The last 4 weeks have been nothing short of spectacular. Spending time in the Grenadines, a chain of 32 islands in the West Indies that is part of the independent island nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), was everything we imagined when we had that first fleeting thought about selling our home and cars and giving away a lot of our stuff to live on a sailboat and cruise the Caribbean. (That was before we hatched the plan to do a circumnavigation which still remains the ultimate goal.) Beautiful unspoiled beaches, crystal clear water great for snorkeling and diving, coastal hiking trails leading to great views and lots of casual beach bars that allow you to enjoy the sunset with a drink in your hand and your toes in the sand. (If that is not the title of a song it should be!) In fact, we decided that the Grenadines bring together all the best parts of the BVI — island hopping with line of sight sailing, beach bars when you want them and pristine, unspoiled beach, when you don’t — without the bad parts — no bleached coral, no crowded anchorages/mooring fields, no sometimes loud party scene and no jet skis. We’d like to emphasize that last point. SVG has outlawed jet skis. It is a wonderful thing to be able to snorkel and swim, or even just enjoy the beauty of various anchorages, without jet skis buzzing around you, often dangerously close. We think it is safe to say that the Grenadines have been the highlight of this winter season for us.
Our first stop in the Grenadines was the second largest of the Grenadine islands, Bequia (pronounced beck-way). Make no mistake: size is relative. Bequia is still very small at 7 square miles. We anchored in Admiralty Bay which is home to the largest village (Port Elizabeth) on the island. Bequia is a favorite among sailors and it is easy to see why. Everywhere we went we were greeted with an immediate warm smile. We were determined to make the most of our 4 night, 3 day stay. We wasted no time jumping into island life on Bequia. After clearing health, customs and immigration we headed to the floating bar, accessible only by dinghy, Bar One. Bar One is definitely a unique experience. Picture a floating platform with a pitched roof made of palm leaves. The square bar, at the center of the structure, is surrounded by swings — 2 on each side. Around the perimeter of the structure, facing out on three sides, is bench seating with a narrow shelf for resting your drink. The fourth side is where you tie up your dinghy and enter the establishment. Once we made our way to the bar — it was quite crowded — we treated ourselves to black pepper mango gin and tonics (they were as amazing as they sound) while we chatted with other sailors visiting the island.
After enjoying our drinks and interesting conversation, we then headed to Mac’s Pizza and Kitchen for dinner to enjoy the beachfront and plan our stay. The name of the restaurant is totally misleading. Yes, they served pizza but they also prepare a large array of local creole dishes and were great accommodating Jill’s vegan diet with a beautiful platter of sautéed vegetables, fresh green salad with wonderfully ripe tomatoes and oven roasted potatoes. In addition to enjoying a fabulous meal on the upper deck overlooking the ocean, we successfully developed our itinerary for the next 3 days. Day one would be land by foot, day two would be a taxi tour and day 3 we would treat ourselves to a two tank scuba dive.
We stuck to the plan. On our first full day we walked the entire coastal path that led up to Fort Hamilton. Another misnomer — there really wasn’t anything left of the fort other than a couple of cannons located in a look out — but it was still a great hike giving us a wonderful view of the surrounding bays. The coastal path, overall, is quite lovely as is is part beach walk, part climb up and over the hills that separate the bays and part walk along a narrow boardwalk built into cliffs. We posted pictures from our walk on Instagram that include the boardwalk. It is really quite something. And it was a 15,000+ step day! After spending the previous day on a passage with little physical activity, we were very glad to get in some steps.
That evening we decided to try another local restaurant, The Fig Tree. The Fig Tree, right on the water next to Mac’s, got great reviews and they advertised a three piece string band on Monday evenings which sounded like fun. As always, we mentioned Jill’s vegan diet when making reservations just so they were prepared. Wow did they prepare. The chef created a special platter for Jill with an array of local fruits and root vegetables and a variety of sauces that the chef delivered to our table personally so he could review what was on the plate. Though the food was very good, the best part of the evening was meeting the owner Cheryl. We don’t recall how the conversation started — probably with us making a point to thank her for accommodating Jill so nicely — but she asked if she could pull up a chair and we chatted for a long time. She ended up pulling Jill up to the dance floor — Zack followed — and the three of us danced to the guitar trio, having a marvelous time. As often happens in the islands, we entered as strangers and left as friends. We look forward to visiting Cheryl when we next pass through Bequia and we will return!
Day 2 was our taxi tour. Though we prefer to walk, it was a great way to get around the entire island. We visited the Turtle Sanctuary, salt mines and several different lookout points including Mount Pleasant. The Turtle Sanctuary was particularly interesting. It was started by Bequian Orion King when he retired as a skin diving fisherman in 1995 to save the Hawkbill turtle population which was dwindling at an alarming rate. At 83 years old, he still runs the place and we had the opportunity to speak with him directly to learn about his unique approach. Specifically, he knows where the Hawkbill turtles bury their eggs on Bequia and their incubation period so he waits for them to hatch, collects 40 or more hatchlings at a time and brings them to his sanctuary where they live for the first five years of their life. He then releases them into the ocean. His approach is unconventional and a bit controversial. There are those that question whether rearing turtles that are feed by humans and therefore have little fear of us is the best way to preserve the population. He argues that with less than one out of 1000 turtles surviving to maturity, his success rate — estimated to be 50 out of 100 — is far better. It was really fascinating to meet Mr. King and, regardless of one’s opinion on his approach, It is clear that he is genuinely passionate about saving the turtles. You can read about the Turtle Sanctuary here: http://turtles.bequia.net/
Day 3 was our 2 tank dive. Though we’ve done a lot of snorkeling this season, we hadn’t done any diving. It was Zack who insisted that we put an end to our dry spell and we are so glad he did. We had a marvelous 2 tank diving with Dive Bequia. The coral was some of the best we have ever seen. Seemingly endless healthy and colorful coral gardens bursting with marine life. We saw the usual variety of fish, lobsters, a huge crab and spiny sea shrimp. The crowning moment though was spotting the seahorse. We’ve seen seahorses before when diving but the sightings are few and far between and this one was particularly special. This guy was a large orangish/brownish seahorse. When we first spotted him he was holding on to an underwater branch with his tail which is commonly what they do and what we have observed. But as if his goal was to delight us, he let go of the branch and gracefully and ever so slowly floated straight up to a higher branch and then wrapped his tail around that. We could have stayed in that one spot just watching him for the entire dive! We have vowed to do some more diving in the Grenadines during our tour of the islands.
As we mention above, Bequia is a favorite among the sailing community and it is now a favorite of ours. It was hard to leave that welcoming and beautiful island but, with so many islands to visit in the Grenadines, the sea was beckoning! So with both sadness and excitement to see our next destination, Mustique, we bid farewell to Bequia on Thursday, March 31 — Day 5 of our self guided Grenadine tour. As often happens we we explore new locations, Mustique quickly had us saying “Bequia where?” We had a really fun 2 day/3 night stay. Mustique is a very small private island just south of Bequia. It is home to the rich and famous. Mick Jagger, Tommy Hilfiger, the Bushnell family (think binoculars) and the Jack Daniels family are among the many ultra rich who have homes on this island. Though it is exclusive and the residents like their privacy (you are counseled to take pictures of the scenery but never the people), the island is open to yachting visitors. Visitors are not permitted to walk along the roads that lead to the houses, but, for a somewhat exorbitant fee (50 Dollars US) you can pay a taxi driver to take you on a one hour tour and point out what fabulously wealthy family lives in what home. Of course, you can’t visit Mustique without taking the tour (our justification was that we were supporting the local economy) and, as much as we hate to acknowledge this, it was fun seeing the homes and learning who owned them.
What is really special about Mustique though is that is is largely unspoiled. You can freely walk along a coastal path as well as a lovely well-maintained loop trail that runs through a mangrove forest situated between the ocean and a lagoon. The trail even included a small observation hut with little slats for peeping out that allowed you to watch the birds and other animals without being seen. We really enjoyed exploring the island on foot (we had another 15,000 step day), taking time for a swim off a beautiful sandy beach that we had entirely to ourselves. We also enjoyed sunset cocktails at Basil’s Bar and stayed for dinner one evening. While we were not on Mustique on a Wednesday, apparently on Wednesday evenings, Basil’s hosts the best dance party in the Grenadines where cruisers and homeowners alike dance the evening away. Who knows, maybe as we make our way back up north we will visit Mustique on a Wednesday so we can party with Mick Jagger! You can read about Mustique here: https://www.mustique-island.com/. It really is a magical place — one which we know we will visit again.
Our next stop was Union Island and we visited two locations. The first was Chatham Bay. Chatham is lovely because there is very little development. There are a few “pavilions” (we use that term very loosely) where locals serve meals of freshly caught fish, lobsters and conch along with local vegetables. Let’s just say that these are not licensed establishments and would not pass a health inspection in the states. There is also one “resort” which is comprised of about 3 small cabins and an open air restaurant/bar. We enjoyed a long hike around the island, evening cocktails with a cruising couple we met in Antigua who were anchored in the same bay (one night on their boat and one night on ours) and a private dinner along with Seckie & Vanessa at their beachfront restaurant. And when we say private, we mean private. We were the only ones there the entire evening. Seckie and Vanessa cooked up a wonderful meal for us — grilled snapper for Zack and sautéed vegetables for Jill — and we enjoyed their company as we lingered long after the dinner hour. Like most of these local places, it felt more like we were eating on a good friend’s front porch — albeit one located on a beautiful white sandy beach — than a restaurant.
After a few days we headed to Clifton which is the main harbor on Union island and home to the largest town. We arrived just in time to take a quick walking tour of the village, buy some fresh produce (among other things we were getting low on limes, an essential ingredient for Jill’s Old Fashioned Rum Punch) and find the local dive shop, Dive Grenadines, to arrange a 2 tank dive for the following day. We were determined to take full advantage of the great diving in the Grenadines, particularly in the Tobago Cays which are a stones throw from Union Island. We were once again so glad that we did. We had a fantastic 2 tank dive. We swam along large and beautiful coral gardens which were bursting with color and marine life. We saw the largest lobster we have ever seen — truly, this guy was a monster! — as well as a particularly large Triggerfish (Jill kept her distance) and blacktip shark off in the distance. We cannot wait to go diving again before we leave the Grenadines! By night we enjoyed drinks at Happy Island. Happy island, accessible only by dinghy, is a postage stamp sized man-made island built on the edge of a reef which is home to a bar that serves really awesome cocktails. It is a great place to chill and watch the sunset over the hills on Union Island.
Day 2 in Clifton brought us back to reality. After exploring the various Grenadine islands for almost 2 weeks it was time to hit the “to do” list which included making up our list of boat maintenance and repairs to get ready for our haul out in June, designing and ordering more “boat cards” — think business cards for cruisers — and, joy of joys, changing bedsheets. Definitely not an exciting day but a productive one which made us feel good. Everyday can’t be a vacation!
After 3 nights and two full days in Clifton it was time to visit our next island, Mayreau, one of the smaller, locally inhabited, islands in the Grenadines. Mayreau was another delight! We anchored in Saline Bay which has a lovely long sandy beach. Being a small island there is only one village which is located in the island’s center at the top of a tall hill. Right after arriving and making sure our anchor was securely set, we headed to shore to explore. Like most of the islands we visited, the beach included several make shift restaurants run by locals. We enjoyed our walk up, up and up the hill into the tiny town. The most curious thing we came across was a pay phone on the side of the road with a great view of the surrounding bay. We posted a picture of the “pay phone with a view” on our Instagram account.
But the highlight of our one day stay was dinner at The Ranch Escapade. We saw the signs to The Ranch Escapade when we approached the “road” (most of it was a dirt trail) into town from the beach. The sign was beautifully painted, a bit campy and advertised a short “5 minute walk” to very special place for lunch or dinner so it got our curiosity up. We decided to take a stroll there when we got back from our walk into town. As we headed down the indicated path there were a series of small signs along the way designed to keep the walk fun. (Or perhaps to distract you because the 5 minute walk was really an 8 minute walk, but who’s counting when you are on island time). The first sign said “The treasure hunt begins, are you excited?” The next announced a “Turtle crossing” and yet another sign said “Great view. Take a picture.” All were brightly and beautifully painted. The last sign, “Almost there,” had you take a turn towards the beach. As we approached the beach the clearing revealed a warm but minimalist natural wood structure which was mostly open but did have plexiglass covering on the side with the prevailing wind. It was a small place with 4 or 5 tables, spread apart, each beautifully set with colorful napkins and dishware. This main structure was set back from the gorgeous beach but there was another tiny structure built up on stilts (it reminded us of the playhouse our kids had when they were small) right on the edge beach where you could enjoy cocktails or a meal. We instantly fell in love with the place and decided we had to return for dinner. As we made reservations we let the chef know that Jill was vegan and she promised to make her a special meal. There was no let down from the “hype.” We were served a delicious made from scratch meal. For starters we had pumpkin soup with ginger. For dinner Zack had moist freshly caught red snapper in a creole sauce while Jill had a lovely plate of seasoned vegetables. What a little gem of a place off on its own on an unspoiled beach. The Ranch Escapade hit the location jackpot and did it justice!
Following our brief but highly enjoyable visit to Mayreau it was off the the Tobago’s Cays! The Tobago Cays are an archipelago located in the Southern Grenadines comprising five small islands and extensive coral reefs. They are the key feature of a marine park owned and operated by the SVG government so they are totally unspoiled and undeveloped — save for one makeshift communal BBQ restaurant right on the beach on the largest of the cays. Again, we are talking about a covered pavilion with a few BBQ grills and picnic tables sprinkled on the beach. Upon arrival we headed toward the beach with the BBQ so we could walk up the hill to the highest point on the island. Why? Because, as we said in one of our Instagram posts, no Che Figata island visit would be complete without a crew hike up to the highest point an a volcanic island. It’s what we do. We get great exercise that way but the real payoff is amazing views!
For our first full day in the Cays we decided to snorkel. The Cays are known for their large turtle and ray population so we headed to a snorkeling spot comprised mostly of sand and grass to see if we could spot some of these wonderful creatures. It was a great snorkel — often against a strong current giving us a good workout — which treated us to a plethora of turtle sightings. It is fun to watch these lovely animals graze on grass and then slowly glide through the water. We also enjoyed just taking in the sea bottom in this area. There were large sections of a bright green coral, giving it the look of an endless field of moss covered pebbles. We were half expecting to see the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz film to appear in the distance.
The highlight of our stay was day two in the cays when we arranged for another dive with our friends at Dive Grenadines. Based on our first experience with them while we were visiting Clifton on Union Island we knew that the proprietor, Glenroy, would take good care of us and he did. They picked us up on Che Figata and took us on two separate dives in the Cays. Both were magnificent but the high point was the second of the two dives when we swam through a spectacularly vibrant coral garden filled with hard coral in bright orange and iridescent purples and blues. On both dives we saw the usual variety of fish (so dense that it felt like it was raining fish), lobsters and rays and on the second dive we were treated to an encounter with a blacktip shark. This guys was 6 – 7 feet long and was close enough to touch! We followed him for a fair distance until he out swam us.
No brief stay in a lovely anchorage would be complete without some excitement. This time it was in the form of two swimmers, a husband and wife, on a charter boat who were being swept away by the strong current in the narrow cut through between three clustered islands. They had on small fins but no mask or snorkel and were hugging the tiniest of styrofoam noodles. Without the right equipment and the ability to get an assist from their arms (you can’t use them while clutching a noodle to your chest) they didn’t have a chance. The husband was eventually pushed close to where another charter boat was anchored so he quickly grabbed on. His wife was still being pushed by the current in between boats when Zack spotted them and asked if the needed help. That would be a yes! Zack quickly hopped in the dinghy to reach the women and got close enough so she could grab onto it. It’s hard to get back in a dinghy without leverage so Zack brought the dinghy back to the stern of Che Figata while Jill lowered our swim ladder. This allowed the woman to transition from the dinghy to our stern, climb up the swim ladder onto our back platform and then climb into the dinghy. The next stop was retrieving the husband, still hanging onto the back of another boat. He had the same leverage issue getting into the dinghy but between Zack and his wife they were able to pull him up and over. With both swimmers safely aboard our dinghy, Zack delivered them to their boat. Scuba dive by day, save swimmers late afternoon. Such is a day in the life of the Che Figata crew!
After three nights and 2 full days in the Tobago Cays it was time to move on again so we headed back to Mayreau to pick up a mooring in Salt Whistle Bay, a lovely horseshoe shaped bay lined with palm trees on a sandy white beach. Of course, no beach would be complete without a few eating establishments set up by locals. We enjoyed BBQs on the beach at two different establishments: Black Boy and Debbie on night one and The Last Bar before the Jungle on night two. You gotta love these names!
Unfortunately, Salt Whistle Bay got really crowded. It was Easter weekend so the bay was filled with charter boats. Despite the beautiful setting, it was beginning to feel a little like a trailer park so we decided to move to Saline Bay which was quieter and, the added bonus, put us within a short walk of The Ranch Escapade. Before we left though we had more excitement with charterers. This time it wasn’t charter guests being swept away by a strong current but rather a boat dangerously close to us that broke loose from its mooring early in the morning. It had been a very gusty night and they had only secured the mooring ball with one line rather than two. (We always use two just in case one breaks.). Fortunately, though it was early in the morning, around 7 AM, it was late enough than many of us were awake and out in our cockpits enjoying a morning coffee. There was lots of yelling as surrounding boats tried to get the attention of the guests on the loose boat who were not up and about. Double fortunately, the commotion got their attention and, miraculously, despite how crowded the mooring field was, they didn’t hit anyone. Phew. Still, we were glad to leave an head toward Saline Bay!
And we had another reason to be excited about Saline Bay — we were meeting our friends from SV Hylander (Diane MacDonald and Don MacKenzie, the “D.Macs”) there. While we enjoy the freedom of sailing on our own it is nice to be reunited with other cruisers and get caught up on our respective adventures. In addition, SV Hylander will be our buddy boat when we sail to Trinidad and we still had some planning to do. We had a great 2 days with the D.Macs. First in Saline Bay as planned (enjoying another great dinner at The Ranch Escapade) and then in Trois Anse Bay where we decided to move to enjoy the facilities of a new boutique resort that opened there, Mayreau Beach Club & Villas. Trois Anse Bay was gorgeous. No development at all, not even casually constructed local eating establishments, other than this small resort that was discretely built up into the hillside creating a terraced effect. The lovely owners, Lars and Margit Abrahamsson, allowed us to enjoy their beach, swim in their pool and just generally lounge around the facility. We capped our “vacation day” with dinner at the resort’s restaurants which was delightful. We have decided that after our second tour of duty on Saint Lucia when we head back down the Grenadines towards the Grenada we will make that resort a stop and will splurge on a room for a few nights. We haven’t done that since we moved on Che Figata 19 months ago. This will be a long over due treat!
We hated to leave the D.Macs and the tranquil resort setting but it was time to continue our sail back up north so, on Easter Sunday, we left for Mustique. We were really glad to revisit islands we had enjoyed on our way down. On Mustique we enjoyed another long hike around the island and dinners at Basil’s Bar & Restaurant. Following Mustique we stopped in Bequia. Upon our arrival we were greeted by a gang of Salty Dawgs: Roxy (Mark & Lynn), Allegro (Lee and Sharon) and Kalunamoo (Bill and Maureen). They were all just starting to head south down the Grenadines. It was great fun to run into them and an afternoon beach get together transitioned into an evening rum tasting on Roxy. A good time was had by all.
The surprise reunion with some Salty Dawg friends, was only the beginning of another fabulous visit on Bequia. While on the island we hiked a new and challenging trail, Peggy’s Rock. The trail takes you along a narrow coastal path, through some woods and finally up a rock scramble to the highest point on the Southwest side of Bequia. Once on top you are treated to incredible views of Admiral Bay. Our feature photo for this blog post was taken for the top of Peggy’s Rock. We were particularly proud of our trek up to Peggy’s Rock because it came the day after we received our second COVID booster shot. (We were a little sluggish but generally feeling pretty good.) Like many of the islands, SVG offers vaccines to visitors free of charge. The reality is that demand for boosters by locals is limited. By offering visitors the booster they are ensuring that the vaccines don’t go to waste while supporting global health which is so important for the tourist industry.
During our brief Bequia return visit we also met with the great folks at Grenadines Sails and Canvas. They had made chaps for Hylander’s dinghy and we were impressed with the workmanship as well as the price — a fraction of what we paid in the states to have our chaps made several years ago. Our chaps needed some major repairs after getting torn by the concrete dinghy docks in the French Islands. For what it would have cost us to repair the chaps in the states we are getting beautiful new chaps made for us. Though the turn around time is ordinarily just a few days (also amazing) we were not in a rush so we will pick up our new chaps when we head back down the Grenadines following our stay on Saint Lucia. Finally, we couldn’t have a stop in Bequia without dining at our two favorite restaurants, Mac’s Pizza and The Fig Tree while also enjoying cocktails on Bar One.
With what seemed like the blink of an eye (through it was just 2 days short of 4 weeks), it was time to return to Saint Lucia. Jill had to fly back to the states to attend a board meeting and, most importantly, we needed to prepare for the visit from our older son, his wife and oldest daughter in early May. We departed Bequia at 6 AM on April 22 and arrived to Saint Lucia 10 hours later after a fabulous sail on a glorious beam reach. We are really looking forward to spending time with our oldest and his family. We will write all about it in our next blog entry which we will publish around mid-May after we say our goodbyes and are ready to head back down the Grenadines as we sail towards Grenada.
