Chateaubelair - Tuesday 28 Dec
RAVEN - Atlantic Circuit 2021-22
Richard Foulkes
Wed 29 Dec 2021 22:12
Our Caribbean sailing guide book (Doyle) did warn us that many yachts stay clear of this bay at the NW corner of St Vincent as there was a yachtsman murdered here in 2016 and the crime remains unsolved! Undeterred by this, we anchored there in order to check out of the island in terms of Immigration and Customs and to break up the passage from Bequia to St Lucia.
We duly anchored at about 3-30 and were preparing to go ashore in the dinghy when a local on a paddle board informed us that the immigration office was closed for the last 18 months because of Covid and the Soufriere volcano eruption which overlooks the bay. A dinghy trip in with paddle board in tow led to me getting a taxi which drove at breakneck speed through winding mountain roads and busy villages with many pedestrians in order to get to the customs office in Walialabou about 10 miles away.
We made it on time without killing anyone, goats or human and duly checked out.
The office was a very basic affair but overlooked a beautiful bay - the scene apparently (as claimed by every hotel and bay in the Caribbean it seems!)
