A quick day trip to the small islands of Petite Martinique and Petit St Vincent concluded our visit to the Grenadan Islands. Petite Martinique was laid back and friendly. We found the bank in the high street, only to find it only opened Tuesdays and Fridays. Unfortunately for us, it was Wednesday. Except for the happy sound of the children in the primary school, and the boat builders on the shore, no one seemed to be doing much at all.

 

 

Boat building in Petite Martinique                                                         Petit St Vincent (PSV)

 

PSV, (note the lingo!) was a far more excusive island. In fact the whole island is a private holiday resort and we only had permission to walk on the beach, which is public as are all beaches in the area. PSV was only half a mile from Petite Martinique, but worlds away.

We signed out of customs and immigration back in Hillsborough on Carriacou and headed for Union Island, belonging to St Vincent. Despite it lying directly into the wind, we were determined to spend the day without the engine on. After having a great run from Petite Martinique early in the morning it was a bit of a shock to have a rather exhilarating beat into Union. We certainly hadn’t had to tack since before leaving Europe!! The winds were brisk but the sun was out and the water so clear you could see the bottom in over 10m depth. The sea was a bright turquoise and sailing along at nearly 9 knots made for a perfect morning.

 

 

Union itself had a colourful and lively town centre, very different from the sleepy islands we had come from. We had great fun exploring the streets and markets after again visiting customs, immigration and port control, all in different offices.

 

  A shark pool, with real sharks in!!

 

Today we left Union for Mayreau, the smallest inhabited island in the Grenadines. Clouds threatened throughout the morning as squalls moved in from the east. Once ashore, we took the mile long road from Saline bay where we were anchored to Saltwhistle bay to the North. This beautiful anchorage was stunning, but very crowded.

 

 

Saltwhistle bay.                                                             

 

The guide book suggested that if you where up for a bit of an adventure (and were armed with a cutlass) you could walk round the remainder of the islands on the beaches and through some tracks in the vegetation. Though we had no cutlass, we had been adopted by a friendly looking dog who accompanied us on the trek which took us through some of the most scenic paths we have seen to date.

 

 

Coral reef to the North, Canouan in the distance                           Squalls coming in over Tobago Cays!

 

We made it back to the boat just before yet another downpour. It was a fantastic day even though the dinghy lost a tussle with a rusty RSJ and Avril’s glasses blew overboard and could not be found even with the Scuba gear on.