Prologue
I’d met Bill Reid a couple of years ago and we’d had two fine sails so far. The north coast of Cuba in February 2004 and across the Atlantic, the Bermuda to the Azores leg for myself, in June 2004. Bill was crossing to sell his Nauticat 33 in Europe and we discussed buying a boat together when he got back.
By Christmas we had purchased a Jeanneau Lagoon 37 catamaran out of charter in the BVI’s. Bill had been soloing "Chispa" along the leeward islands and this was our first chance to get aboard for a sail.
 |
 |
| Chispa | Caribbean |
Friday April 15, 2005 Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
Lynn and I are flying to St. Lucia out of Dorval, Montreal, a 2 hour drive away. Our flight leaves at 6 AM so we’re up at 1 AM in order to make it in time. We’re at Dorval at 4 AM and by 6 AM we’re on our way. We change planes in Chicago but there’s a problem with the second plane so we have a 2 hour delay. By 4 PM we touch down in St. Lucia. We’re on the island! However we’re at the international airport at the south end of the island and Bill’s waiting at the north end. $60 US and a 2 hour taxi drive gets us to Rodney Bay just as the sun is setting. We unload the car and the driver, “Social” waits while I go looking for Bill. No Bill. No need to panic. I haven’t looked everywhere and what do you do when you’re waiting for someone in a strange marina? Head into the biggest bar, have a drink and wait! Which is what we did. Lynn was pretty tired and nervous about me leaving her alone but the barman said she’d be just fine so I ordered her a drink and went out to the marina and checked the docks. No Bill. I then went to the other small bars and everywhere else to look, still no sign of him. Back at the bar I asked about radioing Chispa and the barman pointed to a VHF set just down the bar. Every few minutes I’d try to hail Bill but with no success.
Suddenly Lynn was waving wildly, Bill was here! It seemed he’d been waiting for a while and had gone to put on the anchor light just before we arrived. Bill had been a bit concerned too but a celebratory drink put us all in a festive if tired mood.
We piled into the small runabout and motored out of the marina into the harbour where Chispa was anchored. We happily climbed about, chatted, ate a fine pasta dinner and were fast asleep by 9 PM, Chispa swaying gently in the cool evening breeze.
Saturday April 16, 2005 The Pitons
We wake refreshed. The sun is shining brightly through our open hatch. I grab for my watch wondering how late we’d slept in. It’s 6 AM and our day has begun. The first order of the day is coffee of course. We make it in the little expresso makers and drink it black. Lynn is horrified that there is no cream. There will be a few adjustments to be made for sure J. Bill has to add us to the crew list so he heads ashore while we putter around and explore the boat, stow our gear and reacquaint ourselves with the head (toilet for all you landlubbers). Chispa’s certainly big but with two separate ammas instead of one big hull, she’s strangely small as well. Bill gets back with our papers all in order. The next item of business: shopping!
There’s a dingy dock at the local shopping center. We tie up and head for the supermarket. In what will be his trademark forgetfulness, Bill has forgotten to bring shoes and so wanders around barefoot. About 270 EC ($100US) later we leave with bags of bread, bagels, cheese, fruit, cereal, frozen chicken, etc. Enough to last a fortnight or at least a couple of weeks. No cream though, oh the hardships of life at sea! On the dinghy ride back we pull up to a waterside bar and buy a bag of ice. Ice and keeping cool will be a big factor in the coming weeks.
By noon we’ve cast off and heading south on a beam reach on a starboard tack. We’ll hold this tack for the next two weeks. The wind is no more than 15 knots but Chispa is holding a steady 8 knots. The seas are gentle but there is a motion to the cat which is unfamiliar. I’m feeling okay but Lynn is a bit nauseous so I get her a gravol and minutes later she is fine. That is to be the extent of any sea sickness for the next 2 weeks.
By 4 PM we’re at the Pitons. A local zooms up in his motorboat and offers to help us with mooring. We wave him off with a smile and a shout of thanks but no thanks. We’re using a Mediterranean mooring which means tying off the stern to a tree ashore. I had brought two 100 feet poly ropes down for just this thing. It’s over 100 feet to shore so we tie them together, I don my brand new scuba gear and with the rope in one hand swim ashore. As I’m swimming Chispa is bobbing and rotating. About 30 feet from shore I come to a dead stop. Chispa has swung around the other way and pulling around a 37 foot boat by swimming just isn’t going to happen. Bill starts the engines, swings her around and I clamber to shore and tie her up with 30 feet to spare.
We’re sitting pretty just under the Twin Pitons. We’ve paid an extra cruising fee for sailing in this protected zone. Is that the end of our costs? Nope, a few minutes after mooring an official boat arrives to charge us $15 EC, good for 2 nights of mooring. How about $10 EC for 1 night? Nope.
Bill makes a fine curried lamb stew for dinner and by 9 PM we’re once again fast asleep.
click on a thumbnail for a full sized picture
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Admiring the Twin Peaks | Catching Some Rays | Enjoying a Smoke | GangaMan Delivery | GangaMan Anchorman |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Getting Ready to Pour | In the Water | Boy on the Beach | Selecting the Wine | Souffriere |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Sun Tanning | Sunning and Sailing | Swimming off the Pitons | The Pitons Beach | The Pitons |
Sunday April 17, 2005 The Pitons
It’s a lazy start to the day. We’ve slept in to all of 7:30 AM. Lynn and I decide to try out our new snorkeling gear. The water is deep here and we get to within 15 feet of shore before seeing a rocky bottom. There are a few colorful fish swimming about which keeps us ohhing and aahing. We get back and I decide to be useful around the boat. The main cabin between the ammas is divided between a small galley and a large circular sitting area with a table. The table is a nuisance making it difficult to move around. I decide to take it out and with a trusty screwdriver I easily get the top off. I’m scrunched up on the floor working on the base when my foot slips and I wack it into the metal base. Crunch goes a toe and I’m dancing and singing and crying and hopping about the cabin until the pain wears off. Not much you can do with a broken toe except grin and bear it. Bill helps me get the base off and without the table the space is much more open and inviting. Feeling flushed with our successful remodeling of the boat Bill and I decide to remove the emergency liferaft that strapped between the amas at the back just under the two davits used to raise and lower the dinghy. It seems that the dinghy tends to jam up against the liferaft and what do we need one for anyways, cat’s float right! We wrap two straps around the liferaft box and attach one of the davit pulleys. We release the straps holding the liferaft in and try to lift it. Instead of the 30-40 pounds Bill predicted she weigh’s a ton. Even the pully won’t life her so Bill goes down to push her up while I pull. Needless to say the straps slip and the raft box turns sideways and slips from the straps to go plunk into the water. The lid comes off and Lynn runds down the amma steps to grab it. We freeze anticipating the liferaft inflating but nothing happens. Bill manages to get into the dinghy and get the raft back under the cat. We rerig the straps and this time manage to get the sodden mess aboard. What to do with it? “Throw her back overboard” roars the captain. Instead we get it back in the box, inch it forward and lash it to a forward stanchion. Maybe we can trade it in for something useful.
After lunch and not wanting to take on anymore projects, Lynn and I decide to take a walk on the beach (yeah we’re having a busy time of it). Bill drops us off at a dinghy dock and we commence our little walk. It’s noon by now and it’s bloody hot! The sand burns our feet and we jump from rock to rock and connect the sandy patches, staying in the water as much as possible. We’re sweating buckets and together we decide that the beach at noon isn’t such a good idea.
Aaron, a friend of Bills, offers to guide us to a waterfall about a 20 minute hike away. It’s hot and the hike is all uphill but we’ve nothing else to do and the promise of a cold waterfall can’t be resisted. Along the way he picks a cocoa pod from a cocoa tree and cracks it open. The seeds are used to make cocoa (chocolate) but you don’t eat the seeds. You suck the thin membrane around the seeds and spit them out. The taste is quite tart and refreshing and reminds me of those tart candies we used to eat as kids. I tell Aaron I quite like it. We pay 10 EC’s for the two of us and walk down to the waterfalls. It is small and very picturesque, falling down the rocks from about 100 feet above. There are a couple of pools built where you can splash about. There are a few others here including two couples from France. Lynn and I splash about and then sit under the waterfall. The water is warm! It turns out that the Pitons are volcanic cones from ancient volcanoes. Ancient or not, the rock where the spring originates is still warm and we’re getting a hot shower instead of a cold one. It’s very refreshing though. On the way back Aaron plies us with more cocoa, soursop ( a softball sized green fruit with spikes that has a refreshingly sour flesh that you eat) and a cocoanut. I offer him $10 US and I think I’m being generous. He asked for $15 but I tell him that’s all I have. Oh, he’ll come over to the boat later and pick up the other $5. I repeat, $10 is all I have.
We have a drink at the little bar, radio Bill to come and pick us up, motor back to our yacht where Captain Bill has prepared another scrumptious meal complete with French wine he picked up in Martinique. Yep we’re spoilt all right!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Bill In St. Lucia | Boats at the Wharf | Bicycle Helmet? | Climbing for Cocoa Pods | Cocoa Pod Inside |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Cocoa Pod | Descending to the Waterfalls | Dwight and Lynn Under the Falls | Dwight and Lynn Under the Falls | Goddess Ashore |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Cocoa Pod and Soursop | Moored in the Bay | Enjoying the Falls | Chispa in Front of the Pitons | The Pitons |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Chispa under the Pitons | The Forest | The Old Folks Home | Waterfall Sign | Waterfall |
Monday April 18, 2005 Bequia
Today we’re in for our first offshore sail. We’re planning on sailing from the Pitons, past St. Vincent to Bequia. It’s 60 nM and it takes us just under 10 hours. We’re in Admirality Bay by 4 PM. Lynn and I go ashore and search out a restaurant at Bill’s suggestion. We’re back within the hour much to Bill’s surprise. It seems that Bequia has become famous and as such is now just another tourist trap with lots of expensive restaurants (I’m sure the food is good). However appetizers starting at $10 US is just a bit much for us so we all eat spaghetti for the best dinner of the day! We did buy an ice cream though.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Bequai Island | St. Georges | Grey Skies | Headlands | Sleeping Beauty |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| St. Georges harbour | St. Georges harbour | St. Vincent sailby | Nauticat 33 - Topcat | Water and Diesel |
Tuesday April 19, 2005 Cancouan
Before we leave I dinghy over and buy a large block of ice for $15 EC. Blocks last longer than cube ice and this monster will end up lasting 3 days.
We set sail around 10 AM and a couple of hours later we’re in Charlestown Bay, Canouan. It’s a nice harbour, much less congested that at Bequia. Lynn and I dinghy across to a rocky shore to go snorkeling. We see some fish but not much is going on. Bill assures us that the further south we go, the better the islands get.
Wednesday April 20, 2005 Mayreau Island
From Canouan we sail south for a few hours until we get to Mayreau island. We’re looking for a sandy beach where Lynn can play. We’d discussed our desires before the trip. The idea was to sail a day or two, anchor down of a nice beach to swim, visit the island, and lay on the sand for a day or two and then repeat. So far we hadn’t hit any beaches and it was time. We peruse the map. It looks like there are three beaches on Mayreau Island. We decide to head there and inspect the beaches on a sail by. The first beach is on a windward shore. It’s a beautiful long beach with a row of cocoanut trees along the shore. There is no safe anchorage here though. Just around the corner is Salt Whilstle Bay. The guide book describes it as a beautiful little anchorage with quick access to the windward beach. It certainly is beautiful and with all the boats crowding the anchorage, certainly popular. We decide to sail on to Saline Bay. Saline Bay is a beautiful broad bay with a long sand beach between a rocky headland to the south and the town wharf to the north. It’s beautiful and but for 2 other sailboats, deserted. We head in and drop anchor. Within minutes we’re in the dinghy and heading to shore. The sand is clean and the water is clear. Lynn and I sit on the beach, jump in the water for a swim, sit on the beach, go snorkeling off a tiny reef, sit on the beach for hours. Lynn is a little nervous after I warned her about all the black sea urchins on the reef. Don’t pet them I say, their like porcupines, their spines break off and you can’t get them out. Besides the sea urchins we see loads of brightly coloured fish and even a moray eel!
By noon it’s too hot to stay ashore so we reluctantly head back to Chispa to sit out the heat in the cool breezes. A charter cat comes by and drops off a load of people. In a few minutes another one shows up. When the charters show up at your beach you know it’s a good one. By four the charters have gone and we have the view of the deserted beach to ourselves.
A small boat motors up and offers us dorado. Bill’s eyes light up and we buy 6 steaks. They’ll be for dinner tomorrow because it’s pork chops for dinner tonight. They’d been bought frozen the day before but they thawed out sitting in the fridge. Nothing stays cold here!
Thursday April 21, 2005 Mayreau Island
Today we decide to walk over to the lee shore of the island. This isn’t as onerous as one might think as we’re on an ismuthus only a couple of hundred yards wide. Just before the climb to the village a dirt track runs off besides the salt pond. While the ocean smells beautiful stagnant salt water really, really stinks. This is the source of the odour we smelt yesterday. You can see old pond works from when they made salt here. Nowadays it’s much cheaper to mine it. Windsor salt is mined in Windsor, Ontario.
We’re not alone in our hike. One of the village dogs joins us. Lynn nicknames him “Boo” because he scared her when he snuck up on us. Boo joins us as we come to the far side of the island. It’s much wilder here with waves crashing up on the shore. There are a couple of catamarans anchored out and a few fishing boats ashore but we don’t see anyone around. We’ve been told that the diving is good here but the surge is pretty intimidating and we decide just to walk along the beach. Boo finds a cocoanut floating in the surge and commences to thrash it about until most of the fiber is ripped off. Lynn thinks he’s crazy, I think it’s funny.
We head back and turn left up the hill into town. It’s steep and it’s hot. On the way we stop to buy water. Anything to help with the heat. Part way up we’re greeted by Robert who invites us into the shade of his restaurant. Robert and the Righteous Youths is a colourful rasta restaurant and we think it would be a great place to come back to for dinner. We’ve decided to reach the top of the hill though so up we go. On the way what seems to be the only vehicle on the island goes up, taking tourists who don’t want to walk. At the top we find a Catholic church commanding the view. On the other side you can see the Tobago Cays. There is a cache basin here, used to catch the rains and store the water in cisterns. All the houses we’ve passed have giant plastic cisterns outside, many fed by pipes from the eaves of the houses. Lynn spots a young kid (goat) and takes it’s picture. We’re on our way down now and we stop for ice cream and water before heading back to the boat.
Bill and I cook the dorado. The local guys call it dolphin which upsets Lynn who doesn’t want to eat Flipper. We enjoy the fresh fish while Lynn opts for noodles instead. Oh well.
Friday April 22, 2005 Union Island
A short 1 hour sail on just the jib and we’re in Clifton harbour in Union Island. It’s a magnificent harbour surrounded by reefs on all sides with a reef/sandbar in the middle. You have to be careful entering and anchoring. Indeed we saw a Moorings yacht ground itself on the sandbar. Several small boats immediately roared up and helped pull her off. I guess they earned a pretty dollar for their help!
We’re ashore by 10 AM and it’s hot already. We visit a few shops and pick up some croissants for breakfast. Bill fills up with water at the Anchorage Yacht Club (AYC) making 2 trips with the 4 – 5 gallon containers. They’re heavy but Bill has a system using the pulley’s rigged up and he’s able to it alone. We wander a short ways downtown to find a dive shop. I’d really like to go diving at Tobago Cays which is right next to us. We find the shop but it isn’t open. We’re told to radio in later. Back at the dock we pick up a big block of ice and I pay for the ice and water. Water is $0.40 EC/gallon and the bill says 60 gallons so I pay it. Bill has only taken on 40 gallons so there seems to be a bit of padding of the bill. The attendant swears that’s what the water meter read so we just let it go. We’re the rich white dudes in paradise and who’s gonna quibble over $1.25 US?
One other thing that we haven’t been having as much as normal is showers. This is no problem for me, every morning I jump in the water off the amma and every night a have a quick rinse at the back of the cat. We’re learning a woman’s perspective with requirements such as shaving your legs for example. Although there are two showers in the boat (three including the wand shower off the amma) Lynn is feeling a bit conscious about water usage. It seems you need about 10 minutes in the shower for doing all the ladies stuff. Luckily the AYC has showers and for 10 EC Lynn can stay in there for as long as she wants. We’re having dinner ashore tonight and around 5:30 PM we head in. I joke with the lady attendant that I’ll be back in the morning to pick Lynn up but within a half hour she’s out all bathed, shampooed, shaved, creamed and powdered and purring like a kitten. See what a good shower will do for you!
We are shown a beautiful table right on the edge of the harbour. A couple of rum punches (it’s happy hour) sets the mood and by the time the sun goes down I’m snacking on a red snapper we say them cleaning earlier today and Lynn’s demolishing a plate of ribs. Hmmm delicious! We find our way back to the yacht in the dark, Lynn holding the flashlight in front, not so that I can see, but that other boats can see us. We’re even dry when we clamber aboard. It’s windy out tonight and we sleep very well.
Saturday April 23, 2005 Tobago Cays
We’re back ashore early. I’d bought a watermelon for 15EC ($5US) the day before which had tasted delicious out of the fridge and we wanted more. We buy breakfast croissants, fruit and veges, lamb, water and beer. We also buy bottles of Mauby (like a very strong rootbeer), gingerale and bitter lemon, made by a company called Hairoun.
We also check out the Grenadine Dive store. The owner is in but doesn’t know if he’s going out that day. It seems the boys had been partying pretty hard last night and his boat driver had fallen off a table and was in the clinic with a sprained back. Damm, we really missed some party!
We set sail about 11 AM and sailing with the jib only we round Mayreau island in the opposite direction. As we’re now directly into the winds we furl the jib and motor over to the Tobago cays. Within ½ hour we’re motoring the small channel between the two islands. We head past and snuggle right up to the Horseshoe reef and drop anchor. Our depth guage has stopped working but luckily we can easily see bottom.
I’d made arrangements to contact the diveshop around noon but there was no reply on the VHF. I guess they’d gone drinking again. On well, Lynn and I pile into the dinghy and head back to the channel between the islands. It’s mostly rock but we see some fish and three big (6 inch) squid with their big eyes just finning there. It’s the first time I’ve seen squid. We head ashore and I look for follen cocoanuts but there are not that aren’t dried out. We head back and I take her to a little coral reef nearby. I drop her off and motor a little bit downwind and drop anchor. I can hear her oohing and aahing into her snorkel as she checks out the reef. Soon she drifts by and climbs back in the dinghy. Later Bill and I head further out to the main reef and spend some time out there checking out all the coral and fish. You could spend days drifting around here.
Later that night Bill makes lamp chops again and by 9 PM we’re fast asleep.
Sunday April 24, 2005 Sand Island, Carricaou
We’re up by 7 AM. It’s scrambled eggs and grapefruit for breakfast. We’re underway by 9AM. We leave Horseshoe reef and sail back the way we came, past Mayreay Island but around the opposite side of Union Island on to Carriacou. We have maybe 12 knots of wind but we’re making 7 knots on a broad reach. It’s lots of fun!
In 2 hours we make Carricaou. We anchor just behind Sandy Island in Hillsborough bay about 100 feet from the island in 7 feet of water. Our task for today is to fix the depth sounder. We rip it apart and decide to start by soldering all the connectors which he had temporarily twisted together to see if it would work (and it did). About an hour later we’ve finished and we try the sounder. Still no reading. Casually Bill reaches over and firmly pushes in the two connectors. Suddenly it’s working, just a loose connector. Oh well, all the wires needed to be soldered anyways.
Snorkling off the east tip of Sand Island looks promising so we swim to shore and walk along the beach. We meet Bob and Theresa from Alberta with their snorkeling gear. They’re on a 30 foot Nonsuch anchored just 100 feet from us. We exchange pleasantries and I invite them to Chispa later.
We’re right about the snorkeling. It’s excellent and what’s really amazing are the different schools of fish. Near the shore are the small fry, about ½ inch long. Further out we see a school of ballyhoo. Suddenly a silver cloud of fish flashes our way. We’re surrounded by then and the school is soo thick that you can’t see the sea bottom just 10 feet below. There must be thousands of them moving is a giant formation across the reef. It’s amazing how they stay so close together and then suddenly it’s like a border, fish on one side and blue ocean on the other. We swim in and out of the silver cloud. This is fun.
After dinner Bob and Theresa motor over. Bob works in the oil industry and he can get weeks/months off at a time. He’s sailing up from Venezula where he’d stocked up on good Chilean wine. As their dinghy docks Bob hands up a string bag with three bottles of wine, a bottle of Ameretto and chocolate! We’re overwhelmed and I race to bring out gingersnaps and we’re having a party. Bob and Theresa get the tour. They love all the room on the cat. Soon enough Bob and Bill are talking sailing. Bob has been coming down here for over 20 years and he knows a great deal about the coast of Venezula which is of great interest to Bill. Bob finds Bill’s tales of sailing Konstancz through Holland fascinating. Soon it’s 10 PM and the party is over. Our guests leave and we’re off to bed. This turns out to be the latest night we stay up during our entire trip.
Monday April 25, 2005 Sand Island, Carricou
We’ve come into the town of Hillsborough. It’s a charming town and all three of us like it. Lynn and I share a mango shake on ice as we walk along main street. Soon we’re at a corner. Do we continue? “You looking for the vegetable stall? It’s just down a ways”, a voice calls out. We gratefully continue on and soon enough we’re buying potatoes, pineapple and cocoanut from a tiny roadside stall. Coming back we stop in a tiny grocery store. Bill tries to buy mutton for a stew but Lynn is making ugly faces. Shop for yourselves she ways as she pick up a block of cheese and a can of pasta sauce. Bill and I are carrying out the groceries except for the big bag of ice which Lynn insists on carrying actually hugging as we walk down the street. It’s 10 AM and the heat of the day is on us. Bill stops at a local grill and buys a couple of chicken roti. These will be our lunch.
We head back to Chispa and weigh anchor for Tyrrel Bay, just around the corner. We drop anchor, load the water cans into the dinghy and head over the Carriacou Yacht Club where we fill up. It also gives me a chance to send a belated birthday email to my niece Kate who turned 7? On the 22nd. I explained that Lynn and I were at see and had been out fighting pirates so we had missed her birthday but we hoped she had a nice time. Later we learned that she thought getting an email from a boat was the coolest thing.
This harbour isn’t as nice as where we were so we motor back to Sand Island and get back in the water for another swim. Dusk is falling and we watch the pelicans diving for their dinner. The terns are crying and some of them stand on the heads of the pelicans as they come up, screaming for a piece of fish. Life sure is tough.
Tuesday April 26, 2005 Grenada
Bill is up at 6 AM and we’re underway by 7 AM. We’re heading to Grenada but the winds are light, only about 10 knots. We’re on a run with the main fully out and the jib furled making 4-5 knots.
We pass Diamond Island which looks like a great place to hide pirate treasure. We’re eying Corn Store Bay on Ronde Island which looks like a beautiful anchorage. We decide to go in and it’s worth it. It’s a perfect anchorage, 18 feet to sand to within 1oo feet of shore. About 4 small boats zoom off just as we arrive but they leave a small dinghy filled with nets anchored. I guess this is where the local fishermen come to fish in the morning. Soon we’re the only boat in the bay.
There is a reef at the north end of the bay and I swim over. The water seems murky until I notice that it’s zillions of microscopic fish! It’s very loud too with the sound of tiny crustaceans crunching.
We’re torn between staying here or continuing and we decide to head for St. George at the southern end of Grenada. The wind is intermittent but we make steady way enjoying the island as it passes before us. By 2 PM we’re in St. George harbour. There is a light drizzle and I actually wear my rain jacket to anchor. It’s absolutely calm in the harbour and the anchor and chain goes straight down and we just bob in circles. A small boat rows by. A gentleman introduces himself and asks if we’d like to buy a courtesy flag. We have one for Grenada but Bill buys one for Trinidad, possibly our next stop. We notice the Russian catamaran from St. Petersburg is here. There are also several damaged boats at anchor, probably damaged from the hurricane. Normally hurricanes don’t come this far south but last fall one did, sinking over 100 boats around the island, many in Prickly bay on the other side of the island.
There’s a huge British frigate tied up to a pier as we motor by in our dinghy. Lynn waves the sailors and marvels at their huge missiles.
We dock and go to the Nutmeg restaurant. Bill and I have flying fish. It’s battered, pan fried and delicious. Lynn orders a club sandwich which she pronounces terrible. Moral – eat local.
Wednesday April 27, 2005 St. Georges, Grenada
We’re up early after being serenaded by the town dogs all night. By 8 AM we’re in town arranging a flight back to St. Lucia. There is a jazz festival going on there the coming weekend and the best flights we can get are via Barbados with an overnight stay. That means three days of traveling to get back home, not so good. The flight is cheap though, just 275 EC each. I don’t pay yet because in my heart I have a secret desire to sail back to St. Lucia. That’s how it should be done!
Next we go for a walk in town and we end up in the market. The ladies are wonderful and we buy spice bags and spice necklaces as gifts for our friends. Soon we’re back on the boat. What to do next? Provisioning, so we dinghy over to the supermarket and buy food for the next two days. Bill asks that I give him 5 EC for the boy pushing the buggy of groceries across the road and over to the dinghy wharf. When I get to the wharf Bill is saying something about having bought lufa’s and not having 5 EC so I jurry back and give the lufa guy 5 EC which he is very grateful for. It turns out that Bill had already paid him and I was supposed to pay the grocery boy! No wonder the lufa man was smiling.
By 10 AM we’re heading out of the bay discussing whether to turn north or south. Lynn’s head is spinning as we discuss all the possibilities. We decide to head north and try for St. Lucia. We have three days to get there and catch our flight. I’m hoping to make Carricaou today but the winds are light and right on our nose so progress is slow. After tacking way out to sea and coming back in Bill decides to motor a while in the lee of the island. Once we’re past Granada we hoist sail and tack back and forth, slowly gaining. It’s about a 3:1 ratio. For every three miles we sail we make good 1. By our calculations it will take over 40 hours to get to St. Lucia. It’s possible but who wants to spend all that time sailing.
We decide to stop at Corn Store bay at Ronde Island, the spot we’d stopped two days ago and spend the night here.
Thursday April 28, 2005 Back to Grenada
The weather forecast is for light winds, 10 knots max out of the northeast. That’s right on the nose and in the exactly wrong direction. We decide to turn south and sail around the east side of Grenada. Magically I have cell phone coverage so I call to confirm our airline tickets. The line is continuously busy all morning and Lynn and I are nervous. What if our tickets were cancelled because I didn’t pay and we can’t get back to work (oh no!). In a flash on inspiration I pull out the guide book, look up an outfitter on Grenada and place a call inquiring about our tickets. Al answers and tells us not to worry and to call back in a couple of hours. Later when I call he confirms that I’m booked to Barbados. We agree to meet at the St. Georges yacht club at noon the next day. That will give us plenty of time to make our 3:30 flight to Barbados. I relax but everything is not as it seems.
We decide to spend the night on the southeast coast. There are a number of anchorages and we end up in Clarke’s bay. There is mangrove swamp around us and the water is murky. It isn’t ideal but it’s breezy and cool and we get a good night sleep.
Friday April 29, 2005 St. Georges Grenada
We hoist anchor in the morning and we’re in St. Georges harbour by 10 AM, exactly where we were two days ago. Bill sees a friend’s cat and he dinghy’s over to have a visit. Bill and I decide to head back to the market to get more spice necklaces but Lynn decides to stay aboard. There’s no breeze today and it’s hot.
By noon I’m over at the yacht club with Bill. Lynn has insisted that Bill go along as I might get robbed. There is no sign of Al. I call and he says he’s just 10 minutes away. Soon I see him drive up. He gets out, we introduce ourselves. Al hands me my ticket. It’s just one ticket, not two and it’s just one way to Barbados, not continuing on to St. Lucia. Obviously something has gone wrong. Al suggests I wait here and he’ll get the proper tickets but I insist in going along.
It turns out that Al uses a different travel agent and they couldn’t use the confirmation number I had given him so they just booked me a single ticket as Al didn’t know about Lynn. We cancelled the ticket and headed over to the other travel agency. Within a few minutes I was seated and no problem, my tickets were confirmed. I asked if any direct flights had dome up to St. Lucia. The man checked and yes, instead of flying to Barbados today we could fly direct to St. Lucia tomorrow morning. Great I said, let’s book the direct tickets. This turned out to be even cheaper.
Poor Al had been buying tickets and ferrying me around all for nothing. I gave him 50 EC for his troubles. He didn’t need it as he had a fleet of 5 charter boats, a house, several jeeps, etc as part of his successful outfitters business. He was laying low after the hurricane of last season so he had lots of time to help out worried visitors.
Bill had been waiting at the yacht club for over an hour now before I got back. We filled the water jugs although I knew Lynn would be quite worried at where we had been. Yep, she was quite stressed at being on the boat all day in the heat (it was around 2 PM by now) worrying if we were going to make our flight or not. My “Good news honey” didn’t get quite the pleasant reception I had hoped for. Oh well, we had another night in paradise before getting up at 5 AM fot the next day’s flight. Bill suggested we go out for dinner that night but Lynn had noodles and I had noodles and then beef stew with Bill before retiring.
Saturday April 30, 2005 St. Lucia
Well we didn’t get much sleep last night as that shack right across the bay from us, that sleepy little shack during the day, turned out to be a hoping reggae bar on Saturday night. The music was still blaring at 5 AM when we got up. Our 5:30 pickup didn’t happen as our driver missed the alarm clock for the first time in his life. We made it to the airport on time. A great guy, Martin, who was a pilot catching the flight to St. Vincent, told us great tales of when he was on the national Jamacian cycling team. I told him of my cycling days with the Ottawa Bicycle Club and cycling in southern France. We got to St. Lucia at the northern airport and hung out a bit deciding what to do. We took a taxibus for the 2 hour trip to the international airport at the southern end of the island (we’d flown over it on our way in) but first we stopped in at a delightful hotel where we treated the driver to breakfast.
By 11 AM we were at the airport for our 3 PM flight. The wicket opened at noon and soon we were free of our luggage. Delays in Atlanta Georgia and an mid-flight medical emergency necessitating a stop in Barbados made our flight out 4 hours late. I’ve sat in worse airports though. By midnight we were in Atlanta, off to a local hotel for three hours sleep and then up for our 8 AM flight to Montreal. Our windshield wipers had quit on our way up so we dodged rain bursts and fought sleepiness to get safely home to the +2C rainy weather that greeted us.
It sure was a great adventure though!