St Vincent

December 2017

Thursday December 14th – St Vincent

Captain’s Log: “With a clear run in to the berth for Azura and minimal navigational hazards, ‘Stand By Below’ for Kingstown was set to be at 06:00 and the arrival manoeuvre was short and relatively straight forward. The local pilot was due to be embarked at 06:15 and the vessel was planned to be alongside by 07:00, allowing the guests to make the most of a day ashore in St Vincent.”

The P&O Blurb said “A volcanic island of steep, mountain ridges, valleys and waterfalls, St Vincent has a rugged, cliff lined eastern coast and a succession of black and golden sandy beaches in the west. This fertile paradise is full of hidden treasures.”

St Vincent is the main island of the Windward group and its tiny Grenadines extend 4 miles to the south west trailing behind like the tail of a kite. St Vincent is located 68 miles northeast of Grenada, 30 miles southwest of St Lucia and 90 miles west of Barbados. Just 18 miles long and 11 miles wide, it is more mountainous than Grenada and St Lucia but like them, has a chain of thickly wooded mountains running from north to south. The volcano, La Soufriere (4000ft) is the highest point in the North while Mt St Andrew (2600ft) in the south dominates the valley of Kingstown, the capital. This is a verdant island where almost anything grows and where crops flourish in soil which has been made even more fertile by recent volcanic eruptions. Most of the world’s supply of arrowroot is grown on St Vincent and bananas, ground provisions, flour and rice are the main exports.

The proud and warlike Carib Indians were the first inhabitants of St Vincent and Columbus did not land when he passed the island on January 22nd 1498 (St Vincent’s Day in the Spanish calendar). Originally, both France and Britain agreed to leave St Vincent to the Carib Indians but the British were in control by 1763. It gained its independence in 1970 but remains part of the Commonwealth.

Anything after Grenada was going to be a let-down, even St Vincent. Wendy just wanted a taster in case we decided to come back here. After breakfast I booked a half day excursion with the ship. This was a popular trip and we boarded a medium sized minibus. Our guide (name forgotten – sorry) was a jolly chap. As we left the ferry terminal he explained that all the roads were named the wrong way round. He also explained the KFC chicken franchise stood for ‘Keep the Fat Coming…’.

Kingstown is situated on the south west coast backed by a ring of green hills and ridges. This is the island’s capital and only town of any size. It is known as the City of Arcades due to the many arched walkways in its tiny downtown area. The area featured some of the town’s main attractions including a cluster of churches; St George’s Cathedral, an Anglican church built in 1820, St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral (1823) and the Kingstown Methodist Church (1841)

Heading up and out of Kingstown, we reached Fort Charlotte standing on the 630ft high summit of Berkshire Hill on Johnson’s Point. The Fort named after a consort of George III was completed in 1806 and was once the island’s chief defence post against the Napoleonic threat. It had many of its 34 cannons pointed inland because the British also feared attacks by the Caribs. It offered expansive views of the islands leeward coast and the Grenadines.

Kingstown Botanical Gardens, the oldest in the Western Hemisphere were established in 1762 as a commercial cultivation centre for plants collected from all over the British Empire. It was to St Vincent and these gardens that Captain Bligh was sailing when the famous mutiny on the Bounty took place in 1787. He eventually completed a second voyage, bringing breadfruits and other plants from Tahiti. There is a descendant of a breadfruit tree still thriving. The gardens had a wide variety of beautiful native and exotic plants and an array of flowers in bloom. There was also an aviary where we saw some of the endangered St Vincent parrots. We spent an enjoyable hour here. It was well worth it.

Nine miles from Kingstown is an area of great beauty called the Mesopotamia Valley. The richly fertile valley is carpeted with bananas, cocoa, arrow fruit, breadfruit, nutmegs and coconuts and the panoramic view is breath-taking. Encircled by mountains including Grand Bonhomme, the island’s highest (3100ft) the valley, known as the ‘breadbasket’ is a unique sight in the southern Caribbean. We stopped for the view and photographs.

The final stop of 45 minutes at the Paradise Beach Hotel and Bar was really just an excuse to have a ‘free’ rum cocktail in a lovely setting of a secluded bay with a narrow strip of white sand and turquoise coloured sea. I stripped off and had a dip while we were there.

We were back on the ship for a late lunch. We didn’t really do St Vincent justice but with its small size and only two coastal roads that only stretch part of the way around the island, you are limited with your explorations. This excursion would have to do. Ironically we had booked an all inclusive holiday here for February 2017 and when it fell through we decided to do the cruise. I wonder what I would have done here apart from dive.

Back on board, we had been told that we had to have our bags packed for collection in the evening. I went bath bathing and did it quickly later in the day. It never occurred to us that the luggage would leave the ship before us.

For our final evening I had booked the Epicurean Restaurant for a fancy al la carte meal. This was supposedly our wedding meal, but it had seemed better to save it for later in the cruise rather than do everything on the one day. We had also saved the bottle of champagne that the crew had given us and Patrick, our cabin steward had put it in a bucket of ice for us. So we were greased and gassed before the meal.

I started with smoked salmon soaked in Scotch whiskey. This was carved at the table by our waitress. Wendy had the posh soup. Chateaubriand for two followed. This was also carved and served at the table. There followed a strange dish to cleanse the palette. I had what looked like a fried egg, but the yolk was mango and the white vanilla. Wendy had a lipstick which was strawberry. Then we moved onto the crepe suzette which was cooked at the table and lit so that the flame rose three feet into the air. Cheese and coffee followed. The excellent relaxed meal lasting nearly three hours had been washed down with a bottle of decent red wine. It was a memorable evening that we both enjoyed.

Captain’s Log: “Azura’s guests and crew were required to be on board by 17:30 in Kingstown which allowed the vessel to be off the berth by 18:00. She then made tracks overnight for Bridgetown, the final port of the cruise.”

Friday December 15th – Barbados

Captain’s Log: “Bridgetown was planned to be another early arrival for Azura as Standby Below was set to be at 05:30 to allow sufficient time for the vessel to be alongside by 0700. Captain Hoyt drove the vessel through the outer breakwaters and then swung the bow to Starboard, passing clear of the large container cranes on the cargo pier. The Captain then continued to drive the ship in towards the corner of the berth to Azura’s usual berthing position. Guests would then say their goodbyes to the vessel as they disembarked for the final time to commence their journeys home.”

We were moored back in Barbados. Our luggage had been taken the night before leaving us with hand luggage. We didn’t need much; swim wear and a change of clothes for the flight home plus any valuables including our lovely album of wedding photographs that we had collected and the presents. A temporary room was booked for the afternoon since we had to leave our cabin at 10am but wouldn’t leave the boat until around 5pm.

We used the spa pool and drank the rest of the duty-free grog acquired at the port terminals. A last bout of sunbathing. As before I felt no need to go exploring Bridgetown. During the day, new passengers arrived in groups from the various flights ready to start their cruise. The passengers that had arrived the day after us had one more night aboard.

Late afternoon, a large school group in smart blue uniforms had boarded the ship to entertain the passengers with songs. It was the first time they had done this. As they stood on a platform overlooking a swimming pool and sang, they melted the hearts of all the passengers gathered to watch from different levels.

We were called for departure half way through and left the Azora for the last time. It was a fabulous ship with a lovely crew, splendid food and wonderful sights along the way. We had been delighted by our wedding day that went without hitch and resulting photos. Driven back to the airport, our return flight was delayed a couple of hours but we took off to arrive at Gatwick in the morning of December 16th and a temperature of 2’c. I think it had been 29’c when we left the ship.

During Cruise A734 in the Caribbean Azura steamed a total distance of 2091 nautical miles on passage (1 Nautical Mile = 1.15 Statute Miles)