Carriacou
Luna Quest
W. Eric Faber
Tue 1 Apr 2014 00:27
Daily Run: 9 miles
The Caribbean islands offer the yachtsmen one of the best sailing areas in the world. None of the islands are too far apart and the wind is often from the right direction. Many of the bays visited by yachtsmen cater for their needs and Union Island and Carriacou have a lot to offer. Union island, where we sailed from today, is littered with reefs and careful navigation is a pre-requisite to ensure that one's boat does not join the many casualties. Tobago Cays is a must for the visitor, set as it is among even more reefs.
When I was in Dominica, I joined a party of people for the Indian river cruise visiting the mangroves and observing the fauna and wild life. I was very fortunate to be sat next to Julia Horner, a keen amateur photographer and cook, whom I had met some years earlier at the Cruising Association in London. Her skipper was flying back to England, but she hoped to carry on to Carriacou to complete some research on the last of the beach shipbuilders. The three of us agreed that I could take Julia with me, a great stroke of luck that is giving me the pleasure of having a sailing companion with attributes that I sorely lack. Julia and I are sailing together in good harmony, where her many years of sailing experience proves a great asset to the competence of Luna Quest.
In Union Island, we found one of the last of the Caribbean schooner trading vessels from the 1960s, constructed in Carriacou, but now functioning as an excursion vessel for Tobago Cays, Mayreau and Palm Island, places that require local knowledge to visit. On Sunday, therefore, we booked ourselves on the schooner, called 'Scaramouche', to enjoy a wonderful visit to the reefs and white beaches with food and drinks supplied throughout the day.
In Carriacou we have met up with some of our friends from the OCC and tomorrow we shall visit the place on the beach where much of the boatbuilding took place. We hope that some of it may still be in evidence.