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.