CLIFTON TO TYRELL BAY ON CARIACOU

Tyrell Bay is a popular hang-out for 'live-aboard' yachties, and there are, again, many Europeans running the shops and restaurants.

One particularly good Pizza restaurant is the Lazy Turtle. Their pizzas are always good and the location right on the seafront is great. Another good restaurant is the Slipway run by two American ladies. Speciality is Tamarind juice..amazing.!

SALINE BAY TO UNION ISLAND

As we moved South we left the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and entered the country of Grenada. So Union Island is where you 'book out' of St Vincent.

The main harbour of Union Island is Clifton, so everyone sailing South or North drops by for their customs procedure.

It's a nice town with a lot of European settlers who run restaurants and cafes and probably many of the small businesses.

TOBAGO CAYS TO SALINE BAY

We always wanted to see the island of Mayreau and the easiest anchorage was Saline Bay, which derives its name from the salt lake beside which it is located. Strange feature of many of the islands is that they have salt ponds and lakes. Salt production was an important industry in St Martin for example.

BEQUIA TO TOBAGO CAYS

The previous time we visited the Cays there were just too many other boats. The anchorage had 43 boats. However this time it was much more peaceful with a mere 17 boats.

The turtles were as tame as ever and we saw several species of sting rays. Diving among the corral heads was impressive. This was one of the best Caribbean experiences we had.

LE MARIN TO BEQUIA, dep 11May arr 12 May

After the repair we left the marina with the intention of stopping in Rodney Bay on the north side of the island of St Lucia, a mere 23 nautical miles away (4 hours sailing South). However the wind conditions were suitable for a long cruise all the way down the east coasts of St Lucia and St Vincent directly to our next destination of Bequia. This is what we did.. The disadvantages were that the swell was high ( 2m) and there were plenty of squalls, and it meant sailing through the night down a dangerous coast line. After 99 nautical miles and 18 hours we dropped anchor in Admiralty Bay Bequia. At least this trip saved us having to clear customs in St Lucia and avoided the wind and wave acceleration zones between the islands of St Lucia and St Vincent.

Sitting pretty in Admiralty bay on the island of Bequia

ST ANNE TO LE MARIN MARINA, 2 May

We had arranged for the interior furnishing expert to be available on Tuesday 3rd. All went moderately well over the next two days. The interior was installed except for a defect panel and wrong sidewall panels. These would have to be reordered and delivered to Grenada which is where we will park the yacht for the hurricane season.

While in Le Marin we took advantage of the well priced goods such as wine and antifoul paint. The bakery was much appreciated for supplying us with fresh French bread and pastries.

ANSE ARLET TO THE BAY OF ST ANNE, 29 April

we anchored off the coastal village of St Anne for a couple of days before going into Le Marin marina to have our interior furnishing repair completed, which was the result of the brutal ramming by another careless yacht in Cape Verde islands.

St Anne is a fairly busy and very interesting place with well kept streets, nice shops and good restaurants.

ST PIERRE TO ANSE ARLET, 27 April

we had stopped in this bay on our journey north (March 2016), and thought it was very nice. The 'snorkelling' was good and the setting was beautiful. However this time the sea was rough, we had difficulty on the mooring, and the air smelt strongly of burning rubbish. The habit of people on the Caribbean islands of burning rubbish is very sad, because they burn everything including all the plastic. On Martinique there is an efficient trash collection service (as in Europe) but it is not handled correctly. 

We did however find time to go ashore and watch the sunset over a couple of "petit punches"

DOMINICA TO ST PIERRE, MARTINIQUE, 26 April

Our destination on Martinique was the bay of Saint Pierre. This is famous for its volcanic eruption in early 1900 that wiped out the population. These days it's littered with ship wrecks and is difficult to anchor off. Depth of water is prohibitive and the water currents confusing, nevertheless the setting is sublime with the towering volcano, now covered in green forest, as a handsome backdrop.

MARIE GALANT TO DOMINICA, 24 April

This was a very pleasant sail with the wind on our beam, arriving in Prince Rupert Bay (Portmouth) in good time for a swim and evening ashore in Sandy's Bar. This is one of the best beech bars in the Caribbean that we know. They have their own pontoon and the host serves excellent food and cakes, as well as cold beers on a lovely terrace overlooking the anchorage and often with beautiful sunsets.

ISLES DES SAINTES TO MARIE GALANT, 21 April

Marie Galant is a simple but beautiful island that still relies on sugar plantations. It's not far from Isles des Saintes but it means travelling almost directly into the wind. So we left the harbour of Terre de Haut and tacked to the East arriving in the secluded bay of Anse de Mays just north of the bay of St Louis after about four hours of hard sailing. The bay was where the clear water meets the white beech backed by thick jungle. An ideal spot for swimming and exploring.

DEHAIES TO ISLES DES SAINTES, 18 April

We left early and sailed down the West coast of Guadaloupe, in the shelter of the usual Easterly wind. Here and there we met gusts, then as we cleared the lower corner of Guadaloupe we entered the usual wind and wave acceleration zone, however we managed to keep our heading by close reaching to the Isles des Saintes. We picked up a mooring buoy in the Terre de Haut bay and relaxed for a couple of days to sample the good food.