Caribbean notes

We hoped to experience beguiling days anchored in calm bays, lined with palm trees, in azure seas with striking coloured coral reefs beneath the boat.

However this is not always what we found.

These are some examples of the 'down side':

CROWDS

Most bays are crowded with other yachts either at anchor or on mooring buoys so when you arrive and want to anchor it's probably going to be way out in the outer rim of the bay away from the shore.

If you are brave enough to get amongst the moored yachts and catamarans then 'at your peril' because they are already tight together and they tend to move around a lot. Many of the yachts are crewed by complete novices, who have just arrived from Europe, and have a limited idea how an anchor works.

Since we arrived in the Caribbean a large proportion of our co-cruisers have been hit by drifting boats that dragged their anchor when the wind got up to 10 knots or above which frequently happens.

HOLIDAY CHARTERERS

When you have successfully anchored, you will probably note a wide selection of yachts around you. Most likely lots of catamarans with oldies "on the bottle" or noisy youngsters also "on the bottle". One thing is for sure, most catamarans are rented (charter) and are full to the brim with guests (economy in numbers when renting expensive catamarans). These catamarans will be a constant source of noise and water pollution. They throw their waste into the sea such as orange peel and old uneaten vegetables, and of course they frequently use their onboard toilets with no thought of using holding tanks.

MESSY BOATERS

There are yachts that look like floating gardens, occupied by crew that have well and truly retired to this particular anchorage on the planet. An example of this is Tyrrel Bay on the island on Carriacou. Some of these people have roped a couple of yachts together, got a pack of dogs, never washed their boats and have tenders which are laden with sea growth. In other words not the kind of people you would expect to see in azure Caribbean waters, and would look better in the back reaches of Pool Harbour.

TENDER LOSS OR DAMAGE

When you are safely moored and have marvelled at the sights around you it's time to get the tender ready and head for the shore. The danger is that things get stolen from your boat and your tender, so you have to lock everything. Long chains with bike combination locks are common tender furniture.

When you get to the pontoon, which allows tenders to moor (some are private!) then you will have another set of obstacles. First is that the pontoons are often very crowded with other tenders. Some nice, some filthy, and some only half floating. When you have carefully found a tiny space very close to the shore you will note other users ramming their way to the pontoon through several other tenders with ores and engines crashing and bashing. Then they will disconnect some other tenders to get theirs attached to the pontoon. All very casually. 

If the pontoon has a large gap under it (such as on the island of Bequia) then your tender might dissappear underneath and be blocked off by dozens of other tenders. Good luck when you come back from a happy-hour and have to get the tender out of this mess. It can ruin your evening. Our new tender aged by 20 years after an evening out in Bequia.

WILD WINDS ON THE WEST COASTS

We thought that all the bays and anchorages on the leeward side of the islands would be protected from the prevailing Easterly winds and therefore be calm and tranquil. This was mostly wrong because what actually happens is that the winds are affected by the land masses causing very strong gusts that come from a variety of directions. The worst bay we anchored in was Charlestown Bay on Canouan Island. A friend who was cruising with us suffered an upturned dinghy and submerged outboard engine due to high gusting winds. The higher the island mountains, the stronger the gusts.

DANGEROUS ANCHORAGES

You should make sure your anchor is well set and that you are not downwind of other casual charterers. Several times we have had to wake up crew of drifting boats or had to move ourselves to save angry exchanges with obstinate crew. I once told a captain of a catamaran in Bequai that he was drifting down onto our yacht and he just shrugged and said "so what".

In the bay of St Pierre on Martinique the anchorage area is so deep that boats have to let out a lot of chain, this then causes boats to clash together when the wind direction and velocity changes.

FAMOUS PLACES WERE DISAPPOINTING

If you have heard about the famous Tobago Cays you might think it's all about clear water, colourful corral and beautiful fish. Not quite true. It blows hard and it's dangerous with other manic yachts vying for anchorage space. Kite surfers glide between the yachts. Local boat boys bothering you for incredibly expensive and dodgy shoreside barbecues.!

HASSLED BY LOCAL BOAT BOYS

Often when approaching your chosen bay on Dominica or St Vincent for example, you will be met by locals in high speed dinghies who will tell you that they will help you find a mooring, rent you a mooring, help you attach, sell you bread, take your rubbish and offer many other products and tasks. Sometimes the mooring they rent you does not even belong to them. The bread they promise is never delivered even though you have paid an extortionate 25 EC$ ( which is about 9€ a loaf!. In Europe same bread would be 1€). The mangoes they sell you for 3EC$ each will be rotten in the morning. The survival advice is 'be polite and refuse everything' otherwise things get nasty.

HIGH PRICE OF FOOD

The price of vegetables in the Caribbean is shocking despite the fact that it's one of the most fertile regions of the world with warmth, sun, rain and gentle sprinkling of Sahara dust. All plants grow fast and strong yet you will find yourself paying exorbitant prices for fruit and veg. Typically mangoes can cost 3EC$ each, tomatoes 10EC for a half kilo. Etc.

THE WEATHER

My expectation of the Caribbean weather was that the islands were dry and it was constantly sunny. The actual situation is very different. When we arrived in Martinique in December there were constant rain showers with winds ranging from 15 to 30 knots. Then when cruising down to the Grenadines the weather didn't really change. Constant rain squalls with gusting winds. The islands were all very green and covered in lush tropical forests. With the abundant fresh water came swarms of mosquitoes especially close to the mangrove swamps.

EXPENSIVE TAXIS

The prices of taxis was the next shock. 50€ to get a ride across the town of Le Marin, a matter of 5 km, with our luggage. You can 'haggle' prices but they prefer to do nothing rather than reduce their prices. In St Vincent a local restauranteur recommended a taxi driver who would take us to a local garden at a good price. The trip was half an hour each way with about an hour to wait for us to visit the garden. The taxi driver wanted 50 USD each and we were six people. That would be 300 USD for a couple of hours work. We obviously tried to reduce his ask price and were turned down. We ended up walking to the main road and finding a bus into the city and back for a total cost of 100 USD.

EATING OUT

If you eat out in the Caribbean you had better talk to your bank manager first. We had a Christmas meal in Martinique which cost us 150 € for two. We went for pizza in Bequai and paid 50 EC$ each. I won't mention how much it costs to eat at Basil's Bar on the island of Mustique.! If you want good quality dining that's relatively inexpensive then stay in the French islands ( especially Isles des Saintes).