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Caribbean Southern section - Grenada, St.Lucia, St.Vincent and the Grenadines

General and weather
All these islands share an unpleasant feature: swell loves to turn around them, and in many anchorages some rolling must be expected, especially under the Pitons and on the E side of St. Vincent and Grenada. Funnily enough, wind is less keen to follow, and you might well find yourself rolling with no wind to speak of once you enter the lee waters. Stay a little farther out before making for your harbour. The trades blow incessantly between the islands, especially around Christmas (Chistmas Winds), when gales are to be accounted for, and nasty seas can increase the ocean 4-ft swell. The crossings between the islands are always lively, never calm and seldom boring. The average trade wind speed is around 20 knots, less at night, more during the day. It's a place where you seldon sail without a reef.
A nice feature of these waters are the frequent squalls where you can measure your speed in taking a reef or two under a downpour, just to discover that you have to turn your engine on in 5 minutes. There is a good point in the fact that, unless you are blind, you can see them easily. There might be sailors who sail the E windward sides of these islands, certainly beautiful, but never calm. These chaps must be respected and addressed to in French. If you are on holiday, stay on the west side. Westerlies are rare (to say the least)
Hurricane season: between July and November. When, by the way, the weather is stinky hot.
Temperatures in winter are warm to hot, with fresh nights, hammering sun and daily squalls. Beer weather. Local brews are no cheap but not bad.

Restaurant and food. If you are used to the Mediterranean, the Caribbean is a desert with few oasis, being these mostly French. These will be mentioned while we sail along. But we can at least start blaming the yanks who, having practically colonized the area, banned, for some strange reason, the meat from Venezuela, among the best on the planet. So you might find yourself in Trinidad, where you can see the Venezuelan grazing cows with a good pair of binoculars, but all you can find is frozen and third choice Iowa tasteless stuff. Good tuna and bonitos. Wonderful, when available, the dolphin fish.

Paperwork
The Caribbean authorities like their paperwork in substantial quantities, especially because most nations find it convenient to pester sailors with taxes. You MUST clear in and out every time and very often custom and immigration are far apart, and their officials not altogether friendly.

Anchors
Many places in the area have a poor holding ground for CQRs, probably Danforths behave better.

St.Lucia
Although blessed by the two Pitons, the most striking mountains in the Caribbean, two very high and steep pyramids rising straight up from the blue waters, St.Lucia is not worth more than two days and one night of sailing in a weekly cruise. Unless, of course, you happen to be in Rodney Bay in the first half of December, when the caravan of the Arc arrives from the Canaries. We are talking about a couple of hundred crews arriving after a 3,000 miles crossing and very eager to party and drink beer. That's a place to be, believe me. The locals add their contribute every Friday, when the village of Gros Islet, a couple of clicks N of Rodney Bay marina, becomes a huge street ballroom/bar/opium smoking room. The English wild crew adds up to the local and rivers of rum flow freely. The darker corners around the village host every kind of commerce and you might hear gunshots when some dealer finds his area occupied by others. Leave your daughters aboard. Rodney Bay marina is excellent, it's possible to anchor for free in front of it and make a good use of the bar-cum-pool. Which is, needless to say,exceedingly lively until early in the morning. Most boat services. A good shipchandler. Rodney Bay is a very calm and wide bay, always busy and with a sandy bottom with good holding, both inside and outside.

It's another 12 miles or so south, with nothing to mention in between, unless you like refineries, until the other great St.Lucia spot, Marigot Bay. The inner bay has been criminally invaded by a Sunsail base, and it's hopelessly busy, being the only hurricane hole of the Island (even if I would not like to be there in a hurricane anyway...). The beaches are nice and very busy by hotels and clubs. Still the atmosphere is unique and it's definitely worth a stop. The outer bay is less busy but slightly more rolly. Holding ground is good only to very optimistic sailors.

The Pitons lie near the SE end of St.Lucia. The view is certainly stunning, but there is no anchorage, only expensive and rolling mooring. A place better appreciated from land where, they say, there are plenty of nice hotels steady verandas with a better view, a fresher air and a better cuisine.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines
The first calm stop while you sail south from St.Lucia is Cumberland Bay, a wide and pleasant bight with some local life around the beach. Rumors about some mischief perpetrated by the people living around here some years ago might be real, for their idea of friendlyness appears to stand only on a commercial basis. That is, if you do not want what they sell, they do not like you that much. More and more boats are passing by, and this unreal place, suspended between old hortility and modern tourism, is surely bound to be more friendly, but somewhat less attractive.
The very near Wallilabu bay, another cove surrounded by lust vegetation and local shacks, reached peaks of fame when they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean, and some sets are still on the place. Alas neither Keira Knightly nor Johnny Depp are often around. Still, many small coves around this area are well worth a stop.
The main place for boaters to stop in the south and close to the capital Kingston is the small bay, with private moorings, by Young Island. Here you can easily use local boats to desembark and go shopping downtown or eating out in one of the many restaurants.
Kingstown is the best, and possibly one of the only places in the nation where you can find decent groceries, although, if you come from Martinique, you might find the contrast excessive. The public markets are well worth a visit, especially the fish one, where the lack of choice (tuna or snapper) is somewhat alleviated by the freshness. The vegetable market provides at least 100 different stall selling exactly the same poor choice. The supermarket and bakery are by the airport and are acceptable. The only frozen meat worth a bite is pork. Things might improve...
Bequia
Port Elisabeth is possibly the busiest sailors' crossroad in the southern Caribbean. The wide bay hosts easily 200 yachts riding at anchor. Choose your spot inside if you want to be close to the lively bars or by the beaches if you happen to like white sand and tranquillity. Although popular, the wind often whistles loudly here and the holding ground is not the best. When the wind picks up in the late morning it's funny to look the boats loosing the holding and moving backwards among the phlegmatic comments of the others ('Hey dude, it's either you going backwards or all of us moving forward...'). Water and diesel are sold by rafts at 'slightly' increased prices, but there is not much of a choice. The same gang controls the water taxis: these folks are always around, never friendly and seldom without a joint between the lips. It is not recommended to remain stranded ashore at 4 am. They will still be there to ferry you aboard but the fact they won't charge you because they are too stoned to remember it is a poor reward for the mixed feelings you will experience during the trip. The Frangipani and the Gingerbread are sailor's favourites, and a very nice places these are indeed with live music, good beer and rum, nice dishes and a great atmosphere by the beach. The Frangipani dinghy dock is certainly the busiest in these latitudes.
Mustique
Not very sailor friendly. Waiting for reasons to go there and pay the outrageuos mooring fee just to see the hedges of Mick Jagger's place.

Mayreau and the Tobago Cays

Mayreau boasts some stunning (and very popular) bays. Salt whistle bay in the NW, Saline Bay (wider and calmer) in the W, and Saline Bay, sheltered by the reefs in the SE.

All this area truly deserves a look through Google Earth:

Union Island provides a rare combination of beauty and services at Clifton Harbour. The round reef around it shelters a wide expanse or water and the base of one of the most famous 'restaurants' in the region: I am talking about the shack partly floating right on the entrance reef, where the best local lobsters are served in a real Caribbean atmosphere. Then Union has a well connect ed airport and a real rarity: a serious, efficient and well stocked workshop/chandlery, where they can solve many problems. It's managed by a French chap who knows his business. The main problem of Clifton is its dreadful holding ground. SET your anchor well and let go PLENTY of chain. A danforth is better then a CQR.

Just S of Union Island lies Petite Saint Vincent (PSV). A long reef lies W of it, forming the two famous tiny and sandy Islet of Pinion and Punaise. If you sail around at night it's mathematically certain that you hit them. During the day a local wisely put a very nice umbrella on top of Pinion. PSV is connected to Petite Martinique by a reef that blocks the entrance to both, boats and waves, thus forming a calm bay of turquoise waters and perfect peace. This is a favourite spot, but definitely less busy than the Cays. Also the beach of PSV is a magical place. And it's the writer's favourite anchorage, combining calm waters, good company and nice beaches. Another advantage of PSV is its close proximity with Petite Martinique, not an inviting place in itself, but possessing that precious feature of being in another nation, Grenada. Where food but especially liquor and wine are definitely less expensive. Do not be surprised to see fast dinghies racing at night between here and Union. It's the supermarket owners buying things where they cost less. Or, in other words, smuggling.

Our cruise S passes by Carriacou, already in Granada's waters. The SE beaches and bays have been reported worth a stop, while Tyrrel Bay gains its fame more for the efficient shipyard in the inner bay and for the liveliness of a couple of bars than for its scenery.
The crossing between the Grenadines and Grenada is enlivened by a small group of uninhabited and wild islands on of which, Ronde Island, offers a good anchorage in Corn Store Bay. If there is a place where you can feel the urge to shove around for treasures, this is it. There is also a submarine volcano in activity around this group, funnily named Kick'em Jenny, and sailors are advised to sail far aways when it... kicks.

The beautiful Island of Grenada is surely the most imposing and spectacular of the area, with lush green forests, waterfalls, peaks and volcanoes, enchanted valleys and wonderful bays. The latter, though, are certainly not abundant in the north of the island. That means that you have to sail all the way to St.George, the capital nearly at the S end, to find shelter from the swell. With its nicely kept houses and streets on the hills aroung a well sheltered bay, the clean alleys and wooden curches, the small villas and European aura, the capital of Grenada is undoubtely the most pictoresque town in the whole region. Even if the local population coannot win any sympathy competition whatsoever, the havoc played by hurricane Ivan in 2004 was too much of a comeuppance. The devastation ruined 85 % of the buildings and 198 out of the 200 boats here suffered mayor damage. This damage, it's sad to say, was greatly increased by the acts against property perpetrated by the local population.
The Grenada Yacht Club lies in the lagoon, a very well sheltered bay just S of the town. The anchorage is
The south coast of Grenada is deeply indented by a series of inlets, like Port Egmont and Prickly Bay, providing excellent shelter, good bars and restaurands, wide green lagoons, peaceful and beautiful surroundings. You can also clear in and out from here.

South of Grenada there is just Trinidad and Tobago, more of a technical than a tourist destination. They say it's out of the hurricanes path. They said the same in Grenada too.

Notes about French Polynesia

We know.... it's far, especially from Europe. But Tahiti, Bora Bora, Tuamotu and Moorea are closer to the realm of dreams than to the grey world of reality. Sail there and you risk to give up your job, sell your home and steer towards the sunset along the trade winds fairway. A fairway, indeed, with the wind blowing always with you. But 9,000 miles at 150 miles a day are always... 60 days away (plus stops and panama...). It might be, therefore, a trifle more expensive.

French Polynesia is, funnily enough, part of France, and therefore rather visa friendly. You might even find a decent wine there.

Armstrong Globals represents a base with 5 identical catamarans in French Polynesia. Click here to visit their file.

• GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF FRENCH POLYNESIA


Tahiti and its islands are situated in the South Pacific, 17,000 km from Europe. The 118 islands that constitute the territory are scattered on a surface area as large as Europe.

• THE POPULATION
The traditional Polynesian welcome is usually extended with songs, merry orchestras and flower leis and this is how the locals have always greeted visitors. This is a beautiful custom so revealing of their happy nature and sense of hospitality.
Population: 240 000 approximately, of whom two thirds live on the island of Tahiti.
Ethnic distribution: Polynesians 83% - Europeans 12 % - Chinese 5%

• TROPICAL CLIMATE
The French Polynesian islands enjoy a tropical climate with a maximum amount of sunshine reaching 3,000 hours annually in the Tuamotus!

*The temperatures, always pleasant, are cooled by the 15 to 25 knots Trade Winds blowing all year round. Average temperature is 27°C, while water temperature is 25°C.

The Tuamotu atolls

These sand and coral crowns laid on the ocean contain true inner seas. These emerged parts of engulfed volcanoes have created one of the Pacific's most poverful images, images of countless coconut trees that crowd the beaches around magnificent lagoons.

Rangiroa

This is the world of the great ocean depths. Owing to the two passes that provide a habitat for an incredibly dense fauna of pelagic species, sharks and all kinds of fish, the Rangiroa atoll has become one of the most popular world diving sites.

The fauna is nevertheless as varied inside as outside the lagoon, with multi-colored coral beds between 2 and 10 meters, an ideal playground for snorkeling and all forms of fishing.

Cruises codes: a: adventure, gw: gourmet and wine; c: culture and art.