The 18 day sail from Recife to Port Louis in Grenada was uneventful. There was sargassum seaweed which meant we could not fish and when nearing Trinidad we cut all transmissions to avoid attracting the attention of pirates. Over the next few days we stocked up on food and did repairs including on the lifting keel which had stuck and gluing the leaking dingy!
Olivier and Juliette joined us on April 27th to spend 2 weeks cruising around the Grenadines. The first day a taxi gave us a tour driving up the coast to the Concorde Falls, a waterfall on a sheer rock face flowing into a small deep pool fringed by tropical greenery. We explored the capital St George’s with its colourful houses and early 18th century fort. Grenada is dubbed the spice island with plantations of nutmeg etc. Our guide stopped in the forest and showed us a cut down cinnamon tree trunk and explained about it.
The next day we sailed to Carriacou anchoring in Tyrell Bay. On nearly each island you must check in which can be a lengthy process involving 2 or 3 different departments. After this we wandered around the small picturesque town before sailing to gorgeous Sandy Island which is an uninhabited cay lined with palm trees and coral reefs, anchoring in turquoise waters – the perfect picture postcard! Next we sailed to the nearby private island of Petit Saint Vincent. A guard stopped us when we wanted to walk on the beach saying we would have to pay €300! We therefore snorkelled in the warm pristine waters, seeing coral, ray fish and ‘chasing’ turtles. A far better option! Union Island was our next destination where we once again cleared in before buying delicious and varied fresh fruit from a stall. Idyllic Tobago Cays followed; we took a buoy and immediately were surrounded by turtles and sting rays. Snorkelling amongst them in the very clear water was amazing. One evening a local picked us up in his dinghy and took us to a beach where a barbecue had been prepared for yachties. The lobsters were delicious as was the local food, all eaten in a wonderful setting.
So far we had avoided crowds but Whistle Bay, Mayreau was packed with boats although the sandy palm fringed beach was quiet. There was again a lot of coral and fish on the reef. By contrast in nearby Mayreau we were the only boat in the Baie des Rameaux with its small beach and many fish. Pretty, colourful Port Elizabeth on the island of Bequia was where we cleared out.
We arrived in La Soufrière, St Lucia which we had first sailed to in March 2019, over 5 years earlier, famous for Les Pitons, two mountainous volcanic plugs. After customs clearance we took a local bus to Sulphur Springs, a geothermal field. As in 2019 we had fun covering ourselves in mud and bathing in very hot mud baths. On the walk from the bus we ate tasty mangoes picked from the many trees. We made the most of the last day of snorkelling amongst coral surrounded by fish before sailing round to Marigot Bay where sadly Juliette and Olivier left us to fly back to the UK. Olivier said that breakfasts would not be the same without passion fruit and turtles swimming by the boat!
We returned to Martinique, had several necessary repairs carried out, like on the cockpit cover and bimini, and stocked up with food. It was enjoyable to revisit the capital Fort de France, see the cathedral, walk on the ramparts and wander around the excellent market where we ate a delicious goat stew. As always André had repairs and maintenance to do and he also dived to replace an anode under the boat and clean all the hull in preparation for the 3,000 nm crossing to Horta in the Azores.
