St Lucia to Grenada charter

Hi All
I have searched and info is older so I figured I would ask.

Anyone know who is currently operating charters from St Lucia to Grenada? I would also entertain St Vincent to Grenada. Really wanted to do a one way south instead of a loop out of Grenada. But will work with the facts as they are in today’s charter world.

Looking for a captained catamaran for this trip and 10-14 days depending on starting point.

I was looking at Horizon and DYC and only Horizon seems to have anything close.

Anything that can point me in the right direction is appreciated.

Ellen

Not sure if you're still researching this or not but here are my thoughts:

We did St Lucia to Grenada a few years ago with Horizon. I think they ditched their St. Lucia base - if they even had one (I can't recall). However, they may still deliver a boat to St. Lucia for a one-way return to Grenada as they did for us. Of course you can start at their St. Vincent base and do a one-way to Grenada which I would recommend unless you are on the boat for 2 weeks or more. There is a lot to see between St. Vincent and Grenada, plus starting in St. Vincent will save you from having to clear out of St. Lucia and into St. Vincent.

As I'm sure you know, DYC doesn't have base in St. Lucia or St. Vincent, but they do have a base on the southern end of Martinique roughly 25 miles north of St. Lucia. If you really want to see St. Lucia you could start there and do a one-way to Grenada and it would probably only add one day to your charter versus starting in St. Lucia. DYC is very amenable to one-way charters as long as they have a base at your starting and ending point. That said, it would add to C&I requirements as you'd have to check out of Martinique, into and out of St. Lucia, into and out of St. Vincent/Grenadines, and finally into Grenada.

I believe Moorings has a base in St. Lucia and Grenada - have you talked with them yet?

Finally, since you are hiring a captain you could see if he could grab the boat from Grenada and power up to St. Lucia to pick you up there. Once again, would add a day or so to the cost of the charter, but if the charter company facilitates the one-way you will have to pay a one-way fee anyway. If you add a day and then have the captain meet you at St. Lucia it probably won't be much if any more than the one-way fee. FWIW, we just booked a one-way from Antigua to St. Martin for June and our one-way fee is ~$1,300 - about the same as the daily charter rate for the boat. I was tempted to just add a day and return the boat myself, but it's a long way to go in one day and there is a good chance we would be going straight into the wind/swell. I think the one-way fee was a good decision in this case.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions I can help you with!

Just returned St Vincent round trip bareboat 40 foot cat -- amazing!

Have been to St Lucia several times and while it in beautiful unless you want to experience it for a few days (Pitons and some good snorkeling) I dont think the 8-hour sail is worth the wasted time.

30 years ago we and our kids did as you described and the crew required a start from st Vincent. They said the trip was not worth the time.

What are your most important goals -- checking boxes all the islands, relaxation and laid-back experience, sailing experience, snorkeling etc.

We are 2 70 year old's whose primary goals are low stress, meeting the locals and snorkeling -- we bareboat but doesn't change the choices.

There are so many places to go, things to see and places to snorkel without the hassle of going through C&I 4 times during your trip. We had 10 days on the boat and didn't do half we wanted to do.

We live in Dallas -- easy dfw-mia-svd.

Went with Barefoot Yacht Charter on St Vincent. -- they can arrange captain and cook -- super nice folks.

Moorings can do it! Base in Rodney Bay.
$1500 one way fee. $200/day for skipper.
All the research I’ve done suggests down island is the best way for sure. Long slog if northbound. Yes, three island C&I but that doesn’t look too bad and current plan is no weekend C&I.

We’re strongly considering, wonder if the 30nm blue water trip from St Lucia to St. V is a pro or con. May skip St V altogether and check in at Bequia instead? I can’t see doing it in less than 10 days.

Thanks everybody. Yes still researching and I will look into all your suggestions!

I agree with all of this. Only exception might be if you are going towards summer when the winds can shift south then going south to north probably would be fine. We were there in February so it was north to south for us, but if there is a bit of south in the wind then it will be pretty close to a beam reach whichever direction you go.

I'd agree that skipping St. Vincent isn't a bad idea. We tried to do this on our trip, but since we departed from Marigot in St. Lucia after the briefing we only made it down to Cumberland Bay that first day. We did not get a good vibe in that bay and slept (tried to sleep) with the boat all locked up. Maybe just bad timing, but very aggressive locals and at least when we were down there had recently been several boardings and thefts at night. Could be different now. In any case, if you leave St. Lucia early you should pretty easily be able to make it from St. Lucia to Bequia in one day.

We found all of the exposed passages between islands (including St. Lucia to St. Vincent) to be great sailing - just keep an eye out for squalls.

C&I question leaving St Lucia heading south…
When departing from Rodney Bay…if you make the first overnight in the Pitons and Soufirere how do you check out of St Lucia?
Can you check out when departing from Rodney Bay a day early?

Yes you can. In St Lucia you are allowed 24 hours to actually depart on a charter boat, 72 hours on a private boat. Noonsite ( link Noonsite ) is a good place to get the latest regulations.

Of course, in most places, you can safely say... Yes we cleared out yesterday intending to go straight to ( wherever) but had problems when we raised the sails so had to anchor here to fix the problem. Will nearly always get away with that although if the C&I people questioning you are corrupt (BVI for instance) they may try to 'fine' you a bit of cash.

Thanks Mike. The next paragraph says “ Yachts must, however, clear out with Immigration as passports need to be stamped on departure day.”

Firstly, if we flew into St Lucia to start a charter in Rodney Bay how do we check out? Wouldn't we first have to complete the checkout with the charter company, then ALL proceed to immigration? So what if we start a charter on day 1, overnight in Souftiere, and depart day 2 to St V. and Grenadines? Passport stamp would be day 1, actual depart on day 2. Not likely St Lucia is going to board us asking for passports as we hoist anchor and head south on day 2?!

We plan on C&I upon reaching Bequia as the first stop in the Grenadines, skipping St V as most resources suggest. Checking out at Clifton on Union, and into Grenada at Tyrrel Bay. Eventual charter end at St George's. Thus three visits to C&I, and plan on no weekends. Does that sound right?

The Mooring sent me some great hyperlinks that answered my questions. Yes, this is can be accomplished with good research and proper planning. We’re looking forward to this trip.

I have done this trip more than a few times. Always checked out of Marigot or Rodney and stayed at the Pitons first night then headed to Bequia the next morning. Always told C&I of my schedule and never had a problem.

I’m getting at final plans for this trip. Down to 10- days, 9 nights as follows. Your input and suggestions are welcome.

They used to make you pay for 3 nights at Mustique even if you only wanted one. Makes it quite expensive. Not sure if it is still the policy as I haven't been for a while.

Yes Mike, Doyle's guide states $210EC for three nights for boats up to 70' or $40EC landing fee per person for day trippers. Not much to do on Mustique other than visit the now rebuilt and company owned Basil's Bar?
From the guide, it looks like there is far more activity on Bequia. I guess a chance of two nights at Bequia, one night or a day stop on Mustique, and head south might be in our plans.

I would not bother with Mustique and spend the extra time in Bequia, the Cays, and Mayreau.

Definitely at least 2 nights in Bequia.
Unless you are a property owner on Mustique, there isn't much to do that is affordable, ha ha!
Besides, the mooring on Mustique are is subject to very uncomfortable rolling and yes, you have to pay for three nights no matter what the length of your stay. Most sailors leave after one day, even though they have paid for three.

There is/was Firefly and, a bit up the hill from the anchorage, there is the island 'worker's' bar which is where the celebrity visitors go to get the 'supplies' they don't want to bring in through C&I

[/quote] There is/was Firefly and, a bit up the hill from the anchorage, there is the island 'worker's' bar which is where the celebrity visitors go to get the 'supplies' they don't want to bring in through C&I
[/quote]Now that is funny!

If Going to union island - you may want to think about staying over in Chatham Bay. Lovely little anchorage we got plastered at sunset cove (not sure it was called that in 2019) with their rum punch and then had a great dinner at - well, What is now called Tanuta - but wasn’t called that in 2019. I guess COVID must have had an impact on the islands.

Thinking about chartering from st Vincent for a guys trip - have used mornings and DYC a number of times - looks like it will either be horizon or footloose… anyone have opinions on one or the other, in terms of boats and service?
Thanks!