On May 21st, we departed at first light and had a pleasant
sail from St. Lucia to St. Vincent. We had
ESE winds at 12-18 knots with six foot seas and reached the lee of St. Vincent shortly
before noon. This rugged volcanic island stretches 11 miles from
north to south and seven miles from east to west.
The terrain is a combination of steep mountains and dense green forest
and is sparsely populated compared to the other islands in the windward
group. The island of St. Vincent makes
up about 90 percent of the total land in the country of St. Vincent and the
Grenadines.
The French were the first Europeans to try to settle on
the island in the 18th century, but fierce
Carib resistance kept the Europeans out long after most other Caribbean islands
had been colonized. This was the last
stand for the Caribs, many of whom were
from other nearby islands that had already escaped British or French rule. They were eventually defeated though, and St.
Vincent was traded back and forth between French and British rule for quite a
few years until it was ultimately ceded to the British in 1783. It remained under British control until the
country gained their independence 35 years ago.
Today there are about 100,000 people living on the island of
St. Vincent. Unlike the first three
Caribbean islands we visited, tourism is not the most important part of the
economy here, but instead agriculture, with the biggest crop being bananas. Most tourists that visit St. Vincent just
pass through the hub and capital city at Kingstown, before heading south to the
islands in the Grenadines, which are more geared towards tourism.
On our approach to St. Vincent, we headed for Wallilabou Bay, a port
of clearance near the middle of the west coast.
After hearing about recent issues with crime in this bay, our plan was
to anchor in neighboring Keartons Bay instead.
This small bay is just south of Wallilabou, and there is a restaurant
here called The Rock Side Cafe. The
owners, Orlando and Rosi, have installed moorings in the bay and are able to
keep a close eye on yachts from their home. So far, they have not experienced
the same issues as Wallilabou, making this an attractive option for us.
We pulled into the small bay and tied up both the bow and stern to separate
mooring balls, which kept us from swinging around and pointed the bow into what
little swell there was. The water was
crystal clear, so we went for a quick swim to cool off and found a small cave
in the nearby cliff wall, which was good for snorkeling. The customs office was only open from 5 pm to
6 pm, so we had some time to kill before heading ashore, which was quickly
filled, as boat after boat of locals stopped by trying to sell us jewelry,
fruit, bread, ice, fish, crafts – you name it.
Later that afternoon, we rowed to shore and met Allah, one of the
employees of the restaurant. He made the
short walk with us over to Wallilabou Bay to show us where the customs office
was located. This was a beautiful bay
and would have been an ideal place to moor Saviah, were it not for the reports
of crime. It was also the main location
for filming the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. A
seaside pirate village was built here around the small hotel, restaurant and
even the customs office in the bay. While
waiting for the customs officer to show up, we walked around the remains of the
set and through some of the buildings.
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| Saviah moored in Keartons Bay and nearby Wallilabou Bay |
After we met with customs, we hopped on a local minivan bus to the
village of Barrouallie, about ten minutes north, where we completed our
immigration paperwork at the local police station. Allah was a huge help in guiding us there, as
it would have been very difficult to find on our own. By 6 pm, we were officially cleared into the
country.
The moorings in Keartons Bay are free for dinner guests, so we decided
to have dinner ashore that night. It was
a delicious creole meal with many courses, served on their backyard patio
overlooking the bay. We started with
pumpkin and bacon soup followed by a salad, and then the main course of chicken
and fish in creole sauce with rice, plantains, and peas. As if we needed anything else, mango cheesecake
was served for dessert.
That night, we talked to Orlando about doing a hike up to La
Soufriere, the active volcano that is the country’s highest peak. It has erupted several times in the last
hundred years, most recently in 1979. The
mountain is located on the far north side of the island, and we would need transportation
and a guide to do the hike, which Orlando agreed to coordinate.
The next morning, we rowed back to shore early to meet Orlando, Allah,
and Shema for the hike to the volcano. The
drive to the trailhead took about 30 minutes.
The roads wound up and down through the very rugged terrain and through
areas with dense tropical rainforest. As
we neared the coast, many men were walking along the road with backpacks and
carrying machetes. Apparently, they make their living doing illegal marijuana farming on the
hills of the mountain we were about to climb.
This is a big part of the local economy, and although it is
technically illegal, many of the local people are involved and the police turn
a blind eye to it.
The hike started with a walk along the beach, accompanied by a dozen
or so “farmers”, before turning inland and winding through huge lava tubes left
from one of the previous eruptions. From
there, the overgrown trail wound about three miles through very dense
vegetation. Fortunately, Allah led the
way with his machete, clearing a path for us.
Mango trees were everywhere, and we
stopped several times to eat a few and fill our backpacks with more to take
back with us. Allah pointed out the many
patches of marijuana plants growing on the hillside. They were more like trees, and he said he
used to climb them when he was a boy.
After a few hours, we reached the exposed ridge for the last stretch
to the top. As soon as we did, the wind
started to howl, and it began pouring rain.
We continued on and made the last 20 minutes to the top of the crater,
completely drenched and shivering. The rim
sits at 4,048 feet of elevation and offers great views of St. Vincent and the Grenadine
islands on a clear day. Unfortunately, we
could hardly see 50 feet in front of us through the dense clouds. We huddled behind some shrubs on the rim for
a little protection from the wind and had some sandwiches and hot tea. Before starting the descent, there was a break
between clouds allowing us a short glimpse into the crater, about 1,000 feet
below.
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| hiking Mt. Soufriere |
After the hike, we headed back to Saviah and topped off our water
tanks using a very long hose that Allah brought out from shore. The next morning, we untied our mooring lines
and sailed south to the Grenadines, a chain of over 600 islands that stretch
from St. Vincent in the north to Grenada in the south. Most of these islands are tiny, some are
privately owned, and only about a dozen of the larger ones are inhabited. The northern two-thirds belong to St. Vincent,
and the others belong to nearby Grenada.
There are about 16,000 inhabitants on all of the islands combined.
The most northern Grenadine, and one of the largest, is Bequia. This was our first stop after making the 16
mile trip from St. Vincent that morning.
We sailed into Admiralty Bay on the west coast and picked up a mooring
ball in front of Port Elizabeth, which is the only town on the island. This is a charming seaside village where
about half of the island’s 4,500 residents live. It is a popular stop for yachts heading south,
and the harbor was fairly packed with boats.
There is also a ferry service that brings locals and tourists over from
other islands. There is huge difference
between St. Vincent and nearby Bequia, and it was hard to believe that they are
part of the same country. Like the rest
of the Grenadines we visited, it is much more peaceful and laidback.
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| Bequia |
There are many
restaurants and shops lining the shore, as well as street vendors and produce
stands. The bay has some really nice
beaches, and the swimming was good right off the boat. The plan was to stay for a night or two, but
we stayed a bit longer to enjoy the tranquility, as well as the good protection
from the strong trade winds that were blowing. After five days in the bay, we stocked up on
fruits and veggies at one of the produce stands and made the 25 mile sail south
to the Tobago Cays.
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| more Bequia |
The Tobago Cays are a group of five small, uninhabited islands protected
from the easterly swell by a big horseshoe shaped barrier reef. The islands were under private ownership for
several hundred years until 1999 when they were purchased by the state of St. Vincent
and the Grenadines and turned into a marine park. They are only accessible by boat, and you can
anchor just about anywhere in the park where it is deep enough. Park rangers come by to collect a fee of $4
per person per day, which we found to be well worth it.
During the peak season, the park is usually very crowded with both
cruising boats and charter boats that bring tourists over from nearby islands
for a day of snorkeling. During our
visit at the end of the season, only a dozen or so boats were there at a time. We saw quite a few turtles and the occasional
ray when we were snorkeling, but were surprised at how few fish there
were. It seems that the human impact has
taken its toll on the area.
We still enjoyed our stay, appreciating the beautiful scenery, clear
water and great swimming. With no land
mass to block the wind, the breeze kept us cool on the boat, and the reef broke
the swell, making it nice and flat in the anchorage. We also wandered around the uninhabited
islands, which were pristine and had some nice beaches and hiking trails. Vendors come over from neighboring islands, and
would occasionally sell fresh bread and other food. It would have been easy to linger here for
months, but after a week, we were getting low on water and decided it was time
to head out.
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| Tobago Cays |
There are several islands within a few miles of the Tobago Cays, but
we needed to keep moving south and only had time for one more stop in the
country. We chose Union Island because there
was easy access to freshwater at one of the docks, and it is also a port of
clearance.
The island is approximately three miles long, a mile wide, and home to
around 3,000 residents. There are a
couple of good anchorages on the island and the most popular one is in front of
the town of Clifton. After the short
five mile sail from Tobago Cays, we tied up along the dock at the Anchorage
Yacht Club to refill our water tanks.
The small anchorage in front of Clifton was crowded when we arrived, so
we opted to go west a mile and anchor in the lee of Frigate Island.
Quite a few years ago, a company decided to build a huge marina in the
shallow waters between Frigate Island and Union Island, but after getting the
main piers installed, the project was abandoned. You can take a dinghy to Frigate Island and
then walk on what remains of these abandoned docks that stretch all the way to
the small fishing village of Ashton. Unfortunately,
the vegetation was quite dense making it hard to find the path, and the
mosquitoes were really bad, so we gave up trying. We headed back to Saviah and spent the night
in the anchorage by ourselves, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. The next day,
to escape the mosquitoes, we decided to try the Clifton anchorage again.
We found a small open spot in the crowded anchorage, but it was less
than ideal. Although it looks nice,
there are only a few narrow strips where you can anchor between the numerous reefs
and not room for many boats. It
wouldn’t take long to go aground if we dragged anchor, but the forecast called
for light trade winds for the next couple days, so we decided it would work for
a short stay.
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| anchorage near Clifton |
We rowed to shore and walked around the small town with its many
colorful produce stands and brightly colored buildings. The next day, we made the long hot walk up
the northern side of the island, before returning to Clifton to do the short
hike up to Fort Hill. From the top,
there were great views of nearby Grenadines and the much larger island of Grenada
further to the south.
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| Clifton on Union Island |
After two days, we had seen everything of interest to us. We cleared out of the country, and the next
morning, we made the eight mile sail south to the island of Carriacou.