip. He is a truly knowledgeable guide and an excellent driver.

On returning to the marina we learned of tropical storm Bertha. Watched the weather channel and decided to wait until the morning before deciding our scheduling. The evening was quite but the mosquitoes from the night before brought many of their friends to enjoy the feast so sleeping was not too good for the sweet members of the crew. The captain had no problems - too sour for the mosquito's taste.

6 July

Crew had breakfast at the Moorings Secret Harbor Resort while the captain worked with the St. Lucia base to determine our schedule. The reports showed a small risk that Bertha could swing west and come into our sailing area so we decided to stay at Grenada another day.

Spent the day at the resort pool visiting with other boaters. One group of three yachts was great fun. One couple had gotten married at sea by the captain (though there is mixed opinion on how valid the marriage is after the conclusion of the voyage). The bride, rose has sailed extensively around the world. This group, mostly from Texas, was full of engaging tales. One of their 3 boats hit the reef at Union Island yesterday. They were pulled off by a tug that is under contract with The Moorings (cost was reported to be $2000 per incident). While on the reef they were boarded by several boat boys who were trying to help them reduce damage to the reef. The rescue boat captain insisted that all of the boat boys leave the boat before he would attempt to pull the boat off the reef. The boys would not leave without being paid. They insisted on $20EC each to get off the boat that they were "helping to rescue". The boat was extracted from the reef and appeared to not be seriously damaged. They sailed her to Grenada without incident.

Weather reports said that the storm is continuing to track north and will not affect our sailing area. We will leave on Sunday morning. Walked over to Prickly bay in the afternoon to clear customs for departure from Grenada on Sunday morning. We made a wrong turn and saw many beautiful houses along the road that leads out to Prickly Point. The walk to the customs office should be only 20 minutes but we turned it into an hour excursion. However the detour that we took was very interesting and we were glad to have seen the way the upscale class lives in Grenada.

In the evening we went to the Red Crab restaurant, a short taxi ride from Secret Harbor. This was the best meal that we have had and the cost was only $353EC. The taxi was $20EC each way. While there the three boats that we had visited with came in for dinner and it was fun to watch them after their afternoon at the pool drinking rum punch.

7 July

Left Secret Harbor at 0630 and motor sailed under light winds and arrived at Petit St Vincent at 1430. This is a beautiful harbor with an outstanding beach. During the night the wind did what it "never" does in these islands and clocked 180 degrees to come out of the southwest. We awoke at 0400 to find our keel on the sand bottom. By swinging the boom out to the spreaders and placing a "substantial" captain on the boom at the end we were able to heel the boat enough to motor off the bottom. We then set a second anchor to hold us off the bottom until we could sort things out after the sun came up. The unusual wind was a result of Bertha passing through to the north of us. We actually found ourselves on a port tack going north - highly unusual for this area.

8 July

Sailed to Union Island to clear customs into St. Vincent then sailed on to Tobago Cays for the evening. Snorkeling was not good as there was a strong surge and swell and the water was cloudy - residue from the storms to the north.

9 July

Left Tobago Cays for Mustique but a heavy rainstorm caused us to change course for Bequia. Arrived in Bequia at 1320 to find customs closed until 1500 as it was a public holiday (second day of Carnival). We returned to customs at 1500 but the officers did not appear. At 1615 we assumed that they had decided to go to Carnival and were not going to open as scheduled. The local police would not confirm this but their attitude gave a strong message that we were probably right. We decided to leave the next morning as planned without clearing out of St. Vincent and reasoned that the St. Lucia customs would accept our explanation.

Sailed to Young Island cut and picked up one of Charlie Tango's moorings ($10US). Had dinner at the Lime & Pub. As always this was an excellent meal in a very nice setting with good service.

10 July

Slipped the mooring at 0530 heading for St. Lucia. Sailing was wonderful all the way despite several brief rainstorms. Put in a double reef for the crossing from St. Vincent to St. Lucia and were glad that we had done so. Averaged over 7 knots over the ground (via GPS) despite a foul current.

Stopped at Anse Chastanet to snorkel for a brief while and then on to Marigot Bay to clear customs before they closed at 1700. Clearing in was not a problem as the customs officer accepted my explanation of why we did not have papers clearing us out of St. Vincent. Had dinner on board and the entire crew turned in early.

11 July

Sailed to Castries and anchored in the inner harbor so the ladies could go to Bagshaws to shop. They took a cab for $20US round trip with one hour wait time. They really enjoyed Bagshaws and saw the printing factory where the fabric and tee shirts are made. Bagshaws is right next to Sandals resort so there were lots of honeymoon couples buying things. After returning to town they walked around the market and into town where they bought drinks, macaroni and beef rotis.

When the ladies returned we had a brisk sail to Rodney Bay. There we toured the museum area and the park. Then motored to the inner harbor and anchored close to the Mortar and Pestle Restaurant where we had an excellent meal.

The night was quite windy (25-30 knots with higher gusts) and rainy and we had to take down the wind scoops during the night to prevent them from being destroyed. The ground here is thick mud and gave excellent holding.

12 July

Sailed under jib alone to Marigot Bay and still made the trip in less than two hours. Cleaned out the boat and checked into the hotel for the evening. Enjoyed relaxing by the pool and reflecting on the two weeks. Had dinner at the resort. Four of the meals were excellent but the Jack fish was not good.

Another outstanding two weeks in a beautiful area with great crew. We'll be back!