2nd Feb
Having left St Lucia from Marigot we headed down to St Vincent. The passage was a bit rough at times but overall it was a great sail with really strong winds in the acceleration zones and lots of swell. Overall we made good time and decided to drop the anchor in Wallilabou. This is quite a deep anchorage so we had to rely on a boat boy to take our stern lines ashore and tie us up to a fence on the beach. The distance involved stringing together 3 different lines. However once secure ashore we moved neatly away from an already secured catamaran – a great relief to one and all.
By the time we had settled we were actually quite close in to the shore, sitting in beautiful clear deep water. Wallalibou is one of the places where the original Pirates of the Caribbean was made and you can still see the structure that Johnny Depp swung round and round on. Part of the buildings where you can do customs registration is a sort of museum/film set as well. We did a bit of liming as we were all pretty tired after the trip over. Jo wasn’t too keen on the place so next morning we got organised and headed to Bequia.
3rd Feb
We had a great sail in to Admiralty Bay which is a huge sheltered bay. However we had huge problems trying to get the anchor to bite. It took 6 attempts and of course by then there was a fair old bit of cursing and oaths being mouthed. When we thought initially we had a hold we popped below to organise things. I had casually said to John that I had heard a bit of movement from the bow so he nipped up check our position. The shout went up ‘get up here quick’ .We hadn’t got a proper bite and were fast drifting in towards an anchored boat. So it was a case of anchor up tout suite and try again. The problem is that there a lot of shoals in the area and some of the shallows have a solid shale topping which means getting a bite is difficult. Eventually we were settled and secure. This was just as Linocat arrived as well They anchored (1st time) not far from us.

The beaches in the Bay are just absolutely stunning. Princess Margaret Beach is white sand and turquoise water and unspoilt. Ashore there is a busy waterfront of café/bars, fruit vendors and some local trinkets as well. This is interspersed with stores and houses etc. It is a bit shambly (for want of a better description). Every so often there is a delicious smells of freshly baked bread or garlic floating in the air. The Gingerbread house does mean cakes (banana, carrot etc) and good cappuccino (died and went to heaven). We went ashore for a sundowner and got handed plastic glasses as the bar was closing (6p.m.) but we were assured we could stay on if we wanted to (they put the lights out).

Next day Michael (Linocat) came by to see if we wanted to join them on a mini island tour.

We had 3 hours driving round the main part of the island taking in some fantastic views from way up top. The island is much more orderly in its development of properties and clearly has a level of wealth for some that isn’t so apparent elsewhere.
Some of the houses are real Hollywood mansions other are just plain shacks with no running water or sanitation. The people are very friendly and there is no aggressive sales pitches from boat boys etc.

One of the highlights of the tour was visiting a turtle sanctuary called Old Hegg. It is run by a man who has made it his life’s mission to save turtles. He keeps greenback and hawksbill turtles that have been at risk in his sanctuary. He nurtures them back to health. He has huge tubs (a bit like the tanks at Machrihanish) where the baby turtles can grow in safety. It is wonderful to watch them move around. They are actually quite aggressive towards each other and will bite each other and try and take each others eyes out. (guess the gene is just not a human one!) Only 25% will survive to full maturation. Once they are recovered he releases them into bays around the various islands. He also tries to educate fisherman and sailors of the importance of the species which is at risk.

They also had some huge tortoises which reminded me of the one I had (Moroni) when I was wee. It was good to spend time with Linocat’s crew and Kris’s folks.
Bequia is a very beautiful island and one definitely to visit again.
5th Feb
Linocat was heading north and we were heading toward Mayreau which is small island just beside Tobago Keys. We had been advised that this was the preferred anchorage as the Keys themselves can be very windy and uncomfortable on anchor. So we dropped the hook in the absolutely stunning Saltwhistle bay which defied picture postcard shots. The comings and going in the anchorage proved great entertainment. The catamarans have a habit of coming in late in the afternoon, shuffling their way to the very nearest point to the beach and dropping the hook. They then fall back over everyone else’s anchors ensuring that you are pretty stuck until they decide to move.
The bay is not comfortable in a northerly swell but the first night was fine. We limed big style. Next morning however the swell running in the bay was significant and boats were twirling around all over the place. John was for moving right away but the ladies persuaded him to wait a while. Sure enough by mid morning things were calmer and we opted to stay another day.

What a fiasco that turned out to be. The plan had been to go ashore and explore some of the island. However some twat of a ‘sailor’ gave us great cause for concern when he anchored his catamaran within a few feet of us. For the first time John had to say he couldn’t stay there. He thought he could and so it went on. In the end the other boats around complained as well and with the help of Herman the boat man he was relocated. By then the day was almost over and we still hadn’t been ashore.

An extremely uncomfortable night ensued and a large boat that had been on a mooring buoy had broken lose during the night. When we got up in the morning several boats around it had fenders out and the offending boat was on anchor. The swell was huge and the position was becoming untenable. At this point we opted to forgo a trip to the Keys at this point and head straight to Union Island.

7th Feb
The trip across was uneventful despite the wind strength and the many shoals that had to be negotiated. The sail was terrific if a little short. We could see the boats in Tobago Keys as we passed getting bounced around like corks and were glad with our decision. The entrance to Union Island’s main town of Clifton is tricky as it has many shoals around it. The marker buoys are a bit confusing in part because it is difficult to tell which are red ones and which are green. Anyway safely into the bay with the anchor biting on its first drop we set of ashore to do the customs and immigration paperwork to clear out so we were legal again.

Every time you change from a country e.g. St Vincent and Grenadines to Grenada and Carriacou you have to go to port authorities and register both in and out. This means that you have to go to the place where there are authorities.

It was a surprisingly charming town and very interesting to wander around. It has a yacht club which has a little water feature that is host to a variety of sharks. The little islet in the middle has a table and chairs on it but the prospect of getting over the walkway to it would be daunting with a few too many rum punches in you.

John headed out in the dinghy to explore the reef. He was disappointed to find little in the way of sea life and much of the reef lifeless. It was however absolutely beautiful and wild to look at. Later in the afternoon – about sundowner time- we all got in the dinghy and went to happy island. This a little spit of sand and coral that has a beach bar with a difference on it. The bar is built from conch shells and was the vision of a man called Janti. It has a great view of the bay and surrounding areas. The welcome from Janti is very friendly. He was quite happy to spend a while telling us about his project. It had taken him 8 years to get it to the state of almost completion and at present he is working on the plumbing.

While watching the sun go down we met people from one of the boats that had been in Mayreau. They invited us to join them for bbq of burgers. We spent a lovely few hours exchanging stories. The trip back in the dark was interesting (well we hadn’t planned on staying that long really), particularly when we snagged a mooring line on our prop (oops!).