After Mustique....St.Vincent then St.Lucia.
Chelone's travels.....
John and Susie Blair.
Mon 4 Feb 2013 00:46
N14:04.35
W60:57.14
Seems ages since I wrote anything here....too busy trying to fix our
fridge!! So where were we? oh yes, beautiful Mustique, well that'll take
some beating I must say!
We managed an extra night's stay on Mustique thanks to Basil persuading
'Slick' the Harbourmaster! The following morning we slipped the mooring and
sailed for about three hours up to the Blue Lagoon Marina in St.Vincent.
Having met the Marina manager previously we had a very warm welcome indeed
as he handed us a glass of iced rum punch (before noon!). Here we could fill
up our freshwater tank and jerrys for free, receive great wi-fi, free
showers and enjoy being able to lie alongside a berth for the first time
since Barbados.
We ventured into the capital by local bus and had a look around. Kingstown
is a busy colourful small harbour city where most anything can be sourced. I
needed to get some fuel filters and other spare parts plus we would stock up
our general stores here too as it's so inexpensive with large western style
supermarkets.
Laden down with a rucksack each packed with provisions we took the bus back
to the Marina, unloaded the shopping and went for a well earned meal in the
marina's re-furbished restaurant overlooking the lagoon and another sunset.
We sailed on heading north up the west coast and dropped anchor in Buccament
Bay. According to the Doyle guide there's a 'Bat Cave' under the cliffs here
so as soon as the anchor was down I took to the dinghy and headed over to
take a look! (Susie bottled it!) I soon found it and anchored the dinghy so
I could get in the water to snorkel into the little cave.
Inside the cave I must admit was a little freaky! The top of the cave was
only about three feet above my head and the air was thick with bats flying
Seems ages since I wrote anything here....too busy trying to fix our
fridge!! So where were we? oh yes, beautiful Mustique, well that'll take
some beating I must say!
We managed an extra night's stay on Mustique thanks to Basil persuading
'Slick' the Harbourmaster! The following morning we slipped the mooring and
sailed for about three hours up to the Blue Lagoon Marina in St.Vincent.
Having met the Marina manager previously we had a very warm welcome indeed
as he handed us a glass of iced rum punch (before noon!). Here we could fill
up our freshwater tank and jerrys for free, receive great wi-fi, free
showers and enjoy being able to lie alongside a berth for the first time
since Barbados.
We ventured into the capital by local bus and had a look around. Kingstown
is a busy colourful small harbour city where most anything can be sourced. I
needed to get some fuel filters and other spare parts plus we would stock up
our general stores here too as it's so inexpensive with large western style
supermarkets.
Laden down with a rucksack each packed with provisions we took the bus back
to the Marina, unloaded the shopping and went for a well earned meal in the
marina's re-furbished restaurant overlooking the lagoon and another sunset.
We sailed on heading north up the west coast and dropped anchor in Buccament
Bay. According to the Doyle guide there's a 'Bat Cave' under the cliffs here
so as soon as the anchor was down I took to the dinghy and headed over to
take a look! (Susie bottled it!) I soon found it and anchored the dinghy so
I could get in the water to snorkel into the little cave.
Inside the cave I must admit was a little freaky! The top of the cave was
only about three feet above my head and the air was thick with bats flying
around in the semi darkness. I shone my
torch up and was shocked by what I
saw....hundreds of bats clinging to the rock with crabs crawling around
amongst them! The air was thick with....bat stench (Guano?) as I swam
onwards towards what the guide book said was 'a narrow gully with a faint
light at the end about 50 meters away'. The surging swell pulled then pushed
me like a human torpedo and soon I saw a shaft of light ahead and the 130
foot deep chasm came into view. What an awesome sight! brightly coloured
soft corals and sponges with a myriad of tropical fish hovering in the
turquoise blue water....I couldn't see the seabed but did see a fish I'd not
seen before! a Scorpion Fish! (see pics). It wasn't at all shy so eager to
get a picture of it I rested my expensive waterproof torch on a ledge above
saw....hundreds of bats clinging to the rock with crabs crawling around
amongst them! The air was thick with....bat stench (Guano?) as I swam
onwards towards what the guide book said was 'a narrow gully with a faint
light at the end about 50 meters away'. The surging swell pulled then pushed
me like a human torpedo and soon I saw a shaft of light ahead and the 130
foot deep chasm came into view. What an awesome sight! brightly coloured
soft corals and sponges with a myriad of tropical fish hovering in the
turquoise blue water....I couldn't see the seabed but did see a fish I'd not
seen before! a Scorpion Fish! (see pics). It wasn't at all shy so eager to
get a picture of it I rested my expensive waterproof torch on a ledge above
the water.....yes, you guessed....while
taking pictures the bright yellow
torch went plunging past heading for the deep!!! AGGGH!! I don't think I've
ever swam so hard...ever! but I got it! phew. I hope you like the pics!
Buccument Bay was a pleasant stop off and the next morning we headed off
early for the 30 mile upwind sail to the Pitons of St.Lucia.
torch went plunging past heading for the deep!!! AGGGH!! I don't think I've
ever swam so hard...ever! but I got it! phew. I hope you like the pics!
Buccument Bay was a pleasant stop off and the next morning we headed off
early for the 30 mile upwind sail to the Pitons of St.Lucia.
We had very strong gusty winds as we
cleared around the north of St.Vincent
with it's terraces of neat Ghanja plantations on the steep hillsides leading
up towards the Soufrierre volcano. With a reefed mains'l and only 20% genoa
the autopilot sailed us for most of the day nearer and nearer towards the
incredible Caribbean landmark that are the 'Pitons'. The boatboys came out
to greet us to offer moorings when we were around 5 miles off which is
with it's terraces of neat Ghanja plantations on the steep hillsides leading
up towards the Soufrierre volcano. With a reefed mains'l and only 20% genoa
the autopilot sailed us for most of the day nearer and nearer towards the
incredible Caribbean landmark that are the 'Pitons'. The boatboys came out
to greet us to offer moorings when we were around 5 miles off which is
incredible really, we declined as we
were not planning to stop there but
carry on in the now calm waters up the leeward coast towards Marigot Bay.
Into Marigot Bay in the last of the afternoon light and got the anchor down
carry on in the now calm waters up the leeward coast towards Marigot Bay.
Into Marigot Bay in the last of the afternoon light and got the anchor down
amongst a few other yachts....just! Very
soft mud meant we had trouble
getting holding until I'd laid a hundred and fifty feet of our heavy 10mm
chain down (In 7 feet depth!!). We crashed out for the night.
Next day and we had a wander about this tiny place, did the Customs check in
etc. The usual pretty restaurants, boutiques etc, surprisingly there were a
few 100 foot plus mega yachts lurking in the lagoon tied stern too by a
mangrove. Before we sail there was a little job to do at the masthead....
getting holding until I'd laid a hundred and fifty feet of our heavy 10mm
chain down (In 7 feet depth!!). We crashed out for the night.
Next day and we had a wander about this tiny place, did the Customs check in
etc. The usual pretty restaurants, boutiques etc, surprisingly there were a
few 100 foot plus mega yachts lurking in the lagoon tied stern too by a
mangrove. Before we sail there was a little job to do at the masthead....
the Spinnaker Halyard had somehow
twisted around the head of the
forestay and needed untwisting! now
either Susie was gonna winch me
up there or visa versa...hmmmn...see the pics! Not much else to say really,
we weighed anchor and motored the last seven miles or so to Rodney Bay,
the yachting capital and general mega resource center for yachties.
As we made our approach across Rodney Bay itself the dominant feature was a
huge cruise liner, on looking at the AIS (like radar) we could see it was
'The World' one of the worlds biggest cruise liners, Susie (ex Cruise liner
Croupier) informed me that people actually live on it sailing around the
world, I suppose I could Google it and give you more details but you can do
that ha!
So, this brings us up to date! We're here in Rodney Bay....free wi-fi
up there or visa versa...hmmmn...see the pics! Not much else to say really,
we weighed anchor and motored the last seven miles or so to Rodney Bay,
the yachting capital and general mega resource center for yachties.
As we made our approach across Rodney Bay itself the dominant feature was a
huge cruise liner, on looking at the AIS (like radar) we could see it was
'The World' one of the worlds biggest cruise liners, Susie (ex Cruise liner
Croupier) informed me that people actually live on it sailing around the
world, I suppose I could Google it and give you more details but you can do
that ha!
So, this brings us up to date! We're here in Rodney Bay....free wi-fi
(onboard) free swimming pool and
showers, American Chandlery (Yeaaay!!) Huge
Supermarket with very inexpensive supplies (the cheapest we've seen yet!)
plenty of live entertainment and lots of people to socialise with.
So what about the broken fridge? I'll tell you next time eh! .......(better
end now as this is getting like the 'Gettysburg Address'!!)
Supermarket with very inexpensive supplies (the cheapest we've seen yet!)
plenty of live entertainment and lots of people to socialise with.
So what about the broken fridge? I'll tell you next time eh! .......(better
end now as this is getting like the 'Gettysburg Address'!!)