Continuing North

From Bequia we traveled with Nauti Dog headed North to the bay and anchorage of Chateaubelair on the main island of St Vincent, it’s very well suited to checking out but not a lot to do so we planned to check out only. We had a heads up and interesting insights into the customs officer from other cruisers visits. So it was with just a little surprise we found the officer came out via dinghy to ensure we checked in/out as required. Since we were already checked in both boats just did our free check out. It might appear that people don’t bother with paperwork here given the officer is chasing all the boats in the anchorage so aggressively! So the following morning we left for St Lucia and Rodney Bay.

Raising the Q-Flag in Rodney Bay

We really liked Rodney Bay, very good anchorage with lots of room and very easy to check in at the marina, since we were only there a couple of nights we checked in and out at the same time saving on hassles too. We did find a couple of good supermarkets a short walk from the complimentary dinghy dock in the southern lagoon. We also visited the large bulk buy store and found some reasonable deals on a several items.

Christmas already?

The next day we took a local bus to Castries and visited the local markets. On Saturdays there are lots of stalls selling fruits and vegetables as well as fish, meats and souvenirs. We had a very good look at all the stalls and Liz even found several dresses to try on and eventually bought a very nice one.

The very good market

Shame about selling Hawksbill Turtle here

The butcher shops

Our next stop was Le Marin on Martinique a very large bay at the southern end of the island. This was to be a major provisioning stop for us as it’s our first French port of call and we love French foods and wine. They couldn't plan a better situation either as the store we like for prices has its own dinghy dock and you bring the carts back to within feet of your dinghy! We bought a huge cart full of goodies like wine, cheeses, pate, sausages and chocolate. We saved a fortune on buying these in the French stores versus Grenada or Trinidad.

After our shopping day we moved Moosetracks to St Anne just outside the harbor for better scenery and to Join our friends Nauti Dog, Truant III and Barefoot Life. We enjoyed a nice walk around the south of the bay to the beaches at Les Salines with the other crews and had a wonderful lunch there.

The local fish market with a huge Tuna in today

A fabulous lunch

 They have lots of lovely beaches in St Anne and some you can walk the dogs on, but unfortunately not this one by Club Med.

The dogs allowed ashore at last - thank you France!

Liz enjoying the walk to the beach

The side streets of St Anne

 We also walked the zig zag trial with Micheal, Karen and Chester. Chester really liked the long grass we found at the top and the cooling puddles in the shade.

We love long grass!!!

Even cooling puddles in the shade for Chester

The zig zag path

 We had a very nice downwind leg artound the bottom of Martinique with Truant III and Nauti Dog when we left St Anne.

Truant III downwind

Our next stop was St Pierre on the north of Martinique so we could visit the ruins of the town which was devastated on May 8th 1902 by the eruption of the volcano Mt Pele and all but 2 of the 30,000 inhabitants perished in the firestorm that destroyed the whole town. The walk around the museum gave us a good insight to the town both before and after the eruption and it was truly deserving of the title “little Paris of the Caribbean” with a very vibrant community.

St Pierre beach - volcanic grey sand

The town of St Pierre

We toured the site of the Theater and jail where one of the two survivors was imprisoned which was so damp and un-ventilated that he escaped the worst of the firestorm. Apparently the prisoner went on to be a circus act in the USA displaying his burns. 

Devin turning heads clean off now!

The Theater steps still very good

The rest not so good

The prison cell, Devin escapes alive!

Typical Old Town streets

Later that day we snorkeled the sculptures by our boat that Micheal had found. What an amazing discovery.

Unfortunately lots of lion fish on all the structures

One of two large anchors around our boat

We also toured the existing church in town and read about history and the rebuilding of the town.

An impressive building 

Beautiful interior

Wonderful stain glass windows

The next day we visited the ruins of the old Fort church on our way to the rum distillery, it too being totally lost in the firestorm. It is fascinating to see the lack of magma around the ruins and this shows just how devastating the firestorm must have been on its own.

Old Fort Church ruins

It was only rebuilt 3 years prior to destruction in 1902

The Depaz distillery was also rebuilt after 1902 and is a beautiful site in lovely grounds that are all very well maintained. 

The beautiful grounds of Distillery Depaz

The tour is self guided and has English and French plaques to tell you about rum making process and the equipment they have used over the years. Clearly they continue to develop as they went from Water powered wheel to steam powered wheels and also generate electricity from their water supply now. We were also very impressed by the eco-friendly facility which uses the crushed gain to power the boilers for steam and then scrubs the smoke and ash for use as fertilizer. 

The stream supplying copious amounts of water

Jeff & Devin calculating water volume

The equipment archives - lots of replacements in 100 years

Some of the larger replacements 

The finished product

Since Devin was the only liquor drinker the apres tour sampling was quadruple fun for him! It was even convincing enough to buy a 3 liter box of the amber rum.

The non-drinkers

Our next jump was an overnight hop to Deshaies on Guadeloupe a stop we thoroughly enjoyed on our way down but somehow omitted the Botanical Gardens so we are not making that mistake again, more from that on our next blog. We were surprised to see lots of mooring balls in the harbor as there were only private fishing balls previously, however since there was room to anchor we chose to do that. We found out later they are free at present but there are only a few for boats over 40 ft so we probably did the right thing anyway.

Checking in at Deshaies

Well that’s us all up to date, we missed the traditional USA thanksgiving celebration as we were on our overnight passage and then in a French island where it was not celebrated. We hope all our US friends celebrated in style and with their loved ones.

The Grenadines

We were still in Carriacou waiting for our insurance time limits, so have a few more days to wait. Lots of our friends from Grenada started to arrive while we waited so it was great fun to socialize with everyone before we all head north. We walked into Hillsborogh with Janet & Jeff from Turant III and had a nice lunch and some good shopping for a great day out. The following evening we had a nice dinner at Lucky’s in Tyrrel Bay which is only on a Saturday night with BBQ specials for cruisers so we all went along for a nice evening with great friends. 

Janet & Jeff

A great lunch out

Lucky's night out

Then we finished up our stay in Carriacou with a lovely walk up to the hills above the Harbor with all the crews around us. The views were fabulous and the walk fairly gentle but still energetic. We saw lots of animals from pigs, sheep, goats, etc to a rare sight of a tortoise. The following morning we all met again to check out of Grenada, it was a great time and a great end to the Grenada sojourn for this year.

Everyone waiting in Tyrrel Bay

Girls just wanna have fun!

Our tortoise 

Good friends & Great times

Our first stop was Clifton harbor on Union Island in the Grenadines, not a long sail at about 11 miles but we did have to tack around the islands so it took a little longer than we thought. Devin dinghied ashore alone as we were not stopping here for long, however it was an easy check in with Customs and Immigration now in the same building. We said a quick hello to Maggie and Wiley who just arrived before we left after lunch and were staying the night. 

Arriving near Clifton harbor

Back from Checking into St Vincent & the Grenadines

Moosetracks had plans on Mayreau so we sailed across to find a nice anchorage in Saline Bay with just a few boats. The next morning we ventured ashore to walk the small island, taking only around an hour to walk the entire length on the only road. We had great views from the summit by the cute church there and chatted with locals and some school kids. Liz remarked how wonderful it was seeing kids turning up to school early and so excited to be there too.

Moosetracks in Saline bay

The hill top church

Liz at Saltwhistle bay

We left Mayreau for the Tabago Cays which is only 3-5 miles but all into the trades so we just motored around.

Motoring to the Tabago Cays

It is a shallow reef area so navigation is mostly by eye but our charts were spot on. We entered between the two largest islands and anchored behind the large horseshoe reef that shelters the mooring field from the Atlantic waves. It is a fantastic sight as you can see from the panorama pictures we took.

Tabago Cays Looking south

Tabago Cays looking east

Tabago Cays looking north

The small island to the east is where Jonny Depp was stranded in Pirates of the Caribbean and they burned down the coconut trees! Thankfully they were props as the park here didn’t allow them to burn the real ones.

The island from Pirates of the Caribbean

We enjoyed 2 days here visiting 3 off the small Cays and snorkeling in 6 different locations. There are lots of fish on the outer reef so a lot was done there on both days. 

The anchorage at Tabago cays

Some big (3ft) island lizards

Moosetracks at anchor in the Tabago cays

The inner mooring field is where turtles feed so we snorkeled there and found more then enough to chase and try to photograph, we hope you like these Green Turtles.

The chase

A Green turtle 2-3 ft long

Off we go again

These are some of the fish on the reefs.

Spot the fish

Lots on the reef

Even more

lot of variety too

As you approach it looks like clouds of fish

and again

a 3-4ft ray

Lots of star fish too (upto 10")

Our next Stop was Canouan Island, again a very small island in the Grenadines. We anchored in Grand Bay off  the Tamarind Bay Hotel and used their dinghy dock. Sadly the resort was not yet in full swing and was almost deserted, we did stop by and talk to some staff but there were no guests yet. We were told it would be another 2 weeks before they opened fully, but the bar would open around 5pm. So we walked around the island and again climbed the hills to get a good view. It is a small community but very friendly, we bought some vegetables in the market and had lunch from a local vendor there too. We sat by the ferry dock to eat lunch and enjoyed a very nice chicken, rice and beans with provisions (Yum).

East shore of Canouan

Moosetracks at anchor in Canouan

The town and bay

This brings us to Port Elizabeth on Bequia which is the largest of the Grenadine islands, 7 square miles.. We emailed Liz’s oldest school friend to confirm that her farther in law was still living here, and then we emailed him we were pleased to see they are around. So we made plans to stay a while and see them. Our first day was a total wash-out with a lot of rain which fell all day, not very common here but there you go, they do need the water however. Our next day we walked around town but being Sunday a lot of businesses were closed even though a cruise ship was in port. 

Charter boat Mandalay with cruise ship behind

Fort Hamilton views

Port Elizabeth bay

One of 5 cannon's in the very small fort.

Some fun at the restaurant

Port Elizabeth high street

Whaleboner bar

We heard Nauti Dog on the radio and called them, since we both had a free afternoon and love dominoes we met for a leisurely game in the afternoon. Chester and Riley were very happy to get a few extra cuddles and tickles and Liz just loves a doggy fix too. We had a great time with Michael & Karen too and arranged a trip to the turtle sanctuary with them.

Chester  getting a scratch

Monday the rain eased up and we managed a nice walk on the Princess Margaret beach.

Princess Margret beach

A great beach path around the southern bay

On Monday night we met up with Dereck & Liz and met their lovely MKIII Landrover Gladys. Liz picked us up and drove us to their wonderful home in Spring Bay. They have been here for 20 years and when we toured the garden it was certainly evident that they spent a lot of that time in the garden. It was beautiful and the terracing, concrete paths and water system certainly looked harder work than planting the thousands of tress, shrubs and flowers they have. We enjoyed the tour and relaxing on the veranda before dinner at Sugar Reef restaurant. 

Liz, Derek and Liz enjoying dinner

On our last day in Bequia we took the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary tour, on a safari  bus with Karen and Micheal up to the bay. It was a small but very effective set up with the owner doing it all himself. He has a success rate of 10 from 100 hatch-lings being released compared to natural rates of 1 in 3,000 Hawksbill turtles making it.

Michael & Devin in the "bus"

Liz and Karen

Hatch-lings around 3" long, 6 weeks old

Devin & Michael getting the tour from the owner

One year old at around 10"

An 18 year old Hawksbill Turtle

We then walked around town to see the model boat makers shops and then had lunch at a beach side bar and followed up with ice cream at Gingerbreads.

A local boat model builder

Some of the finished boats

We hope all our friends are enjoying the fall season.