On Sunday, September 21st, we set off at 8:30am to begin our 47 mile journey to St. Lucia. The weather was overcast and rainy, and the seas were choppy, which did not make for a pleasant ride for first-timer, Elaine. Along the way, we were again blessed with a school of porpoises riding along our bow, and this cheered everyone up. Since the day was rough, and the day was long, we decided to cut our planned trip short of going all the way to Soufriere in St. Lucia, and instead stopped at The Pitons at 5:00pm, where we met by the Park Ranger, Jean Claude, who allowed us to pay for a mooring ball, and gave us “a pass” on Customs and Immigration. A local boat-boy arranged for us to purchase a two -foot tuna which we cleaned and prepared half for cooking. That night, we grilled the tuna and some store-purchased tilapia on the back of the boat, and sat and talked and listened to music until bedtime claimed us.
We arose early, and set off at 9:00am for the island of Bequia in St. Vincent. Making a stop at this port would allow us to check into the country that includes our next destination, the Tobago Cays, and would give us a chance to get supplies. The trip was long and the weather overcast, but we arrived in Admiralty Bay in Port Elizabeth before dark at ~5:00pm which gave us enough time to check into the country. While onshore, we decided to eat at Maria’s Café, where we met two interesting English gentlemen who had just crossed the Atlantic with their ~40 ft. sailboat. We sampled the local beer and food, talked with the locals and visitors, and headed back to our boat in the dark for a final nightcap an good night’s sleep. The Tobago Cays are a short distance from here, and so we rose, had breakfast and lifted anchor at ~9:00am, getting to our stop in The Cays by 2:00pm. After picking up a mooring ball, we swam with turtles and stingrays in the sanctuary, explored the local islands, met with the local supply boat-men (“Mandy Man” and “The Today” boat – our former contact, Mr. Quality, was “on holiday”), and grilled our remaining tuna for dinner. The next morning we spent leisurely enjoys the Tobago Cays, as we snorkeled until lunch before we let loose our mooring ball at ~11:00am and headed for Union, the largest southern-most island of St. Vincent, where we could check out of the country. The local boat-boys were very helpful shuttling us to shore and aiding some of us in getting ice, wine and charcoal while others checked out at Immigration.
We made it out of Union by 1:00pm and sailed the rest of the day to the Port Louis, Grenada, arriving in the dark at ~7:00pm. We carefully entered the bay, nervously maneuvering around anchored boats, until we found a suitable place to set our own anchor. We then grilled chicken and shrimp on the BBQ, complemented with veggies, salad and wine, and took the dingy to shore at ~9:00pm to pick up our next guests – Walt and Alyson. After confusion over which dock to meet on, we met up, loaded their gear and them into the dingy and took them on a journey into a sea of darkness, until we arrived at our boat, where they were welcomed with drinks, conversations and music into the wee hours of the night. The next morning, after checking into immigration, we sailed a short distance to Dragon Bay where we swam along the coral reef and explored the underwater art statue exhibits of Jason Taylor at Moilinere Bay (www.underwatersculpture.com/projects/grenada). We then ate lunch at the local Dragon Bay beach restaurant, watched Alyson play dominoes with the locals, and then went into the Dream Yacht’s Port Louis Marina, where we docked for the night. That night, the 4 of us (Rocky, Julie, Terry and Elaine) checked into a beach resort down the coast for a little “R&R”, and met everyone a walk-away down the beach that night at a restaurant called Umbrella’s – a place we had been before on a previous trip that we knew we would all enjoy. After dinner and a good night’s sleep, we bid adieu to Terry and Elaine and rejoined our boat and friends on Friday morning back in the Marina.
