Leaving Trinidad Mid
March 2013
 |
| Chatham Bay, Union Island. |
Leaving Trinidad was no great hardship – we were tired of being in a
marina, oil slicks on the surface of the water and generally, the heat and
humidity. We sailed northwards at a great rate (helps having a clean bottom and
propeller) and snuck into St Georges in Grenada to drop anchor for the
night. Early the following morning we
set off again for Carriacou, this is Grenada’s northernmost island and very
laid back and pretty – the islanders are friendly and waters warm and
clean. After finalizing customs and
immigration requirements we took White Rose 1 to Tyrell Bay, a half hour motor
south. Tyrell Bay is protected and a nice spot to stop for a few days while we
waited for friends aboard the motor boat “Bodacious” to catch up. Jack and Don enjoyed diving in the beautiful
waters of Carriacou although a strong current kept them working hard and they
were starving and in need of an afternoon’s nap when they arrived back at the
boat.
The last night in Grenadian waters was spent alongside the tiny sand
spit island “Sandy Island”. Pure white sand with a few coconut palms and
beautiful azure waters – it is a protected area and had great snorkeling and
diving until a hurricane destroyed much of the coral – the local society for
the protection of the reef are attempting to graft coral to replenish the
reef.
I suppose one has to do the “hard yards” and have a shitty day from time
to time to really appreciate the good days – our plan was to raise the anchor
early, motor around to Hillsborough Bay to finalise checking out of Grenada and
mosey along to Union Island only 6 miles away – easy !!! Our first hurdle was to get our anchor up –
the wind was blowing 20 knots plus and “White Dumbo” appeared to be over the
top of our anchor. White Dumbo is a baby
super yacht – often White Rose is the largest boat in an anchorage and we tend
to anchor at the back of the pack to keep out of everyone’s way – not all
Captains are as considerate – the previous afternoon Dumbo crept into the
middle of the pack and being too large for the spot he ended up over our
anchor. At that time we were just
starting our motor to raise the anchor when
the big lump of a boat stopped in front of us – we presumed they would
only stay an hour or so and decided to wait until they moved to raise our
anchor – the next morning we were still waiting…… we had called over and they
agreed they thought they would be over our anchor (hum where is anchoring
protocol and consideration). After viewing
one very sleepy crew member the next morning we decided we had waited long
enough, gave him a yell and began to
raise our anchor, it was scary – we came very close to their boat with
the current pushing us upon them – they could have moved forward to assist but
thought it more entertaining watching us maneuver in such high winds. Did I mention that White Dumbo is beautiful,
she has lovely lines, is spotless and shiny and big !!! 
Our next step for the day was to motor around the corner to clear out of
the country at customs– it took a lot longer than planned – we were doing the
amazing speed of 2.7 knots against 26knt winds, current and swell. We anchored in a relative calm spot near the
main wharf and within ½ an hour a stupid yacht came and anchored right in front
of us – this bay is huge with copious amount of anchoring spots – why anchor
over the stop of our anchor !!! We sent
our most disgusted looks over to the boat and went ashore to clear out,
immigration had a long queue all wanting to do the same so we went shopping to
buy nutmeg syrup and nutmeg jam. Grenada is known as the “spice isle” and
nutmeg trees can be found all over the island.
Grenada is the only place we have found these delights – they are made
from the fruit surrounding the nutmeg seed and have quite a unique taste. On our way back to the boat we called on our
inconsiderate neighbors and explained that we were leaving and may need them to
fend us off if we get too close – the captain was abrupt and said he was just
leaving to go ashore – I sweetly asked him to give us a few minutes to get
ready as we were sure our anchor was either under or close by his boat. Our anchor was under his boat and he became
abusive as we got closer and closer trying to retrieve our anchor in high
winds. Don asked him to power his boat
forward which he was reluctant to do – we did get our anchor up amongst smart
comments from the other boat and Don reciprocating in like fashion. Off to Union and a new country.
Union Island 25 March 2013
The anchorage in Ashton Bay on Union Island is protected by a large reef
with a smaller reef in the middle of the anchorage so boats are anchored in a
horseshoe fashion. A local fellow in his
boat guided us into what he considered to be a good anchorage spot – it was a tight
fit between two other boats and with high wind gusts quite a battle for
us. The anchor was lowered then stopped
– it was found the chain had fallen over on itself during our passage and was
hopelessly knotted. I was having a
battle trying not to hit the boats on either side of us so Don took over the
steering, I put some fenders out and went to try and get the anchor up which had hooked onto a disused mooring
line. Of course it hadn’t just hooked
the line instead the tip of the anchor had actually gone through a large loop
in the mooring line which meant we were stuck – the local guide was thrilled to
have found his mooring line and insisted on an elaborate method of tying White
Rose to his mooring line thus securing a
mooring fee from our boat and his new mooring line. We tried that for all of 3 minutes and
realized that we were still swinging too much and would definitely collide with
the boat next to us – it took some yelling to get the local to release the line
and we reversed out. Once the chain was
sorted out we anchored safely in the
middle of the bay, much to the relief of all spectators and other boats. On shore was delightful – lots of colourful
stalls selling fruit and veges, friendly people and a very relaxed immigration
and customs personnel. We considered
staying the night now we were securely anchored but upon watching the new boats
come into the tiny bay and their attempts at anchoring made me too nervous, we
left for Chatham Bay where we found a calm large bay with lots of anchoring
room. What a horrible day – I forgot to
mention the large seas sending White Rose in a figure 8 motion with waves
coming over the bow and flooding the decks, the strong winds howling on our nose
and a sea sick 1st mate.
We stayed in Chatham Bay 2 nights after reading the weather maps and
deciding the best days to visit Tobago Cays.
Tobago Cays 27th March
Tobago Cays is as pretty as the picture books promise. The area is a marine park with a few rules
and regulations to protect the sea life and surrounding area. There nine islands in the park, five of which
are uninhabited. Horseshoe Reef protects
the anchorage and is an excellent snorkeling spot. The reliable trade winds blow consistently
all day and night meaning boats can anchor quite close together knowing they
will not turn 360 degrees but rather continue to point in the same
direction. It is crowded with many
charter catamarans, if you ignore all the other boats it is truly a beautiful
spot. This time we put a bright yellow
mooring ball where our anchor was located and no one anchored over the top of
it. 
The next few days was spent snorkeling, cooking local fish on the
bar-b-que bought from the local pirogues
(long wooden boats with large outboards) and relaxing. Our fishing skills have not improved
throughout the years.
Bequia
Bequia is a small island owned by St Vincent. As with all these islands the locals are very
friendly, helpful (they will give you directions or instructions even if they
have no idea) and happy people. It was
the Easter sailing regatta and we were in the middle of it – actually trying to
sail into the harbor across the racing course .
The usually quiet calm anchorage was busy, very full and had an
uncomfortable northerly swell. We
anchored on the outside of the pack and watched the boats race – the confident
ones handled their boats well as they wove in and out of the anchored boats – a
wonderful sight. That night the swell
was large and uncomfortable so the next morning we did a good impression of practicing
our anchoring techniques in various spots around the harbor – we could not get
a good hold in the rock and broken coral
– after 5 tries and feeling rather foolish we snuck back to our original
spot. We did go ashore once, there are
several docks for dinghies but all were full with impatient rude people trying
to force their dinghy into the pack by high speed . We finally found an almost deserted dock and
went for a quick walk around the town which was very busy with a ferry
unloading cars causing a large traffic jam, cruisers, locals and a mix of
visitors. That morning Gert from the
boat “Lycaon” came for a visit and afterwards we weighed anchor and headed for
the main island of St Vincent. St
Vincent has an unfortunate reputation of robberies and violence and is often
by-passed by cruisers – such a shame as it is a beautiful island with lovely
people. After many days/nights of very
uncomfortable conditions we headed for Young Cut – a small cut between the main
island and a smaller privately owned island upon which is a lovely resort. Mooring balls are used because of the strong
tide and depth. Once away from the lee
of the island of Bequia the waters became rough – the boat next to us turned
back ! We timed it badly and had current
opposing tide etc - 12ft straight sided foaming waves so close that to ride up
one meant turning into a submarine to plough through the next but it gets to a
point that to turn around is dangerous.
St Vincent
Young Cut was post card
pretty and we had intended to visit St Vincent while secure in the cut. That was until we ran aground during the
night - actually 3am (what is the phenomena that always has such things as this
happening in the wee small hours of a very dark stormy windy night ). We
heard loud yelling and ran up top expecting to see someone else in trouble -
humm - White Rose did a big bump just as she hit rocks on the shore .....so
much for the security of the most expensive mooring ball in the Caribbean. All was ok the first night - during the second
afternoon a smallish catamaran was placed on the mooring ball in front of us
with another in front of that one - that was fine while we all continued to
face the same direction but with opposing tides, currents, wind and waves we
all tended to go our own way - poor Don was up at midnight fending the cat off
as we were stern to stern whilst the cat occupiers slept soundly on !!!
As Don said there was no point in waking them because there was nothing anyone
could do and we were missing by a few feet as we swung by - surely mooring
balls should be spaced far enough apart to allow for “waltzing" boats
!!! Well Don finally got back to sleep after the tide had changed when we
were woken by the security guard on the island yelling out - then we hit
!!! We managed to get ourselves off - it was very dark and difficult to
see the moored boats and the free mooring balls so we anchored outside the
protected area and rocked and rolled until dawn. 
Poor Don had to go diving on the hull at first light to see if there was any damage - none found so we left for Walliabou Bay further up the island. This bay is very deep so boats are required to use a mooring ball or anchor in the deep and take a stern line ashore to tie to a coconut tree. After our previous experience Don dove on this mooring ball - the local tied us to the ball (float) painter (line) not the heavier mooring line (which is at least 1ft under water) so here we are with an old 1/2" line holding us in place The stern mooring ball line was wearing very thin being cut through by the rusty piece of metal is was threaded through on the bottom of the sea bed. Don spent some time putting stronger lines on their moorings – once again we had plans of visiting the island but were not prepared to leave White Rose on weak mooring balls. The bay was interesting in so far as it was the location for much of the filming of the “Pirates of the Caribbean”. The film crew had left many documents, film and sets behind – it was fun exploring the buildings and seeing how a false front was attached to make the buildings take on the appropriate time period.
St Lucia 8 April 2013
13 50.0 N 61 04.8 W
13 50.0 N 61 04.8 W
The Pitons are two volcanic plugs in a World Heritage Site in Saint Lucia. The Gros Piton is 771 m, and the Petit Piton is 743 m high; they are linked by the Piton Mitan ridge and we are anchored in between them – amazing !! The boat swings around and Petit Piton slides into view, 1,500 metres of sheer rock rising up out of the sea. Then comes Gros Piton, stouter and taller. Then an icing sugar beach in a place named, on some maps, the Baie de Silence.
The Pitons are precipitous, transformed by the sun’s changing rays – now craggy-faced, now bedecked with emerald and sage and olive vegetation that tries in vain to scale their heights. And when night comes, the sky is a scintillating multitude of stars cast across an indigo velvet tapestry, except where the Pitons blot them out in twin-peaked silhouettes of India ink.
A guy pulls up in a motorboat and grins. “The Breasts of St. Lucia”, he hollers over the growl of his engine. These twin peaks grace the St. Lucian flag; they are the most photographed site in the Caribbean.
Martinique
Don has never been a believer of the “Green Flash” whereas I have seen it many times now and he is most rude when I boast about it. Imagine my delight when the sun set and there was an amazing green flash and I caught it with the camera – now Mr non-believer had no choice but to believe – the photo is blurry because of the distance but the green is obvious and I was so happy and boastful – I gave him such a hard time. We have watched a few green flashes together now and each time I get this stupid grin on my face – I just can’t help myself I have to gloat !!!
Our general plan was to slowly make our way up the Windward and Leeward islands to St Martin, stopping at the islands we had bypassed on the way to Trinidad. The weather has not been nice – strong winds with even stronger gusts and rolly anchorages due to northerly swell so we have just kept moving – the sailing during the day has been great (if you are a sailor) White Rose has been racing through the water and performing well and making record time passages. I have just been hanging on with white knuckles.
St Martin 23rd April 2013
We are now anchored in a very large land locked lagoon which forms part of the island of St Martin. We will stay here for the next 4 weeks waiting for Scott to arrive from Adelaide and make the crossing to the Azores with us. We will spend our days upgrading lifelines, servicing the engine and stocking the tin food supply – all the preparations for a long passage.
