Windy Saint Vincent & the Grenadines – SVG

by admin · 29/03/2022

We only managed to get through a very small portion in the southern part of the SVG group including Union Island, Mayreau Island, Canouan island and the Tobago Cays. The conditions throughout our time there were very windy blowing 20-25kts each day and often rough water anywhere outside of small sheltered spots. This was fine in the yacht but not much fun for exploring around snorkelling or in the dingy.

Union Island

Union Island was our immigration point into the area called the” Saint Vincent and the Grenadines”. We entered Clifton Harbour which was the nicest and most casual check-in anywhere.

The harbour has all the yachts on mooring buoys and is close to the airport and a kite surfing bay. A local boat was always about to help out with picking up a mooring and for a small fee take our rubbish, great service with a smile.

We managed to get a mooring then got into the dinghy and drove under a little bridge to a dinghy harbour.

Entry to the dinghy dock with a restaurant and bar behind

We hopped out of the dinghy and gave our documents to a very friendly agent then sat in a bar looking out to the harbour for a cool drink while we waited for them to come back. The little bar has a lending library and a small shop with normal beach clothes and some very good books about Caribbean flora and fauna. The arrival was made very pleasant and stress-free.

On a little atoll, near the mooring area, there is also a small bar for sunset drinks. with a view over the kite surfing area to the airport. The fact that there is always kite surfing here tells you something about the wind – incessant!!

The town has a collection of very pretty stores selling real local artwork. There is also a very helpful information centre and the Marine Park office if you need to ask anything about the Tobago cays. The town had a very pleasant feel and the local land tortoises are very cute.

Red-footed Tortoises (*Chelonoidis carbonaria*)

The bars around the town were very cute and their names kept us amused.

Local boats on the slip. Everyone seems to have one

After checking in and spending a night on Union island we moved onto Mayreau Island in the Tobago Cays Marine Park.

Tobago Cays

Tobago Cays Marine Park is a popular destination in the southern end of the Grenadines. The marine park consists of a 1,400-acre (5.7 km²) sand-bottom lagoon which encompasses the five cays, the Mayreau island and a 4 km Horseshoe Reef. The story of the marine park management and setup can be found with this link. It has been a long process and is not yet completed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobago_Cays

Mayreau Island

Mayreau island appeared to be a lovely island with few people. We stopped for a night at Saline beach which was a lovely beach but because a cruise ship was in the harbour, they have first rights to most of the beach, so we could only land at one end. You can walk along the beach but you cannot go inland as it is taken up for the cruise ship visitors with chairs, a little day snack bar and drink bars. This tends to make it less than friendly!!

Met some fellow kiwis here, Colin and Marion Cashmore on Avant Garde and Matt and Jo McCaughan on Seamogs and after a few rums discovered we knew many people in common. Typical kiwi connections boating, flying and neighbours.

The next day we wanted to stop at Salt Whistle Bay which reputably had great beach bars and island liofe. A group of 5 catamarans were heading for it ahead of us and when we got closer we realised that the bay was really full and overcrowded. The wind was blowing 25kts and we thought that stopping there did not seem a good idea so we continued on to Tobago Cays.

Petit Bateau and Petit Rameau

We anchored in the channel between the two islands of Petit Bateau and Petit Rameau. There were mooring buoys there which were handy as the wind and the current were strong. Mr Mandy Man arrived in his boat, sorted out our mooring and booked us in for dinner all before lunch! We all hopped into the dingy to try the snorkelling around on the Horseshoe reef. Unfortunately with the howling wind, the water was really stirred up and not very clear. We did see some turtles but not much else.

Later we went and had dinner at the beach BBQ area on Petit Bateau.

Looking at the anchorage between the islands

Crayfish Splitter, a full time job with a machete!

Coloured table clothes and lovely dinners

Sunset with Eleuthera in the background, “Mr Mandy Man” boat in the foreground

Tobago Cays Reef Diving

The next day we went diving with one of the local operators, Glenroy, to look at Mayreau gardens and one other spot on the reef. We were expecting bad visibility but it was OK. Neville was getting the hang of his camera and the spiny lobsters were looking back at him knowing he could not take them!!! The Nurse shark just ignored him!

I have split the photos into three blocks, the divers, the fish and the lastly the coral and sponges.

Canouan

Canouan is a small island with several large expensive resorts. The marina to the south, Sandy Lane Yacht Club, is next to an airport that seemed to mostly service private jets. The island seemed to be a mix of private resorts with the locals excluded apart from when required for service jobs. Not the most welcoming of destinations.

We stopped in the Charles bay, off Charleston the largest town, but the wind through the valleys and off the hills made the anchorage untenable. We then shifted into the lee of the cliffs to the north of the harbour which was a pleasant anchorage and we were only accompanied by a couple of much larger boats.

We stayed for a night and some snorkelling then decided to move on and head back towards Union island to check out. Unfortunately, the holiday for Nev, Mark and Pete was coming to an end and they were all flying out around the same weekend from Grenada, and the yacht was going up on the hard for some TLC.

Nev and Mark during their evening singing.

Union Island Check Out

As we headed south we checked out of Union island at Clifton Bay in the northern end, then decided to anchor for the night at the bay in the Southern End called Chatham Bay. This was a lovely bay with three bars and some good snorkelling areas. We were tucked into the cliffs as again the wind was howling and we wanted a calm night. We saw a kiwi flag there and met Colin and Marion from the Bay of Islands and had a great chat.

There was a great collection of pelicans on the northern cliffs of the bay which kept us amused. for some time. They are beautiful flyers and great to watch.

Return to Grenada

As we sailed back to Grenada we went in close to the coast to look at some of the areas we had missed on the way north. It was worth it even if it was raining at times.