I just returned from 8 days sailing the Grenadines on ABIM, a 2009 Jeanneau 50 DS, from Horizon Yacht Charters in Grenada. All in all we had a great time. I won’t bore you with the standard travelogue approach, but rather highlight the pros and cons. For a level set, I’ve bareboated the BVI’s about 15 times, but this was my first trip to the Grenadines.

The Pros:
1. Horizon Yacht Charters and ABIM. ABIM was an absolutely fantastic yacht! She was extremely well equipped (including air conditioning and a bow thruster) and everything worked like a charm. The refrigeration, and even the freezer worked to perfection. We actually kept things frozen in the freezer for the entire charter. The only thing that I thought didn’t work was the deck shower, but of course on return and reporting it, it worked fine….????? Horizon was excellent to work with and they went out of their way to make it a great experience. My thanks to Bernadette and the Grenada crew for being so friendly, professional, and accommodating.
2. The islands of the Grenadines are truly unspoiled and beautiful. The highlights were Bequia, Union, Tobago Cays, and Grenada.
3. We had some spectacular meals ashore! Dinner at the Salt Whistle Bay Club in Mayreau. Breakfast at the Anchorage Yacht Club in Union and the Frangipani in Bequia. Lunch at the LaSagesse nature preserve, and dinner at the Aquarium in Grenada.
4. Catching and eating the black fin tuna. Watching the show put on by the huge sailfish before it broke the line between Canouan and Bequia
5. For the most part, the local people were extremely friendly and helpful.
6. Hiring taxi’s for tours of both Bequia and Grenada.
7. Grenada is a beautiful place, and I’d spend more time there if possible.
8. Great sailing when there was wind.

The Cons:
1. Having the boat broken into at anchor in Saline Bay while we were at dinner at the Salt Whistle Bay Club in Mayreau. We lost a cell phone, an IPod, a pair of sunglasses, and some vacuum sealed lunch meat from the refer. As best as I can recall, all of the hatches were locked as was the main companionway. Obviously some kids did the deed judging from what was taken. For those that will visit Mayreau, take appropriate precautions.
2. Effectively losing two days of the charter having to deal with Customs and Immigration formalities between SVG and Grenada both northbound and southbound. I’m not saying that it took two full days to deal with the C & I process, but you do have to plan routing and itinerary to allow for check out and check in. Additionally, there were more than trivial costs associated with the process. Everybody has their hand out…especially the local governments who have found a great way to profit from boaters called cruising fees. I was especially impressed with the Carriacou customs official who was shining up his newly empty pint rum bottle with a rag and wanted $20 EC.
3. A little less wind than was anticipated, but that is not controllable.
4. Except for dining out, which was quite reasonable, I found most food items were much more expensive when compared to comparable prices in the BVI.
5. The sun is extremely intense down there. No complaint, you just have to be careful or get crispy

The Conclusions:
1. The Grenadines are pristine and beautiful, but the expense of getting there and the C & I cost and hassle will send me back to BVI next time. If I were going to do the Grenadines again, I would do a one way either starting out in Grenada, or SVG. Only one set of C & I that way.
2. For me and my crew, and this is a purely personal opinion based upon our perceptions and likes, we prefer the BVI. I’m sure there are others that would prefer the Grenadines and I respect their opinion. However, for me the increased marginal cost in dollars and lost vacation time dealing with the C & I bureaucracy is not worth the marginal improvement in the “fun” quotient.