This was our first visit to SVG and our first flotilla. Aboard DELPHINE, a Sunsail Jenneau 36i were my wife, myself and our 13-year old son. Neither of our two older children could go on this trip, so it was the smallest crew we've gone with so far. This, together with the perceived challenges of harder sailing and security of this cruising ground prompted us to give flotilla sailing a try. Having read the stories of attacked cruisers and aggressive boat boys, and with Sandy forming in the Caribbean, this decision increased our peace of mind leading up to the trip, though in hindsight it appears we needn't have worried and the trip turned out wonderfully.

We left Seatac airport the evening of the 26th for our overnight flight to Miami on American Airlines. I was concerned about the possible effect of Sandy on MIA operation, but apart from canceled flights to Jamaica and the Bahamas everything seemed to be running normally. Our flight from Miami to Barbados was delayed due to mechanical issues, but fortunately we still got to Barbados in time to catch the SVG Airlines flight to St. Vincent. Flying SVG Air instead of LIAT ( based partly on feedback on this forum ) turned out to be a good decision. Other flotilla participants flying LIAT arrived only after many hours of delay. The terminal in Barbados was somewhat chaotic, but eventually the SVG Air agent led us to the plane. After landings at Canouan, Union and one other place I can't remember, we landed at St. Vincent, where we were met by Harold, a taxi driver sent by the Sunsail base. At this point, it was already dark and raining heavily. We had planned to provision on the way to the base, but seeing how the supermarket was jam-packed with people sheltering from the rain we decided that my wife would go provision on her own during the chart briefing the next morning. We did stop at a cash machine to pick up some local currency. Traffic jams turned what should have been a short drive into a longer one and after a 24-hour trip we were eager to arrive.

At the Sunsail base, we were greeted by Simon Carey, who is the base manager and manager for Sunsail and Moorings in the region. He was extremely friendly and welcoming, as were all the staff. Blue Lagoon is, of course, a much smaller base than Tortola and the difference in personal attention was very noticeable.
The boat was ready, we put our bags aboard and went to the bar of the "Black Pearl" restaurant overlooking the base, where Simon treated us to a drink.
At the bar, we met some of the other flotilla participants, a group from Oklahoma, Oregon and San Diego who would eventually form the 8-person crew of a Sunsail 444 - one of four boats that would make up the flotilla. The others were a Sunsail 39i, our 36i, and a Beneteau 44 lead boat.
After stowing our things, we settled down to our first night on the boat.

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The next morning's weather was much nicer and we were able to see our surroundings. Blue Lagoon is pretty, but not completely protected from swell and surge and the docks and boats are in constant motion.

We had been given complimentary breakfast coupons, so we ate in the restaurant. I then attended the chart briefing while my wife took a taxi to provision on her own. At the chart briefing I met the remaining flotilla participants: apart from the crew of the Cat who would be collectively referred to as the "Okies", there were 2 couples from the south of England on the 39i who would be collectively referred to as the "Brits". I never learned what we were collectively referred to, and perhaps it's for the better.
The base manager Simon led the chart briefing, which he did with characteristic enthusiasm. He welcomed us to the "real caribbean", described some highlights and answered a few questions. We met the crew of the lead boat: the captain was a very young man of French heritage with roots in Bequia named (or nicknamed) Kenzo. The technician and hostess were Aldo and Victoria, both Vincentian and also in their early twenties.

When I returned from the chart briefing, my wife had already returned from the supermarket and was stowing provisions with my son's help. The supermarket run is usually one of the more stressful aspects of these trips and I felt bad that she had to do it without my help.
The plan was to leave around noon for Admiralty bay on Bequia, a logical first stop. Since the entrance to Blue Lagoon is right around the draft of our boat (6'2") depending on tide, Sunsail likes to take the boats in and out themselves and they got no argument from me. We seemed to be ready first, and after dropping our pilot outside the lagoon we were on our way. Wind was SE about 10 knots with moderate seas. With nobody else in sight, we raised the main only to sail slowly on a close reach toward Bequia - I didn't want to get too far ahead of the lead boat since I wasn't sure of how the flotilla would be run. Eventually, we saw two other boats emerge in our wake and we were overtaken by the Beneteau. Rounding Devil's Table, we got our first glimpse of Admiralty bay and our first interaction with a "boat boy" as we were met by "Afrikans" in a dinghy who led us to one of the mooring buoys close to town and tied us up, for which he collected EC $50 (about $20 US). When the flotilla was complete, Victoria (Vicky) came around and distributed a repurposed water bottle of her rum punch to each boat and asked if we would join the group dinner at Coco's. We were treated to quite a bit of this punch in the course of the next two weeks and though I don't know what exactly went into it it was manifestly a dangerous concoction.

The lead boat had a kayak and a paddleboard (the Yolo Yak) on deck and I borrowed the paddleboard to explore the harbor, which was good fun. This particular paddleboard is very stable and perfect for the beginner. We never have room for toys like this, but they fit perfectly on someone else's deck and having them along was a nice bonus.

Just before dinner, we learned that one of the crew of the Cat had taken a fall and had to have some medical treatment, so the group decided not to go to dinner. We ended up having dinner with just the Brits and the Crew. The seafood dinner was nice with entrees priced around $20.
After dinner, we settled down to our first night out on the boat, which was on the warm and humid side with little wind.

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Can't wait to read the rest!

I am always amazed by how many people are afraid of boat boys and the one or two incidents that happen a year in the Grenadines. Compared to other places, that's nothing, but it sure gets people in an uproar.

New places are scary, and going back after a few years is scary too, depending on what may have changed. I had a bit of apprehension about returning after so long, but I'm glad to say that since I was there in 2006 and again this past summer, I have only seen improvements in most of the Grenadines as a whole, and I can't wait to get back!

Don't you love when all your worries are for naught, and you end up with a better trip than you expected?!

10/28 Sunday: We woke early the next morning and had breakfast aboard (french toast and eggs). By this time, a problem with the boat had become evident - the head leaked a bit at the base. Not unusable, but not pleasant and something we wanted fixed if possible. We showed Aldo first and when he wasn't able to fix it Sunsail promised to send a tech out to our next stop.

We had our first morning flotilla meeting aboard the Cat, where Kenzo informed the group of his decision to proceed from Admiralty Bay directly to the Tobago Cays. This was fine with us, since that was our top priority destination, but the Brits were none too happy because it bypassed Mustique and they communicated in no uncertain terms that they intended to visit there. Long swells from hurricane Sandy were still running and Kenzo was of the opinion that Mustique would be very rolly (which was probably true).

The boats left together about 10 am on a close reach (wind still SE at this time). Having the smallest boat, we fell a bit behind on the 24 mile passage. We motorsailed the last bit so that the lead boat would not have to wait as we intended to enter the Cays together. As we threaded our way between Petit Rameau and Petit Bateau, our destination came into view.
The Cays had the largest concentration of boat boys that we saw on the trip, and one (I think it was Romeo) was on hand to thread our lines through the mooring buoy just behind Baradel. Sunsail encouraged us to use the mooring buoys here on the premise that the fee ( EC$45 per day plus EC$10 per person per day park fee) supports the park.

Unlike the BVI, where mooring buoys all pretty much have a pendant and float, the buoys in SVG are more diverse and many have a ring and chain which is too heavy and cumbersome for a flimsy boat hook. There is usually someone willing to help and in our situation the lead boat crew was on hand. I've seen other boat crews launch their own dinghy to help with that, but that requires sufficient crew. When I return sans flotilla, I might have to experiment with picking up such moorings by the stern like a singlehander would.

Once we got settled, it was off to snorkel Horseshoe Reef. This was the destination we had read and heard so much about and we couldn't wait to try it. We took the dinghy and tied it to one of the small buoys just inside the reef. The results were somewhat disappointing due to widespread damage to the hard coral. I went out a second time that day with Kenzo where we covered a larger area both inside and outside the reef, and though there were numerous fish and soft coral, the hard coral is not very varied and much of it dead. This was somewhat reminiscent of our experience in Loblolly Bay on Anegada. As a snorkeling experience, Horseshoe Reef was similar to Colquhon or Eustacia in BVI, but fell short of spots like the Dogs, Indians or Treasure Point. Nevertheless, Tobago Keys is a beautiful spot and we spent the rest of the day relaxing, swimming and paddling the Yolo Yak. The plan was to spend the next day and night there. We had dinner aboard and retired to a warm and clear night that would be the weather pattern for the whole trip.

A bit about the dinghy: On all our previous trips the standard outboard was the Tohatsu 2-stroke 10hp. On this visit, Sunsail seems to have switched almost exclusively to Mercury 10-hp four-stroke outboards. Initially I thought this would be a good thing, but I soon looked back with fondness and nostalgia on those Tohatsus, since the new motors soon showed a number of drawbacks: The Mercuries are incredibly quiet at idle. So quiet that when you start them and go forward to untie the dinghy you can't hear them quietly go out until you return to the dinghy stern and find yourself adrift. They have to be choked even after 20 minutes in warm weather. Fuel appears to drain back from the fuel hose whose bulb has to be milked everytime the motor is started or it is liable to fail. Pulling that cord was the best cardio I got on the trip until I figured some of these things out. It wasn't that I got a dog either - I saw others including the crew engaged in the same struggles. The Mercuries have the gearshift integrated into the throttle handle, where finding neutral is fussy and can't be determined on sight. They won't stay up - the locking mechanism is either a bad design or relies on a lot of plastic parts that wear out so that without a carefully executed raising and lowering in just the right sequence to just the right angles the unit is likely to fall back down just as you are attempting to beach the dinghy. Mine also would not stay down in reverse (unless you helped the locking mechanism along by hand), so engaging reverse gear above idle would make the prop startlingly climb out of the water towards your face. Maybe because the power rating is exaggerated, or because they are so much heavier, or because the prop is chewed up because the unit won't stay raised - but the dinghy would take forever to plane with just me aboard. Surprisingly, these 4-strokes also used more fuel than the old motors - without a refill in Canouan we would have run out. Lastly (and perhaps most seriously), the weight of these units make it impossible to move them to the stern rail on passages. This wasn't so much a problem in the weather we had, but certainly could be in rougher conditions. At the end of our cruise Simon told me that they planned to return to using the Tohatsus, which I was glad to hear.

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Your comments are a perfect analogy on the two stroke vs four stroke but don’t blame Mercury as Tohatsu builds the Four Strokes for them. As you said Four Strokes are extremely cold blooded. To meet California’s star rating the factory sets them real lean. Imagine them in a colder climate, a lot of my customers break the tamper proof plug and richen the low speed on the carb just to keep there sanity. Heavy, you bet, slow to plane, yep, which results in your fuel consumption analogy. It takes “X” number of units of fuel to provide “Y” number of BTU’s to make “Z” number of H.P. Giving that it takes H.P. to plane the dinghy and to over come the weight increase and the performance decrease the throttle has to maintain a higher setting, hence, more fuel used. Give me a stinky two stoke any day.

10/29 Monday

Spent all day at our mooring in Tobago Cays. We tried some of the other snorkeling spots along Horseshoe reef. Occasionally, we encountered strong local currents which made us wary of venturing too far from the dinghy. Sunsail sent a technician to attempt to fix our head. He determined that some threads in a fitting were stripped and some parts would have to be ordered, and that the issue would be taken care of at our next stop. We had no choice but to be patient with the process. As on previous trips, we rigged our lightweight hammock under the boom. This is one of those ENO stretchy nylon hammocks which packs very easily. On our 36i we put the boom somewhat off to the side and rig a line to a cleat like a preventer. That gets the mainsheet tackle out of the way. Then we clip one carabiner of the hammock to the fitting for the spinnaker pole, and the other to a fitting in the track on the bottom of the boom which holds a mainsheet block. This makes of a great place to read and relax on a boat without a lot of places to stretch out abovedecks.

We sent some messages using our rented satphone. We had not expected to get cell coverage as widely as we did and in hindsight would probably have dispensed with the phone, though it was nice to know we always had a communication channel to our relatives. We partly justified the rental expense as an experiment to see if we found it useful enough to possibly own one.

The lead crew had organized a beach party and dinner on a beach on the other side of Petit Rameau. A local vendor does regular lobster cookouts and has tables set up, though you are asked to bring your own plates and tableware. When we arrived the party was well underway and Vicky's punch had made the rounds. Dinner was served and I thought it was quite good though not inexpensive at EC$100 per person.

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10/30 Tuesday

We had been told the day before that we might have to dock in Clifton Harbor on Union Island for the repairs to the head. At the morning flotilla meeting, which was held on the Cat as usual, we were told that the plan was to go to Chatham Bay on Union, and that the mechanic would fix our head there. Chatham Bay was an easy 4 mile broad reach and we anchored in this very pretty looking bay.

Soon after, the mechanics from Sunsail arrived and we thought it best to make some room for them. Our guidebook had a snorkeling symbol at Rapid Point at the north end of the bay, so we set out to check it out. I dropped the dinghy anchor in a sandy spot and as we got ready I got the sense that we were not staying in place. Wondering how we could be dragging the dinghy anchor, I jumped overboard and snorkeled to the end of the rode, which was trailing loose in the water as the dinghy was being carried away by wind and current. I grabbed the line, and with my wife and son still in the dinghy I started towing it back in direction where I thought we had put the anchor down. I didn't hold out a lot of hope of finding the anchor, but eventually spotted it and saw that the shackle pin had not been tight and had unscrewed, but was still partially in the shackle. I reassembled it and we had a very nice snorkel in this area, venturing around the rocks of the headland.

When we returned to our boat, the mechanics had already finished their job and left. The repair looked good and we had no more problems with it.

As we relaxed on the boat and watched the turtles that surfaced all around us, Kenzo from the lead boat came by to inform us that there had been a change of plans and that they intended moving the boats to Clifton harbor. Some of the flotilla party wanted to shop and apparently the Cat was low on water. If found this surprising, since we had only used one quarter of one of our two tanks at this point and the Cat no doubt had much larger water tankage.
In any case, we were very happy where we were and shopping is usually way down on our list, so we decided to stay and rejoin the flotilla in Petit St. Vincent the next day. Went ashore for ice (not easy beaching the dinghy in the swell), had dinner aboard, played a board game and went to bed. The night was punctuated by some strong gusts of wind, but otherwise clear and a bit cooler.

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10/31 Wednesday

Woke up to great weather. Only three boats anchored in the bay. We set out about 9:30 for Petit St. Vincent. Winds were light and our destination was pretty much directly upwind so we motored and anchored in fairly shallow water in the anchorage between Petit St. Vincent and Petit Martinique. Snorkeling on the anchor confirmed what I had already observed in previous anchorages: that the depth finder was not showing depth from the bottom of the keel as we had been assured at the chart briefing. I have had this issue before with a Sunsail boat out of Tortola. In that case, the error was more egregious because the depth finder had been set with an offset of +7 feet... partway up the mast. Assuming an offset to the bottom of the keel (about -5 feet) results in being off about 12 feet - more than enough to get you into trouble. I think if the charter operator tells you where the offset will be they better make sure it is correct, otherwise change the briefings with a warning to check the offset yourself and give instructions.

Petit St. Vincent is mostly surrounded by reef and we took the dinghy out to try some snorkeling. We tried a few spots, and I towed the dinghy along but we didn't find anything exceptional. The reef is quite extensive though and it's quite possible we didn't find the best areas. We ended up dinghying all the way around the island and came back into the anchorage from the other side.

The other boats arrived by and by and anchored nearby. We were running a bit low on local currency and our guidebook listed Petit Martinique as having a bank. We were also looking for a few provisions and some ice so we dinghied across the channel to the dinghy dock.
Petit Martinique is part of Grenada, so technically you should have to clear in, but we had been advised that this was not expected for day visitors from PSV. We strolled the main street of the town and reached a building that looked like it could be a bank but it was unoccupied. Someone at the post office confirmed that the bank had closed. We visited the main grocery store but found none of the items we were looking for. We did score on the ice - which was EC$6 per bag at the gas station near the main dock - by far the lowest price we paid for ice on the trip. Ice was EC$10 at the Sunsail base. The Moorings base in Canouan gave us ice for free. Bars often charged EC$20. Boat boys often requested sums that convinced me that the scheme of towing icebergs south from the Arctic should be re-examined.

Vicky the hostess had organized appetizers (and punch-o-death) on the Catamaran, where we found the Okies in full Halloween garb - primarily pirate themed. These folks had truly come prepared with themed napkins, etc.

The sky had become cloudy and there was some lightning in the distance. I went for a long paddle and did some snorkeling with the flashlight. I swam around looking for fish but found that if I just stayed in one spot the fish would come looking for me. Tiny fish swarmed around me and bounced off me blinded by the light.

It rained at night and coming on deck I found us having swung uncomfortably close to the Brits. The wind had died and a current was swinging the boats in all directions. I had more chain out than I needed and took some in.

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Looking forward to reading the rest!

We also enjoyed the beach bbq @ the Cays, although lobster was out of season... They really know how to do it up right!

Glad to hear that Romeo is still helping people out in the Cays, we had the same issue with the moorings when we were there.

11/1 Thursday

I woke up at 4am again. The Grenadines are 3 hours behind Seattle, but geographically probably should be 4. With darkness falling so early I was having a hard time adjusting my internal clock.
The morning was overcast with showers - the only such weather we had on the trip. By afternoon it was sunny again.
The next two days were supposed to be "free sailing" days for the flotilla, which I guess is supposed to give participants a chance to go places on their own and also give the lead boat crew a little down time. We had a morning flotilla meeting on the Cat and the Okies had staged a minor coup by coming up with their own itinerary for the rest of the trip which included Mustique. With no conflicting plans of our own, we decided to go along.

In light winds we motorsailed past Palm Island and into Salt Whistle Bay on Mayreau. There were already quite a few boats there and a north swell was rolling them. There were a few mooring buoys available and we took one (EC$45). The 39 was already there, and the lead boat came in soon after. They attempted to anchor at first, then took a mooring as well. Leaving my son aboard, my wife and I dinghied ashore and tied up to the dinghy dock which was in bad repair and didn't feel very secure in the swell. We did some walking on the beach both on the bay and the windward side which at the narrowest part is only a few steps away.
Later, I borrowed the lead boat's kayak and surfed a few of the waves breaking at the northern point guarding the bay. Boats continued to arrive - this is a very popular anchorage. Eating dinner aboard was a challenge because the wind held us totally sideways to the swell and we rolled annoyingly all evening and all night. After dark, a charter Cat with a local crew came in and after several attempts to anchor in deeper water anchored so close to our mooring that it made me nervous. The wind kept us apart, but it didn't help what was already not the most restful night.

11/2 Friday

Morning brought a light shower and light winds. We were still rolling and eager to go somewhere else. The others decided to go to Canouan to the Moorings base, but it seemed to me that this location didn't have that much to offer and could be rolly too, so we decided to go back to Tobago Cays instead. After a relaxing run, we entered the Cays (easy the second time around) and anchored inside the reef instead of taking a mooring this time. We took the dinghy to snorkel the passage between Jamesby and Petit Bateau, which was shown as a snorkel spot in our guidebook and was quite nice. We swam ashore on Jamesby and sat on the beach for a while.

Returning to the boat, we got a call from the lead boat that they and the Brits were leaving Canouan and coming to Tobago Cay as well. The Okies elected to stay in Canouan.
When the lead boat arrived, I borrowed the Yolo Yak again and had a nice long paddle, through the turtle sanctuary at Baradel, landing at that island and exploring, then paddling completely outside Horseshoe reef. After several days of fairly light winds, the waves were barely breaking over the reef. Also did some snorkeling around the boat looking for turtles and generally cooling off.

We had a visit from "Mr. Everywhere", one of the boat boys who sold us a bag of ice. He also left us another present - some nice streaks of red paint on the hull rubbed off from where he bumped into us. He was apologetic and offered to try to remove the streaks (though he had nothing to do it with), but also said something along the lines of "Hey, it's just a charter boat". I removed the streaks myself.

My wife baked some cookies and we played another board game and had a generally relaxing evening in this lovely and spacious anchorage protected from the swell and with a nice cooling breeze.

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Great stuff! We're working up the nerve to sail the Grenadines after having been to the BVI 2X. Your first hand experiences are invaluable. Thanks for the great reports.

11/3 Saturday

Another beautiful morning with just a few sprinkles overnight which had us getting up to put the hatches up and down. My mother was turning 80 on this day, and I used the satellite phone to call her in Germany. After breakfast, Kenzo came by in his dinghy. The plan was for all in the flotilla to board the catamaran and motor out to Petit Tabac - the Cay outside Horseshoe Reef. Our son only came along reluctantly, since he has noone his age to talk to in the wider group. I thought he should have more enthusiasm because he is constantly ribbing me about the superiority of catamarans and complaining about the size of our boat. The catamaran was an almost-new Sunsail 444 which had just been sold and did not even have a name applied yet. It certainly felt spacious and the galley looked amazing.
Kenzo took over as captain and we just relaxed on the way to dropping anchor in the small anchorage. Donning snorkel gear, we went to check out the reef. The inside was unremarkable and we attempted to cross to check out the dropoff on the other side, but were thwarted by waves and shallow reef. After some searching, the end of the reef nearest the anchorage provided the best snorkeling and we saw a ray and some squid, as well as a lot of sponges. We swam ashore and walked the beach of this empty island. Apparently, there was a story that a satellite had crashed near the island and some space junk had washed up there. We did see some debris and someone claimed it was part of the satellite but I was skeptical of this claim. The basic story, however, appears to be true and I found a story about it here http://i-witness-news.com/2011/12/14/russian-spaceship-wreckage-found-in-tobago-cays-identified/

Returning to our boat, the flotilla left for Canouan on a close reach. At this point I was comfortable enough with the area to take a direct route and pass between One Fathom Shoal and Baleine Rocks en route to Glossy Hill which flanks the apron of the Canouan airport. Rounding the riprap of the runway fill, it struck me that maybe with our mast we should have kept farther off, but no planes were in approach.

We entered Charleston Bay and picked up one of the buoys belonging to the Moorings base. Most of the buoys had two pendants that are intended to be picked up and directly made fast on each side of the boat. I thought it an odd system and didn't want the slimy lines encrusted with marine growth on deck, so ran our own dock lines through them.

The Moorings base in Canouan is new and quite small - basically some mooring buoys and a few buildings adjacent to the Tamarind Beach Hotel. The staff there were very friendly. We were supplied with free ice, used the showers and the wifi. Around the time we arrived, buildings were being fumigated due to an apparent rise in cases of dengue fever on the island. A member of the Moorings staff told us there had been 22 reported cases in the previous month. My wife had a Sarah Connor moment when she was getting ready to take her shower and a worker in a gas mask and hazmat suit wielding an oversized leaf blower belching thick smoke burst into the ladies' bathroom.

We walked from the base into town and bought a few grocery items (mostly beverages), and found an ATM where we were able to replenish our dwindling supply of local currency.
Moorings re-filled our dinghy tank and we could have refilled our water tanks (they have a long hose that reaches one of the moorings), but we had just switched to our second tank and didn't feel we needed it.

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11/4 Sunday

Mustique was next on the itinerary. Since the wind had shifted to a more NE pattern this would require some upwind sailing. We left Canouan and could just point the east tip of Bequia hard on the wind. The wind instrument on the pedestal showed us 60 degrees off the wind and if I sailed any closer we seemed to lose a lot of speed. This didn't seem right and the mystery was solved when after our first tack we were able to sail about 10 degrees off the wind - the windvane at the top of the mast was about 25 degrees off center. With the bimini in place, I had come to overly rely on the instrument and now had to crane my neck to check the top of the mast more frequently. As I write this it occurs to me that maybe the Raymarine unit has an electronic correction that can be programmed - I didn't think to check that at the time.

Though upwind, it was a pleasant sail single-reefed in about 15 knots of breeze and we didn't even have to put the dodger up. Still, we were last into Britannia Bay. Kenzo helped us with our mooring lines and we set off to explore the reef by dinghy. We did some snorkeling near the south end of the bay. It was fair snorkeling, the visibility was not the best that day.

Mustique charges EC$200 for a mooring with up to three nights stay. That makes a single night kind of an expensive proposition and we planned to stay at least two.
Reading about Mustique I had been somewhat put off by the focus on its famous residents. I don't care much for celebrities and I care about royalty even less, so this did not make the island a draw. Once I got past my prejudices I had to admit that it is a really lovely island. I had somehow imagined a high-end marina type environment with spa and concierge, but exploring on land revealed a picture perfect group of buildings, fruit stands, fishermen and their boats, and lots of palm trees. A somewhat sanitized Caribbean scene where nothing run-down or otherwise suggesting poverty is allowed and, as my guidebook writes, "crime is against the law". Still, authentic enough to my eyes and the small food store had the best selection of items we saw on the whole trip and at prices seemingly no higher than anyplace else. It must have been very relaxing because if we did anything else that day my log book makes no mention of it. We looked forward to exploring the island next day.

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It does have a correction function but you would definitely need the manual to make it work. It's way down in one of the setup functions.

11/5 Monday

We got up early and dinghied ashore to do some walking. Walked along the beach and down the nature trail that circles around the salt pond. Returned via some of the roads. We had heard about bicycle and golf cart rentals, but when we inquired we were told that there were none yet available because it was early season. I wasn't eager to be nicked for the EC$75 "mechanical transport license" anyway, and never found out what the rental rates were. For now, walking would have to do.
By the time we were finished with our walk, the bakery had opened and we bought a few items to bring back to the boat. After breakfast I did some snorkeling and paddleboarding. There is decent snorkeling just south of the mooring field, and a dropoff where the reef extends into deeper water.
I brought a Suunto wristwatch which in addition to the altimeter feature also has a depth meter which records current and maximum depth reached. My maximum depth for the trip stood at 37 feet, and I decided to try to beat it. I got down pretty deep, but the watch only registered to 39 feet, showing just dashes below that. Maybe Suunto doesn't want to compete with its own diving products.

After lounging on the boat a bit, I went back ashore to do another hike on my own. Sometimes I wish I was better at relaxing, but I have a tendency to get restless. I walked north from the bay through the little village where a lot of the locals live, then past the airport and through the Cotton House resort. The Brits had had dinner there on their first evening and reported that it was very enjoyable but expensive (no surprise there).
The airfield is interesting, set in a swampy area inland, the runway curves up at both ends. The approach must be very steep, and there is a warning light telling you not to linger on the road crosses the approach path when planes are approaching; they have to come in very low over the road.
The whole island appears to be beautifully landscaped and there was constant traffic of workers in trucks and mules.

When I returned to the boat, Kenzo had brought out his kiteboarding board and was wakeboarding through the anchorage behind the 10hp dinghy. I would have like to try that too, but the little motor could barely get Kenzo out of the water and I knew I would be too heavy.

On the day we arrived in Mustique, we had done some snorkel exploration including dinghying out near Montezuma shoal, which lies about a half or three quarter miles outside the bay. On that day, the swells were breaking heavily over the shoal, with swells from different directions colliding and throwing up beautiful fans of glittering spray.
Now the swell had subsided, and since I saw no breaking waves all day I decided to go out and try to find the wreck of the Jonas that my guidebook said was in about 40 feet of water east of the shoal. Taking the dinghy in tow, I tried to follow what I estimated to be the 40 foot contour as best I could and started searching. I swam north against the current for a while, then doubled back in slightly shallower water searching the bottom. Visibility was quite good, and there was a lot of coral, but even more striking was some of the remains of what must have been an incredible reef. The bottom was littered with fallen pillar coral and there were standing remains of elkhorn of gigantic proportions. I saw a turtle flying by 25 feet below me unconcerned by my presence.
When some long objects came into view (spars from the superstructure) I knew I was close, and seconds later I saw the hulk on the bottom. It must be a fairly recent wreck, very much intact but encrusted in coral. A large barracuda hovered just over it. I dived down a few times, but was pretty tired by this time from fighting the current so I surfaced and tried sighting landmarks on shore as best I could so I could find it again to show my family.

After dinner aboard, we took our board game along and had a few drinks at Basil's Bar. I imagine this place is probably crowded in high season, but at this time it was fairly quiet. The drinks were good and pricey, but not outrageously so, EC$20 plus a bunch of tax and service charges.

Back on board I took the flashlight to do some night snorkeling... I intended to turn on the nav lights so I could more easily find my way back to our boat, but flipped the breaker for the nav instruments instead, so I had a harder time. Swimming among the boats in the dark can be a bit disorienting. It was pretty nice though, and I saw an eel which I'm not sure I've ever seen in the Caribbean before.

(continued)

11/6 Tuesday

Got up early and my wife and I repeated the hike I did the day before to the northern part of the island. We stopped at the bakery again for breakfast items. Today was scheduled to be a "race" between the flotilla boats back to the anchorage in Bequia. I still wanted to show my family the wreck I found the day before and we hoped to make a stop at Petit Nevis, so at the risk of being a wet blanket I bowed out of the race. I'm really not that much into informal races anyway and my crew even less.

We really liked Mustique and I'm sure we will make it a stop next time we visit these islands.

We headed out in the dinghy together and after some searching I found the wreck again. I wanted to be able to dive without the dinghy drifting away, so I tied the dinghy anchor rode to the end of the painter and dropped the anchor on the deck of the wreck behind a hatchway, where I hoped it would stay put. We snorkeled the wreck and made a foray into the shallower waters of the shoal. It is certainly a large area to explore and we saw some nice sized schools of fish.

Returning to the boat, we left our mooring and headed for the passage between Isle a Quatre and Petit Nevis on a somewhat bouncy beam reach. Dropping anchor at Petit Nevis, we snorkeled the reef to the north of the anchorage which was very nice, with lots of colorful coral and plentiful fish. Definitely one of the better spots we found on the trip.
After lunch, we hoisted anchor and put up the headsail only for a dead run to West Cay at the tip of Bequia. We again saw the wrecked cargo ship and the cave houses and from there motored directly upwind to Princess Margaret beach where the other boats were already anchored.

It wasn't until I got back from the trip and re-read some old threads that I realized this was the spot where a visiting yachtsman was shot on his own boat. In hindsight, this is very hard to imagine and the circumstances must have been very different from the anchorage in which we found ourselves - surrounded by other boats - it didn't seem to warrant the slightest concern.

A group dinner (the last) was planned at the Devil's Table restaurant. Seated around a large improvised table, the flotilla group had the entire restaurant to themselves. The "catch of the day" was salmon, which raised a few eyebrows. Some of the group ordered it and declared it entirely unlike the salmon they were accustomed to at home.
I had the $20 Caribbean hamburger special, which I did enjoy. Once my 13 year old son had endured all the geriatric hijinx he could stand, we paid up and made our way back completely across Admiralty Bay back to our boat, an anchor light needle in a haystack of lights.

(continued)

thanks for the report! I'll see if I can find those same things snorkeling.

11/7 Wednesday

Another fine morning. We had breakfast aboard and the Brits had gone ashore. Some of the Okies were flying out the next day so they had to return to base this day. We were going to head to Cumberland Bay on St. Vincent for our last night out and the Okies had already left since they had planned to go to Wallilabou Bay and return to base by evening.
We waited for a while for the Brits to return, but finally left without them. We had a beautiful sail on a close reach to the tip of St. Vincent, then motorsailed up the leeward side of the island. St Vincent is mountainous and covered with lush vegetation - it reminded me somewhat of Kauai.
Halfway up the coast we passed the Okies coming back from Wallilabou. We waved our good-byes to them as they had all congregated on the rail. I later heard someone say that one of them mooned us, but if that's true I didn't notice it, for which I am incredibly grateful.
We soon reached Cumberland bay, and since this bay is so deep it would require anchoring stern-to and tying off to a palm tree on shore. Not having done this a lot, I kept back and let the lead boat get settled first. Boats in my local cruising ground often carry a large spool of poly line for this purpose, but we were not provided with anything like that and had no choice but to tie all our dock lines end-to-end. I backed up toward the beach and gave the order to drop the anchor in about 45 feet of water. Kenzo then took the line and tied it to a palm tree on shore. The locals were possibly a little miffed that he did this because they usually do this for a fee.
Cumberland bay is very rustic looking; the sand is black like all natural beaches on the island. There are a few small bars and restaurants on shore. I got the sense this was the "real Caribbean" that Simon had been talking about - colorful characters on shore and plying small boats. The smell of woodsmoke and ganja wafting off the shore was intoxicating (at least it would have been in higher concentration.) The comparative lack of breeze and the general atmosphere gave this place a completely different feel from the Grenadines. Anchored only a few feet off the primive beach settlement, tied to a palm tree, I imagined this is what a lot of South Seas anchorages must feel like. Not all in my party were completely comfortable here, and some were worried about mosquitos and didn't appreciate the comparative lack of privacy. For myself, being with the flotilla took all the anxiety out of this unfamiliar location.

The reef to the south of the entrance was marked as a snorkeling location, so I went to check it out. Anchoring the dinghy, I got in the water and initially the visibility seemed bad, but it was just fresh water from the Cumberland river mixing at the surface. The reef here had the healthiest and most varied coral we saw on the trip. Lots of intact brain coral, elkhorn and lots of tube coral. I saw a type of basket sponge - irregularly shaped with an edge like shark's teeth - that I have never seen before. The area was also full of ridges and canyons with depths ranging from about 8 to 30 feet which made for very interesting diving.

We had a few showers and saw frequent rainbows here. I made the short trip to shore to have a beer with the Brits and the crew. Walking from one end of the beach to the other requires wading through the thigh-deep cool fresh water of the Cumberland river.

Cumberland bay is a possible launching point for hiking up Soufriere volcano. It would require a taxi and probably a guide - I would have loved to do it but didn't have the time on this trip. This is something I really want to work out when I return.

We had dinner aboard and settled down for our last night out. Loud conversation and smoke drifted into our anchorage seemingly all night long.

(continued)

It's different, but one way to look at it is like the BVI with much longer legs between islands. A lot however depends on where you start from.

We did a round trip from St. Lucia so we had two really long sails - from St. Lucia to St. Vicent and from Bequia to St. Lucia. Otherwise the legs we're pretty reasonable.

The only other major difference we saw were all the boat boys and then the number of people looking to get money from you once you get on land.

11/8 Thursday

The dawn of our last day. I took my family out to the reef I tried the day before and we had another nice snorkel there. There had been some rain overnight, and there was a bit more fresh water clouding the top few inches of the water column, but otherwise it was still very nice. The Brits were first out of the bay. I asked the crew to wait for us to leave. I asked a local to untie us - Tyrone who came out to our boat looking rather bleary eyed and with a spliff in the corner of his mouth. I gave him a few dollars and some of our food, and he untied our line.
We motored south and watched the scenery go by. I really hope to do more exploring of the St. Vincent coastline next time around. I suspect there is a lot of good snorkeling there.
We soon reached Blue Lagoon and called the base. A pilot came out and took our boat through the cut. We tied up, and our cruise was over.
We still had part of the afternoon and there was a small party planned for the flotilla members at the base. First we took showers and had a drink at the bar. Some of the Okies (those who didn't have the early flight) were still there. The party was held at the somewhat run down pool of the hotel attached to the base. There were tasty appetizers and more rum punch, and some embarrassing party games which are not really our style.
At some point, Kenzo politely inquired why we chose the flotilla. I don't blame him for asking - we probably did keep to ourselves more than is usual, and in hindsight we could have managed the cruising ground perfectly well on our own. I have no regrets though, the format took a lot of the stress out of the unknown aspects of an unfamiliar area and now we know what flotilla sailing entails. I don't think we would do another flotilla in SVG and certainly not in the BVI, but wouldn't rule it out in, say, the Med.

I still had a chance to talk to Simon the base manager that evening and provided him with a list of things that needed attention on the boat. He, again, was a really nice guy and gave me good ideas for the future and his personal email.

I won't go into detail about our return trip; if you actually read my whole wordy trip report to this point I want to thank you for re-living the trip with me and hopefully I have included some information that might be useful to you should you visit this amazing place. Writing this up has been a nice respite from digging wet leaves out of the gutters!

This past summer we had a rental from the Moorings during the dinghy poker run at Leverick Bay. It had a 9.8hp Tohatsu that was a real oinker. The 15hp Yamaha on our regular dinghy was a rocket in comparison and the 2-stroke Yamaha always started on the first or second pull. A much better option.

I enjoyed this trip report a lot. Thanks for taking the time to write it up. I can relate to the dynamics with your son - we have an only, a daughter who is 15 now, and it does happen that she'll sometimes be the only child in a group of adults and it can be mighty boring for her! Thanks again for the report,

Wonderful read! Brought back great memories! Yes, you definitely could have done it alone, but you probably enjoyed yourself more this way.

You'll be back again. I'm wondering if I might find the BVI's a little too popular compared to down island.

If you're like me - No Question About That

Enjoy the area now BEFORE they improve it to much

Thanks! There is no doubt that we will go back. Soon I hope. We've been to the BVI 4 times and have always enjoyed it but will also want to explore Grenada, maybe St. Lucia? Lots of possibilities...

Great trip reports, the Grenadines are beautiful. Glad you had a chance to stop at Cumberland Bay, I prefer it over Wallilabou.
"Progress" is always marching on; Sandels just bought the La Source resort on Grenada.