Petit St Vincent and Petite Martinique
Imagine Of Falmouth Online Log
Jon Constantine
Sat 4 Jul 2009 10:30
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Sat 4th July 09 to Mon 6th
July 09 We've changed our minds about going to Union. We only want to go there for a day or 2 to stock up on a few provisions and to clear out (Carriacou is the next stop and it's part of Grenada) and as it's the weekend customs will probably not be open. We're going to go to Petit St Vincent (PSV) for a couple of days instead and will go to Union on Monday. PSV is a private island but you are free to anchor there and also to walk on the beach. All beaches on the islands, by law are open to the public up to several feet above the high-water line regardless of whether the island is private; that goes for Mr Branson's Necker Island too! It rained pretty heavily early this morning but has now cleared so we should have a nice dry sail to PSV. It's just over 7 miles away and the wind should be behind us so we didn't bother with the main and sailed under headsail only with the wind aft of the beam. Nice. Out came the fishing rod too. We've eaten quite a lot of the Tuna already and the rest I've been able to freeze by hanging it on the fridge cold plate in zip-lock bags. Works really well and we can afford to keep the fridge on high now that we have plenty of power from the KISS and the solar panel. Within minutes of putting out the line we had a bite. A bit smaller this time; a 3 lb Little Tunny (mackerel family) but still got 6 nicely sized fillets out of it.    The approach - Petit St Vincent and Petite Martinique (it's only a short dinghy ride between the two) We worked our way into the anchorage carefully avoiding the reefs and anchored on a sand bank. It was getting a bit shallow so we back tracked back and dropped the anchor quickly in about 4 metres. When we snorkelled later we realised we had plenty of depth so we re-anchored. The anchor is still in 4m but not too close to the drop off and, with 25m of chain out, the boat is actually in deeper water where the sand bank starts. We're fine even if we swing around although it's unlikely as the wind is pretty consistent.   A Damsel - this cheeky chap kept trying to attack the camera! A Bearded Fireworm  
Look very closely - it's a very well camouflaged Scorpionfish Squirrelfish It's a beautiful anchorage and again, we're in lovely clear blue water. Great for snorkelling and plenty of marine life about but not much coral. It's very sheltered from the swell as although you are facing the open sea there is a reef that runs from PSV across to Petite Martinique (PM), the neighbouring island. We had a good long walk along the beach almost around the whole island, not that it's very big! We did have a sneaky look into the interior too!   Lots of sea gulls here Imagine with view of PM from PSV   I think that's well above the high-water line, naughty!!! An oven?   The dreaded Manchineel Tree. Every bit of it is poisonous. More sea gulls - or maybe the same ones? We took the dinghy over to PM on Monday for lunch. It's actually part of the Grenada Grenadines (and not French at all) but no one is too worried about going through clearance. We didn't even take our passports. Food and drink is much cheaper here than the St Vincent Grenadines as there's no tax, so we bought a few food items and more wine; our stock from St Martin is pretty much depleted now. We decided to have lunch at Palm Beach as it has a good review in the pilot book. Can't say we were too impressed. The food was ok but my fish was definitely frozen. Maybe the food is better in the evening or in high season. The chicken wire fence didn't do much for the view either.   The beach on Petite Martinique Back to the dinghy with provisions. You can see how close PSV is from here   The local school They do like their chicken-wire fences here!   PM from the dinghy Local sailing boat So off we went back to PSV for a swim and a chill out. Tomorrow we are going to Clifton on Union Island. |