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Just off our sailboat...
#18201
12/20/2012 03:15 PM
12/20/2012 03:15 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 166 Minnesota
RichHarmer
OP
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OP
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 166
Minnesota
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This morning marked our tenth day and we left our skipper Raphel with the boat and headed to our hotel. We had a great time, and pretty close to perfect weather for what we wanted to do. Some of my days blog entries are up on word press, but the summary is: We were annoyed by the start time of our charter, the captain was a bit too strict and controlling, we quickly grew tired of people trying to "help" us for money, and then we went 10.5 knots on the first day and caught a 40.3 kilo Marlin and we went to Bequia, Mustique, Mayreau, 3 days in Tobago cays, PSV, Carriacou, and Grenada with stops in Union and Mopian.
Our captain got sick on day 5, and our new captain was awesome. I will do a special write up on him soon. Snorkeling was fun, but coral is fairly damaged. We got tired of the boat boys, but Willie from union did a killer beach BBQ for us one night (friend of the captain). We love Grenada and its islands.
Rich
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Re: Just off our sailboat...
[Re: DawnB]
#18203
12/20/2012 04:51 PM
12/20/2012 04:51 PM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 5,720 Massachusetts
maytrix
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Traveler
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 5,720
Massachusetts
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I agree on the boat boys. I wonder if they are any less aggressive when it's busier since there are more people to get money from.
Matt
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Re: Just off our sailboat...
[Re: rhans]
#18205
12/20/2012 10:56 PM
12/20/2012 10:56 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 166 Minnesota
RichHarmer
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Posts: 166
Minnesota
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We found that Carriacou and Grenada have been our favorite islands partially due to the lack of boat boys and things being a lot less "opportunistic". We are still touring Grenada over the next 4 days (on land), so I'll keep writing and eventually posting more pictures.
Rich
Last edited by RichHarmer; 12/20/2012 10:58 PM.
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Re: Just off our sailboat...
[Re: RichHarmer]
#18206
12/21/2012 08:01 AM
12/21/2012 08:01 AM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
sail445
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Traveler
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
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RichHarmer said: We found that Carriacou and Grenada have been our favorite islands partially due to the lack of boat boys and things being a lot less "opportunistic". We are still touring Grenada over the next 4 days (on land), so I'll keep writing and eventually posting more pictures.
Rich Most of the islands that went independent are now poor and the Boat boys all though bothersome are out there trying to make a living. You won't have that problem in the French and the Dutch islands where the French and the Dutch control the government and education. When I'm in Boat boy territory I usually hire one to purchase some fruits or other things I might need.
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Re: Just off our sailboat...
[Re: sail445]
#18207
12/22/2012 01:52 PM
12/22/2012 01:52 PM
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Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 846
Sunset_Sammy
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Posts: 846
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I figure the boat boys are just trying to make a living, and as said with less potential customers they have to try harder. I pay $62 dollars a month for satalite TV and my programs are still interupted every ten minutes with commercials, so a few boat boys coming out as we anchor to try to sell goods or services doesn't really bother me. A smile and a no thank you usually does the trick. In Union the druggies that prowl the dingy dock are another story altogether, and is why we now prefer to go to Chatum Bay.
Drink all day at home, your friends worry about you; do it on vacation and they say "what a good time you're having". Save your friends needless worry, travel more!
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Re: Just off our sailboat...
[Re: Sunset_Sammy]
#18208
12/22/2012 04:37 PM
12/22/2012 04:37 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 925 Michigan
rhans
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Traveler
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Posts: 925
Michigan
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Sunset_Sammy said: and is why we now prefer to go to Chatum Bay. Shhhh, let's keep that quiet. We really do not want the riff-raff that reads this forum to find out about Chatham. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />
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Re: Just off our sailboat...
[Re: rhans]
#18209
12/22/2012 06:59 PM
12/22/2012 06:59 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 166 Minnesota
RichHarmer
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Posts: 166
Minnesota
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As I look back on it, I can see that the boat boys are just trying to make a living, and by picking one (as our captain did), it shuts any one of them down pretty quickly. Willey from Union was very nice and we did buy some bread and water from him besides the very delicious bbq.
The real annoyances were on St Vincent, where the Taxi driver was taking some liberties.. the group didn't ask for guides to show up and then want to be paid when they went to the botanical gardens and fort. When asked for the amount it would cost for the all-day taxi up front, there was no answer (and we let it slide).. so it ended up in a hefty fee that seemed a little unreasonable. We also had a taxi (water & land) who was mad that he didn't get the fare for all of us to the airport and back from young island that wanted $100us for driving the captain back and forth to the airport and then ferrying us to our moored boat. Then the guys that showed up out of nowhere to help us carry our bags from the taxi to the dock (which we had to tell to leave), and then mooring cost at Clifton/Union for even an hour is annoying (40ec and 80ec overnight). They are shooting themselves in the foot if you ask me. Everyone at union asked us how many people we have and if we were staying the night for the band -- besides it being hot/no wind, we were turned off enough to not want to stay there.
again - with that said, we did have a fun time. The sunsets were amazing, the sea life was good, food we made and restaurants we went to had great food, and the fishing was fun.. the one sailfish on day 1 and some barracuda, tuna (which we made ceviche from) and one Jack that pulled REALLY hard initially and then when it got to the boat we found that it was hit by a shark and only half there. One highlight was risotto made from one of the Lobsters from the beach bbq and some crab. Simply amazing.
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