Leeward and Windward Islands 12:02.70N 61:45.50W
Seaflute
Tue 31 Jan 2017 23:14
I'm sure you've both been champing at the bit for the next instalment. I
have no better excuse for it than we've all been too busy enjoying
ourselves! I'll do my best to bring you up to date with what has been a
fabulously busy time cruising some paradise islands.
The official start to the Oyster world rally was at 13.00 on the 15th of
January. The start was organised with the usual ceremony you would expect
from Oyster. A giant flag and cannon just below Shirley Heights, south of
English harbour marked the upwind end of the start line. I'd like to say
thirty one Oysters were hassling for line honours but that would be
stretching the truth rather, half a dozen yachts were still at anchor in
Nelsons Dockyard ten minutes before the start and were "encouraged" by David
Tydeman, the MD of Oyster Yachts to participate in the "photo shoot"
conducted by helicopter! This pretty much sums up the relaxed nature of the
rally which is thirty one yachts and a hundred and fifty likeminded
individuals cruising in company around the world.
Ali and Jules joined us in Antigua for the rally start celebrations and
sailed with us down the Island's to Grenada from where they sadly had to fly
home.
Even though they were with us for nearly three weeks, we really only had a
whistle stop tour of the islands. We have added many more places to our
"must return and do it properly" list which is growing by the day.
Our first stop after Antigua was the Isle de Sainte (The Saints) at the
south end of Guadeloupe. This was a thirteen hour sail and the resultant
night entry into the anchorage nestled in the midst of a rocky crop of
islands. A baptism of fire for them, but especially Rachael, Toms girlfriend
who has joined us as crew having never previously been on a sailing yacht!
Fortunately for Tom she coped very well and was not the least perturbed by
the experience. Ignorance is bliss, or it was possibly the result of the
copious amounts of sea sickness drugs Lindy plied her with which rendered
her semi-comatose for the whole voyage. Rach has subsequently proved that
she has good sea legs, which is a great start and now just needs to learn
how to sail...... and there will be plenty of opportunity for that!
This was our second visit to IDS and was equally enjoyable as the first.
Caribbean islands with French food and wine, what's not to like.
>From IDS it was a quick thirty miles to Rupert Bay on the North West corner
of Dominica. We had booked a local agent called Cobra to look after us and
sure enough we were met several miles out by a very friendly chap in a small
boat welcoming us to Dominica and beckoning us to follow him to a choice
anchorage. He then promptly disappeared at a hundred miles an hour and I
struggled hard to see where he had gone.
We eventually anchored outside Portsmouth which is the town in the bay and
was taken by Peewee our boat boy, at a hundred miles an hour to the customs
and immigration dock. Peewee was grinning from ear to ear at the sight of me
trying to keep my hat on with one hand, grip the boat for dear life with the
other whilst totally unable to dodge the blast of water spraying my face and
glasses. On arrival at the dock he told me proudly he had built the boat
himself and it had only just been launched the previous day. This also
accounted for the red paint stuck to my knuckles that hadn't yet dried
properly. The check in was very straightforward, unlike some of the islands
and we were very soon on our return trip which I was greatly relishing.
Within ten minutes of arrival we had been visited by boat vendors offering,
fresh fish, lobsters, fruit and vegetables and bread.
Before we went ashore I organised a boat trip up the Indian River for us all
the following morning. Our agent Cobra, informed us that Peewee would be
collecting us at 07.30 and taking us to meet our guide James Bond (I'm not
making this up, honestly). 007 rowed us up the river where we saw birds,
blue crabs and an iguana, he proudly showed us the film set where the voodoo
women in Pirates of the Caribbean had her house which was still standing. A
walk through the beautiful rainforest to a bar had us drinking rum punches
at 9 o'clock in the morning!
The Island of Dominica used to be out of bounds for visiting yachtsmen due
to the levels of boat crime that were occurring. About five years ago Cobra
formed an association called Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services
(PAYS). They organised anchorage, mooring buoys but most importantly yacht
safety. Rupert Bay is consequently now considered one of the safest
anchorages in the Caribbean. Tom had previously visited Dominica and had
raved about it at length, Justifiably so, the island is stunningly
beautiful, volcanic peaks covered in verdant rainforest. We swam in river
gorges, bathed in waterfall pools and trekked in the mountains. The people
are very poor but very generous of their time and knowledge. Known as the
nature island I hope they can manage their development in a sustainable way,
that doesn't damage this unique environment. On a slightly sinister note,
this was the first Island we witnessed large scale infrastructure projects
wholly financed by the Chinese. "Free" roads and apartment blocks have been
built in many of the towns. They are "helping" with mineral extraction and
energy generation projects. One thing very evident from speaking with many
of the locals is that they have certainly won the hearts and minds of the
populace. This same scenario is also playing out in Grenada on the same
scale.
Our next stop was to be an overnight stay in a small bay on the South West
coast of Martinique. When we got near our destination we were sailing so
well, that to avoid the need to clear into Martinique for a one night stay,
we elected to carry on to Bequia which was our next planned stop. We would
arrive late but then have more time there and be booked into St Vincent and
the Grenadines which was to be our cruising ground for the next few days.
Bequia is quite a cosmopolitan little Island and we anchored in Admiralty
Bay in front of the small town of Port Elizabeth and next to the fine Tony
Gibbons Beach known locally as Princess Margaret's beach because she once
swam here. It will shortly be renamed the David Pedley Beach I'm certain.
Two nights, some fine food and many rum punches later we weighed anchor and
headed for Tobago Cays which for many is the crown jewels of the Grenadines.
The Cays consist of a group of uninhabited small islands huddled inside two
large reefs. The water is shallow, gin clear and the whole area is
designated a marine park. The navigation into a suitable anchorage needs to
be undertaken with care but was obviously not beyond the capability of the
hundred charter catamarans that had arrived before us! I guess when
somewhere is so accessible and as beautiful as this, it's no wonder everyone
would want to be there. Aside from the relative congestion, we still did
some amazing snorkelling on the outer reef and the turtles in the sanctuary
were completely unfazed by our presence as we watched them from close
quarters grazing lazily on the sea grass. There will hopefully be plenty of
equally stunning anchorage's in the South Pacific where we will have a whole
atoll to ourselves.
A night in Union Island, the highlight for me was enjoying sundowners in the
Happy Bar which was built by Janti, by hand on a reef from conch shells
discarded by local fishermen. He is understandably very proud of his bar and
it is definitely one of the most unique establishments I've enjoyed a
sundowner in. The following morning we were off to Carriacou, which I
mistakenly believed was still part of the Grenadines. The bollocking I
received from the Immigration officer for not clearing out of St Vincent and
the Grenadines is still ringing in my ears.
So here we were anchored in Hillsborough Bay, Carriacou, (which I must
mention is part of Grenada). Hillsborough is a sleepy little town unlike its
neighbour Tyrell Bay. We happened upon a dive school at the north of the
town run by a very friendly bunch of Brits and Canadians (Deefer Diving).
This was very serendipitous, because we booked onto a couple of dives the
following morning and I must say we dived in the most stunning soft corals I
have ever seen. There were rays, Moray eels, huge lobsters and a myriad of
beautiful coral fish.
Finally on to Grenada and the end of our Windward Island voyage. We moored
in Port Louis Marina and it was nice to get some fresh water over the decks
and mains power to enable all the luxuries of unlimited light and power. All
too soon it was time for Ali and Jules to depart and a few days to prepare
Sea Flute for the next stage of her odyssey.
Going back to my experience in the Carriacou customs and immigration office,
it's clear to me that these officials are all trained at the same facility
somewhere. Having met quite a number now over the previous five months, they
are definitely taught to appear to be as miserable as sin, even though I met
many that obviously weren't, but to appear to be miserable is mandatory.
They have to walk very, very slowly. Forms comprise of a minimum of six
sheets all joined with carbon paper (yes). The sheets must all be stamped
three times, individually, very, very slowly. The most important skill of
all is to avoid any eye contact with you and speak so quietly it's
impossible to hear what they have said. They must always completely ignore
any request for a question to be repeated to the extent they must pretend
they haven't even heard you're request. So there I was in Carriacou. Customs
Immigration/Officer: "Where is your clearing out document from St Vincent?"
Me: "I haven't cleared out of St Vincent, I'm not leaving yet" I said,
smiling graciously.
Said officer slowly, very slowly removed a handkerchief from his
immaculately pressed uniform trouser pocket, remembering his training, made
no eye contact as he slowly, very slowly cleaned his glasses. He took the
pile of passports I had placed in front of him and put them in his drawer,
still no word or eye contact, damn he was good. He stood slowly and walked
very slowly to a back office and disappeared for a quarter of an hour. When
I enquired of his colleague where he may have gone, he initially seemed very
annoyed at me having interrupted his game of angry birds on his cell phone,
but then lightened up to inform me that I was now in fact in Grenada and
should have cleared out of St Vincent. He did it such an easy way
that I suspect I was not the first that week to have made the mistake.
Needless to say it did not diminish the severity of the dressing down I
received when his boss finally returned half an hour later with a fist full
of forms to be completed to retrospectively check out and back in again!
I'm so looking forward to Columbia and Panama where we have to temporarily
import our vessel as well, whoopee!
I will elaborate on our time in the glorious island of Grenada in the next
blog.
Bye for now
Skipper Peds