Full Moon Rising

A very spectacular sunset at anchor by Frigate Island off Union Island

Full moon rising to the west, photo taken same time as above.

View of southern sky, Frigate Island on left, same time as previous photos.

9/27/12 - 9/29/12

We left Union with a short hop (motored) to Petite Saint Vincent (PSV), we made a day stop as we had a few weeks ago to explore the reef to the north of the island.  While I was snorkeling Stan was fishing and caught a Peacock Flounder, kind of small but was a delicate excellent meal just the same.  He also caught another filefish a bit larger than the last and good for 2 meals.  Stan's favorite bait for still fishing is Ballyhoo which we buy processed.  The snorkeling was a little on the rough side with the swells from Nadine who is still ralling around the Atlantic like a crazy woman.  We moved to the other side and overnighted in the bay on the south side of PSV.  This private development was originally constructed by Doug Terman and Haze Richardson, Doug was a longtime resident of the Mad River Vally in VT and authored several books, Stan and I had met him although did not know him well, he passed away in 1999.
For more info:
http://www.petitstvincent.com

Peacock Flounder, I forgot to take a photo of the actual this I got from the world wide web :-)

 Very pretty fish.

Friday I went across the water to Petit Martinique, for beer, wine, scotch and water, so far best prices since leaving St. Thomas.  Stan was avidly fisihing while I was gone with no luck.  We pulled anchor and headed to a new spot at Union Island just west of and in the protection of Frigate island, enjoyed a nice down wind sail.  Friday evening we marveled at one of the most spectacular sunsets we have seen with a full moon rising to our east.  The pictures posted above do not do justice to the color that encompassed almost all the sky.

Saturday morning I tried to hike up Frigate Island only to be thwarted by heavy vegetation many of which had thorns, I needed a machete and heavy clothing if I really wanted to make it to the top, if there is some secret path it certainly eluded me.  Well since I could not climb it I decided to snorkel around it which was very good although with the swells and current the visibility was not great. Stan is still having difficulty with his ears so he is my tender and fishes at the same time, I gave him a heads up on the location of a small barracuda that he thinks he may have struggled with then lost.  Fortunately we still  have a freezer full of a variety of fish.  This is a good anchorage with good holding but can be a bit rolly with larger swells coming around the corner of the island.

Interesting rock formation at the base of Frigate.

View of Dream Walker in the bay below Frigate Island, highest elavation I could get to was at the top of the rock formation in previous photo.

As is very usual for us we have yet to discuss our next move so you will have to rely on SPOT as to were we go next.

Back at Union Island

Better photo of the ship that went astray west of Admiralty Bay as we were leaving Bequia.

9/19/12 - 9/26/12

Well we had a nice short sail to Petit Nevis did not catch any fish though which was a disappointment.  Did a little snorkeling and enjoyed those Brazilian lobster for dinner, very sweet.  Petit Nevis is one those go back to spots that is really nice. The next morning we left and headed for Canouan enroute I hooked a big Mahi-Mahi but lost it due to a lure malfunction which was really really disappointing. We anchored in Maho Bay a place we stopped on our last most recent voyage seeking cover from weather from all directions.  I took some time to snorkel the reef here and found it to be not so great, probably since it is open to the north. Stan repaired our faulty lure and fixed a second one we had that was also flawed.

We left the next morning and headed for Chatham Bay a favorite spot on the west side Union Island, weather was picking up and it was a good safe anchorage. And it did blow hard and we had some terrific thunderstorms as well. Between cloud bursts and big winds we did get an opportunity to pull our dinghy up and relieve it of much overgrown algae and barnacles, also spent some time scrubbing the water line of same including some of the crabs that had taken up residence. We did start to leave for Clifton on Mon the 24th and got turned back by more bad weather.  After having worked hard on the boat we went in for Happy Hour @ Sun, Beach and Eat, rum punches are $5 ec, very good deal.  Enjoyed visiting with Vanessa & Seckie owners of the beach bar, also enjoyed talking with Moses an out of work construction worker from St. Vincent, he gets most of his work here on the on Union Island and really loves Chatham Bay which I can understand completely.  With the weather as it was and being boat bound I cooked up having just enough leftover lobster Brazilian Lobster Eggs Benedict which was so awesome only thing that could have made it any better was if we had champagne for mimosas.

Stan and I at the beach bar

View down the beach, there are several beach bars most of which are closed due to the off season.

Stan, Vanessa and I after a few rum punches

Stan with Vanessa and Seckie, very sweet couple.

This morning before we got ready to leave, Alvin swam out to our boat to ask for some food, several weeks ago when we were here he came by for the same thing but by boat.  We gave him some canned goods again but he is a pleasant guy to talk to, not your usual "beggar".  Stan gave him a dinghy ride back to shore and we headed out for Clifton just around the corner as we are in dire need for fruits/veggies and internet.  I was glad that the crash of our e-mail and blog services recovered.

As we were shopping from market to market today a group of uniformed school children seemed to be going from store to store as we were and I inquired as to their purpose and they were investigating foods measuring in Kg which was interesting.

Captain Stan is being very wishy washy about whether we leave for Carricou and Grenada tomorrow or continue here in the southern Grenadines so as usual stay tuned.

Back in Bequia

Looking north towards St. Vincent, the point of land in the foreground to the right is where a favorite snorkel location called the Devils table.

This is part of a development constructed within the a natural rock arch referred to as the Moonhole, this portion having been abandoned due to a boulder plummeting through a roof crushing an empty bed.

This is the habital portion of the Moonhole just east of the previous photo, this development is hard to access has no electricity and is considered a special kind of vacation home for the right people.

9/14/12 - 9/19/12

We got our sail back and very happy with the quality and cost to complete the job.  We have been busy doing some projects the biggest was troubleshooting our electrical charging wiring as we have not been getting adequate charge from any of our charging sources.  We found only one problem which seemed to get the system working properly again, we had a connection to our ground, the threads on the battery lug were stripped which we chased with a die.  We have both been working through getting over colds, Stan was first and then I got it one of those head colds that moves to the chest.  I spent a couple of days not swimming or snorkeling but finally today (Monday) I went for a long snorkel along the south and west wall of Admiralty Bay in Bequia, it was beautiful as nice as the Devils Table on the north side. Tuesday I did a snorkel at the Devils Table and headed more north than the last time, it was all excellent.  Stan is still guarded about his ears and sinusus so while I snorkel he is fishing but with not much luck. We did a little provisioning in town purchased fruit and veggies from the ladies at the market, getting to know them pretty well now, very pleasant doing business with them.  We did purchase a 3 lb. lobster from Simoni ($20 ec/lb. which was $5/lb. more than we should have paid) for dinner which was excellent, broiled it with butter and spices.  This morning a fisherman (Sylvester) came by with lobster at $15 ec/lb and we did not resist as he had the smaller Brazilian lobster that he said were much better tasting and he sold us 4 and then tossed in a 5th. Once we get topped off with water and fuel this morning we are headed over to Petit Nevis for the night and moving on south again towards Grenada.

A bucket of 5 Brazilian lobster not much more than 3/4 lb. each

What a Whirlwind Tour We're On

Petit St. Vincent

Petit St. Vincent

9/9/12 - 9/13/12

If you have been following spot you will have noticed we have been moving around a lot.  We left Union Island and went to Petit Martinique for fuel and water, FYI-  for those in need of cheap beer, Hollandia is $50 ec/case and wine and liquor is very reasonable as well. We went to the west side of Petit St. Vincent anchored for the afternoon to snorkel around the reefs and then moved around the corner for a safer overnight anchorage, this island is privately owned and looks like a very nice resort.  We ended up having to move in the middle of the night due to an unexpected shift in the wind that was bumping us on the bottom, the move went with no problems. 

Petit Martinique

Petit Martinique

The next day Monday the 10th we went to Hillsborough, Carriacou which is part of Grenada and checked in with customs/immigration. We enjoyed the town and it seems it has cleaned up considerably since we were there last.

Scenes from Hillsborough

Tuesday morning we headed over to Tyrell Bay to meet with the guy at In-Stitches who quoted us a price to replace our UV protection on our jib. Well his price went up considerably so Stan called the guy in Bequia who gave us a quote and we decided to give the work to him, Stan liked his shop better and they seemed more professional.  So in order to get the job done we would have to be there asap.  We spent the night at Sandy Island (excellent snorkeling here) and on Wed. morning popped back into Hillsborough to check out of Grenada and had a beautiful sail back to Bequia.  So what took us 30 days to travel we did in one day back. 

Vacant unfinished home

Sandy Island

So here we are back in Bequia, Stan checked us in with customs/immigration and we delivered the sail for repair and they will have it done tomorrow. Final cost for the sail including a few extra repairs is $480 US and the guy in Tyrell Bay went from $400 US to never doing a job like this for less than $700 US and he was not sure when he would have gotten to it or how long it would take so I think we made the right choice.  So not sure after tomorrow how quickly we will return to Grenada waters so you'll have to stay tuned.

How not to navigate your freighter, 3 weeks ago late at night the autohelm malfunctioned just outside Admiralty Bay in Bequia.  HMMM!!! What did I say about being vigilante?

Checking out of the Grenadines

Happy Island Bar/restaurant off our bow in Clifton, Union Island - Palm Island in the distance. Happy Island is man-made and base is made up of conch shells sitting on the reef.

Clifton to our stern

 9/4/12 - 9/8/12

After having spent a few days in Clifton provisioning, filling propane and topping off with water we headed to Chatham Bay on the western side of Union Island.  We were here before and the snorkeling is really beautiful here, there are lots of turtles although they are not as comfortable with people as they are at Tobago Cays.  We met a local "Tim" who gave Stan some bait for fishing so that made him very happy, he ended up catching a Red Hind (in the grouper family) and a perfect size barracuda about 2.5 ' long and 4 lbs, so freezer is full again.  Stan's ears or sinus are bothering him again so he is not snorkeling so when I am snorkeling he is fishing, I actually had a confrontation with the barracuda he ended up catching.  This snorkeling spot off and around the north end of the bay is very worthy of scuba diving.

Entering Chatham Bay

"Mandalay" entering the bay while dousing her sails

Beach with small resort and restaurant in Chatham Bay.

We did a little haggling with Tim over price and ended up having a great dinner a shore of lobster.  We ended up meeting and enjoying dinner with Nadine and Mark from the catamaran Bonobo, they are good friends with Umido.  We have been seeing Bonobo at a lot of the anchorages we have been the past week or two, we thought they were following us, it was fun sharing an evening together. Bonobo is named after the monkey, check it out http://www.bonobo.org/

Dining area at sunset

Enjoying the company of Nadine and Mark from Bonobo

One picture I meant to take was of a catamaran washed up on the south shore of the bay which is a reminder to all about the importance of being vigilant on board at all times.  Almost every bay has remnants of boats awash on shore or on reef or rocks.

Well our 30 days is up and we ended up having to motor back to Clifton, Stan has gone in to check us out with Customs and Immigration.  We have really enjoyed this area and plan on returning soon.  Our next stop will be Petit Martinique to fuel up and then head over to Hillsboro, Carriacou to check in with Customs and Immigration for Grenada.  We will then move to Tyrell Bay just south of Hillsborough where we found the best deal to get our UV protection for our jib replaced so we will be there for a week or so before heading to the southern end of Grenada.

Thats it for now stay tuned and stay safe.
Elizabeth

Grenadines Continued

Entering Salt Whistle Bay

Beach area north of where we anchored in Salt Whistle

8/27/12 - 9/3/12

We left Canouan  with just a jib, it was a short sail to Mayreau as it is only 5 miles to the south.  We went into Salt Whistle Bay on the northwest end of the island, it is very small and has a lot of moorings.  This bay is one we noticed the last time we were here but to crowded to enter.  We were able to drop anchor without interfering with the moorings with the help of Joseph who was very friendly.  He ended up talking us into dinner that evening after much haggling over the price.  This is a beautiful little bay with several small beach side establishments and a rather fancy resort that is now closed due to a death of one of the owners.  Word has it that it will reopen under some other management but a lot of work is needed to repair and make ready.  We spent 2 nights here, very pleasant and not crowded due to the off season.  Another local indicated it gets so busy in here during the season that the boats put bumpers out all around as there is a good chance of boats going bump in the night.  The snorkeling is not that good here but the beach was beautiful and the locals were friendly. 

Salt Whistle Bay from dinghy dock

Display of colorful tee shirts and dresses

A water catchment system and reservoir on the hillside on north end of Salt Whistle

Dream Walker at peace in Salt Whistle

"The Last Bar Before the Jungle" they make really good rum punches here.

On Wed. morning the 29^th we went around the corner to Saline Bay had a great snorkel in the afternoon on a reef there.  A beautiful windjammer "Mandalay" came in and they are doing a shakedown cruise to prepare for the upcoming season, the vessel is under new ownership and has had quite a history. http://www.fortogden.com/wjmandy.html  The next morning we headed off to a favorite place the Tobago Cays Marine Park.

SV Mandalay at anchor in Saline Bay, Mayreau

Remeber the big sailboat in St. Lucia with 5 spreaders +/- 100' long, well this is either that or a close relative that went by when we were at Saline Bay, would have been nice to see it with sails up.

 

Tobago Cays has excellent snorkeling and is also a lot of turtles here as well.  There is a reef surrounding much of the area and there are several small islands as well. This web site has a beautiful aerial view photo. http://www.tobagocays.org/ I spent a lot of time just watching the turtles, several are very large and are used to being observed.  The anchor was well dug into the sand and when I did the first check on it I saw 4 very large stingrays and 1 little all together.  I also watched a good size spotted ray, this is one of those places you don’t get bored with if you enjoy snorkeling because there is a lot to be seen here.  Interesting green hue to the water according to the park rangers it is due to a river in Guinea that flows very heavily due to hurricanes coming off Africa, so winds and desert dust is not the only effect here, there are even logs carried the distance. The rangers said the green hue lasts for about a month. We enjoyed 4 days at the cays and plan to return again, park fees are $19 EC/day/person so it is very reasonable. We have been doing a few boat projects such as installed new washdown pump, scraped the bottom of the boat, installed new zinc on prop shaft.  We are never without stuff to do, as far as cooking is concerned it has been so hot that doing large cooking projects is to uncomfortable so when I find a good deal on bread I buy it so as not to have the oven heat below.

View of our anchorage in Tobago Cays from Baradel Island

Sunset at Tobago Cays

We left for Union Island this morning as we need propane and other supplies and will very likely either go back to Tobago Cays or to Worlds End which is a large reef south of the cays.  If the winds are still predicted to remain low I am sure that is were we will go to Worlds End, there is no land there just reef the snorkeling should be great.  

Approaching Union Island

 As always stay tuned.

Elizabeth