Canouan Capers

Monique left us on the morning the 17^th March from the dramatic airport on Mustique, with its short runway, which starts with a steep slope over the top of a grassy hill and ends on level ground much too soon.  The morning started serenely, with a walk, a swim, and a luxurious shower, until the hotel reception called to say that her flight was departing in 30 minutes! Rushing to dress, pack, and clean up, we managed to get to the quaint airport in record time, only to discover that her passport was still on the boat! More panic ensued! Louis chatted to the pilot trying to delay. Rob and Giles jumped in a taxi, which drove at breakneck speed to the harbour, they dinghied to the boat, grabbed the passport and were back in the airport in a jiffy. Monique boarded the plane in a flurry of bags and papers, but miraculously only 5 minutes after the scheduled departure time. Phew!

Canouan lies to the southwest of Mustique. It is one of the Grenadines, the Windward chain of Caribbean islands, but much less visited than the better known, St. Vincent, Union, Mustique, and Bequia islands. We discovered why! Sailing into Sandy Lane Yacht Club and Marina on the afternoon of St. Patrick’s Day, was a sight to behold. The first impression was Legoland.  Sandy Lane Yacht Club and Marina is considered the most “sophisticated and best equipped full-service marina in the Grenadines”. That it certainly is. Everything is perfection. The landscaping is well irrigated with water from their own three desalination plants, the cobbled board walk, and jetties are reminiscent of the cobbles of ancient empires, granite and sparkly in the everlasting sunshine. The marina entrance is flanked on the south side by a crescent shaped white sand beach, all rubbish and any sense of disarray removed or tidied immediately by the copious friendly and smiling staff. On the north side of the entrance, reaching up to the aptly named Glossy Hill, are pastel colored, glistening “residences”. The entrepreneur and fellow Irishman, Dermot Desmond, bought and developed the yacht club, advising the architects to build a new and improved Portofino, the fishing village on the Italian Riviera coast. The individual elements for his vision are certainly present, the major problem is that it is too perfect, too clean, too sterile and there is virtually nobody around. Luckily, we were 8 Oyster yachts in the marina, so we injected some life into the place.

We came to be in this ghost town at the invitation of John McTighe from Irish Blessing who put together a busy schedule of events.  Proceedings began at Shenanigans, a tapas and pizza restaurant, which John had rented for the evening. It was fun to see lots of our rally friends, some of whom we had not seen since South Africa. At about 21:00 the party moved to Scruffy’s pub, a laid-back beach “hang out”. We danced to Irish jigs, sang Molly Malone, drank local beer, and played beach Jenga late into the night. St. Patrick was well celebrated. Next day was the final weekend of the Six Nations rugby tournament. The guys piled into Foxy Jacks for the first 2 games, ending up in Scruffy’s again for the final match between England and Ireland. Emotions were high! Thankfully, Ireland prevailed, even Rob, the English man through and through, said they deserved the win.

Those of us non rugby fans, myself included, partook in a tour of the island with our driver and guide, Visroy. The island is divided into three parts, the Sandy Lane Yacht club at the southeastern end, the Mandarin Hotel and Canoaun Estates at the northern end, and the local village, Charlestown, in the middle. Recently, the Soho exclusive group of hotels, has built a more subtle resort on the shores of Charlestown Bay, just below the village. The resorts on the island are gated, which seems strange as there is no crime at all on Canouan. There is a very exclusive feel when in the resort areas, but by contrast, a relaxed, affable, local sense in the village area.

A group of 18 of us climbed Mount Royal, inside the Mandarin Hotel grounds, early on the morning of Sunday, 19^th March. The simple expedition ended up being very complicated. We had to have special permission to go through the gates of the resort as well as having to engage the services of a guide to lead us up the very well-marked trail. Despite the hurdles, and negotiations needed to pay a reasonable rather than an exorbitant price, we had a great hike. The steep ascent did our hearts good and the reward of a spectacular view of the Caribbean’s largest coral barrier reef was worth it all. Breakfast in the Mandarin Hotel afterwards was delectable, and did involve further negotiations allowing us to dine for less than the usual $500 minimum spend!

 As mentioned in a previous blog, the Caribbean is plagued by large floating islands of the seagrass Pelagic Sargassum. The Sargassum problem has plagued the area for about 10 years now, and researchers the world over are seeking solutions. A team in New Zealand is exploring using the brown smelly mess as a bioenergy source and the US department of Energy is investigating using the noxious hydrogen sulfide gas emitting algae to make jet fuel and batteries. In the meantime, the tourist industry, which amounts to up to 40% of the region’s GDP, is suffering. On Mustique, we saw, the once legendary Macaroni Beach clogged with unprecedented amounts of the unattractive sludge. “Scientists say more research is needed to determine why sargassum levels in the region are reaching new highs, but the United Nations' Caribbean Environment Program says possible factors include a rise in water temperatures as a result of climate change and nitrogen-laden fertilizers and sewage waste fueling algae blooms.”https://www.npr.org/2022/08/03/1115383385/seaweed-record-caribbean.

Wildlife and human health are also suffering from the insult – Asthma suffers can see a worsening of symptoms, turtles can find it difficult to get to their nesting grounds due to piles of seaweed, fish can be suffocated due to deoxygenation, and coral reefs can suffer from bleaching and mortality. The problem has reached a head this year, according to recent reports, with amounts soaring way beyond the previous record-breaking year of 2018. We are, on Irene IV, experiencing the beauty of transparent turquoise waters, which may become a scene from the past if a solution to the Sargassum problem is not reached soon.