Lyn's Log, 20th November 2006
The Grenadines

Bequia, St Vincent.
N13º01', W61º15'
11,126 miles.

As we crossed over the border into the northern Grenadines on 15th November, the difference was remarkable. First we were approached by boat boys as we came in to anchor. Actually,since our last visit ten years ago the "boys" seem to have grown up. They are now young men with well kept wooden pirogues and powerful outboards on the back, rather than youths paddling old surf-boards. How do they afford the fuel? By charging the earth for the fish, bread, ice, water-taxi, mooring buoy etc they get for you. We declined. Although persistent, nowadays they do eventually give in on a friendly note. Next, the Customs officer was off hand, charging us 72 dollars for whatever and waiving us off somewhere up the road to find Immigration at the airstrip. After Immigration we found fruit and vegetable stalls and bought some for far too much. Yes, sometimes we are suckers, but there was none to be found elsewhere. Then we had a warm beer in the local bar, which cost twice as much as we had been paying in Grenada. The scenery was nice though.

The next morning we motored north to the island of Mayreau and found our way to an anchorage on the windward side, inside a reef. There was one other yacht there. We lunched and each took the dinghy to the beach from where we could snorkel over some reef. There were pretty fish and some interesting coral. Andrew broke open a sea urchin and lots of fish came to have a feast. He then brought one back to the yachts, discarded its innards and ate the orange roe. I was surprised to find it quite tasty. In the afternoon we motored round the west side of the island and anchored in Saltwhistle Bay. This was a well-sheltered small bay with a shallow spit of sand and palm trees at the end separating it from the windward side of the island. It was full of yachts with many skippered charter catamarans only staying for a short while. It was an ideal place to snorkel round the rocks and reefs edging the bay or stroll along the sand under the palm trees. There was an eight-roomed chalet hotel with a beach bar/restaurant beautifully laid out but with no custom, unlike the beach bars in Grenada that had always been thronged with yachties in the early evening. Perhaps the price of £1.60 for a small beer might have had something to do with it. After I had gone to bed, Andrew was still up and becoming worried about the anchor slipping in the strengthening wind. We had a poor holding on rock at the edge of the bay. At times, as we swung with the gusting squalls, we only had 30 cms under our keel. So in the pitch black at 11.30 we pulled up the anchor, and for my part rather nervously, drifted back, anchoring further over in the bay on sand behind the other yachts. There was more swell but we then had 4 metres under us and good holding.

The following morning which we decided must be Wednesday, we took the one and only road across the island from Saltwhistle Bay, through the town and down to Saline Bay. The whole island was just a mile across but it was exhausting climb in the heat up the steep road over the hill. At the top was a church and the school - and a seat (see pic). Down the other side were bars and restaurants. We saw two tiny general stores, both shut and apparently empty, but then found a bar that sold fresh bread. A small loaf cost £1.60. So one loaf was all we bought and we made our way back and motored over to the Tobago Cays. Here there was a group of four small islands surrounded by submerged coral reefs. It was not too difficult getting in to join the merry throng, and enough room for everyone to anchor. The white sandy beaches and different shades of blue, crystal clear water make this a popular resting place. Everyone went in the water to snorkel over the sea grass and coral, though much of the coral was dead. There were however many different types of fish to see. After a while a black cloud and a squall came through and we soon returned to Saltwhistle Bay for the night.

We were slow to get going in the morning, trying in vain to find weather forecasts on the SSB radio and wondering which bay to make for on Canouan. We motored the five miles into the wind and anchored in South Glossy Bay. The sea quickly went from dark blue and twenty plus metres deep, to pale blue and 4-5 metres infront of a wide sandy beach. The bottom was sand over rock but around a broken down concrete jetty there were some coral covered rocks and many interesting fish, including some puffer fish and a spotted eel. I had a read and a snooze in the hammock slung under the boom under the sun canopy while Andrew had an exploratory swim around to find anything interesting to snorkel over. After lunch we rowed ashore and snorkeled around the jetty, and then back on board, we motored around the southwest point and into the main anchorage. Here there were a lot of Moorings catamarans, unoccupied, and a couple of other yachts. We rowed over to the hotel bar, making use of their rather posh landing stage, and paid a fortune for a couple of rum punches and three beers, £13! We had an interesting conversation with a young English lady who was just one week into a new job with the diving school, and established that it was Friday and we had lost a day somewhere. The day we thought was Wednesday was actually Thursday, but what’s a day here or there?

In the morning we walked along the main street and found a few basic supplies. The Moorings notice board had a three-day weather forecast that indicated worse weather on Monday. Andrew dived under the yacht to look at the rudder bolts as the rudder was a bit loose again. With pins through the bolts the nuts could not move much and it was probably putting pressure on the rudder when reversing the previous day that had somehow loosened things. There seems little Andrew can do until we can either dry out or have the boat lifted again. So in the afternoon we had a wonderful sail, fast and comfortable, to Friendship Bay, Bequia. The beach bar was still there but considerably posher than ten years ago. It was now part of the hotel and was a beautifully set out restaurant bar with very attentive waiters. We enjoyed a few rum punches and cocktails and some lobster bites, and parted with around £30, before returning to our yacht for home-cooked savoury mince.

We did a bit of washing in the morning and then Andrew spent a long time snorkeling out to one of the reefs and then around the shoreline. I snorkeled out towards the shore and only saw lots of sea grass and one fish before deciding I had gone far enough. My new flippers had rubbed an open blister on top of a toe so I was not using them. Andrew saw some fish but said that most of the coral was dead, perhaps because many of the new houses or hotels now had sewers leading out to the sea. After lunch we had another wonderful short sail around the southwest point and into Admiralty Bay, which would be very secure if the bad weather set in. The head of the bay was directly into the wind but we beat right the way in just for fun. A rib appeared from somewhere and took photos of us and another yacht doing the same thing.

Admiralty Bay was similar to how we remembered it. The bar on the rock where we had drunk too many lethal rum punches during happy hour ten years ago, was now partly a marina and partly a new bar/restaurant with a rather expensive menu. The fruit market was still by the beach, but now under cover and surrounded by T-shirt and batik stalls. There was an impressive new building housing the Customs, Immigration, Inland Revenue and Post Office. There were a variety of small supermarkets, many with a freezer full of odd pieces of frozen chicken. We found a restaurant with a reasonably priced menu and enjoyed a meal out. All the bars and restaurants have an extensive, reasonably cheap, cocktail menu, including non-alcoholic drinks, which I sampled with enthusiasm.

The first night in Admiralty Bay was very gusty and although we re-anchored after dark, our anchor still slipped several metres by morning. We anchored again much nearer the beach and got a good hold. Perhaps it was because when lifting it again we were trapped under another large chain! The photographer found us to deliver one of his pictures we ordered on cd and a leaflet was handed to us advertising the facilities of the small marina.