Tradewinds re-awakening

We did this trip in 2000. Back then we had no clue (or very little) about sailing an ocean, booked a cheap boat which we had to fix ever 2 days, picked the wrong season (no wonder it was so cheap), lots of rain called tropical waves, which ment a huge rain shower every 2 hours. And us girls, we were seasick most of the trip lying down below deck. 

So this time we did it the „luxury way“. Tradewinds re-awakening we called it, a nice boat (well, that was the plan), a one-way trip from St Lucia to Grenada, the wind always in our backs, good pills against seasickness which we hardly used, and mid March, sunny, warm and no rain (well, that was the plan). We wanted to visit all the cool spots we saw in 2000, sort of checking our „memory list“, to see if it was still so very cool in the Caribbean. Yes, it was ! 

ST LUCIA

Rodney Bay

We arrived with British Airways which was fine, and got a rollercoaster taxi ride to the Rodney Bay Marina where our sailing adventure was to start. Mr. Fred took the de-tour to avoid heavy traffic around Castries, in doing so giving us an island tour where we almost needed our seasickness pills. We did a short stop at the Mondeie Lookout Point near Dennery on the east coast, were we almost got blown away, but got some first impressions of blue waters and colorful towns. 

Our boat is the Emilie, a 42 foot long Beneteau, and of course parked at the very end of the very long dock. Drop everything on the boat, change into shorts and off to the marina restaurants for our very first, of very many rum punches.

Marigot Bay

The next morning, as always, we are quite experienced these days, the boys went to the Sunsail briefing, the girls went shopping provisions with Mr. Fred. That took a while, the shopping I mean. But we got it all and then we had to get it all back to the boat and store it somewhere. This boat is rather short on storage space, but we got it all in. Time to get sailing.

Around noon we left for Marigot Bay, the ultra famous „Hurricane Hole“, a 2 hr motor ride down the coast. A hurricane hole is a very safe spot to stay during a hurricane. We don’t intend to get into any of those, very wrong season for that now, but it is a nice spot and one on the memory list.  We got really drunk here last time, and did our first repairs. No repairs needed this time. I safely drive the boat to the mooring which boat boy Nigel leads us to, costs EC$ 120/night, and we have our first anchor drink of the trip. An anchor drink is when you are in a bay, (harbor or marina will also do), the anchor holds and you are safe for the night. A very important ritual for sailors, we stick to it. That’s also why there are always a lot of photos of us with drinks in my sailing photo albums.

Soufriere

It rains in the morning so we have our first, last, and only meal below decks. Then to the very nice customs people to clear out, and have a quick look around the marina here. We are glad we are at a mooring in the channel, in the very protected part it is crowded, and suffocatingly hot with no breeze at all. The water isn’t as clear either. 

After a nice coffee at our beloved Mygo we leave for Soufriere and St Lucia’s famous Pitons. We get a mooring in front of the Sugar Beach Resort where we will stay for the night. It is very windy, 23 knot squalls come down from the slope of the little Piton in front of us, honest it’s double the wind we had all day sailing down here.

Time for an anchor drink and a swim. We buy some fruits from a boat vendor and the guys go snorkeling, which was no good at all. No fish, no corals and very murky waters, so no visibility. Plus they looked really stupid with their little yellow life vests on.

We cook dinner ourselves since this resort is way over our price range, very nice home cooked nasi goreng and a bottle of wine tonight. The night was a disaster. When sailing the boat is fine, but once the wind dies down and the boat gently rocks in the swell it starts squeaking. Very loud and very continuous. Put in my noise canceling earplugs from the airplane which halved the noise, but still horrible, and 12 more nights to go…

ST VINCENT

Cumberland Bay

Good morning sunshine. Happy to leave here. We sail with a lovely wind from the east, take turns at the wheel, have our famous „funky sailor tuna sandwiches“ for lunch and wash them down with a Piton beer. We sleep a bit, get a first tan and after about 7.5 hrs of sailing reach another memory list favorite, the Cumberland Bay on St Vincents west coast. Just south of here is Wallilabou Bay where they filmed the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but we prefer this quiet, less touristy bay.

With help from ashore we park backward tied to a coconut tree. Not really, would have been more romantic, but it was a concrete block, good thing was it held for sure. We had drinks at Cas’ place and went for dinner at Mojito’s which was really good. We are the only guests in the whole bay, so nice. The fucking boat is squeaking again….

Island Tour

We leave at 9am for an island tour with Kem. First to a viewpoint above „our bay“, which is cool, then to customs at the next town north called Chateaubelair, a fancy name for a tiny town. Almost every island is a new country so you have to go to customs at each and every one, no matter how small. Luckily St Vincent & the Grenadines includes a few islands, so we are done with customs for the next few days. All the towns have these cool signs when you enter, nice and colorful and artistic, the one closest to our bay is Coulls Hill with flowers on it, I like it.

Then to the Dark View Falls. There are upper and lower falls and they are great, the jungle around it is fabulous and filled with beautiful exotic flowers and we just beat the crowds from the cruise ship, so it is still really nice and peaceful. I just love this rainforest, it is so huge and we are so small. 

We stay in the bay today, lots of short rain showers today so we sit and read, play cards and have a drink or two, three… Dinner at Cas’ place, which was basic but nice. Grilled fish, rice, veggies and a local Haroun Beer, an old Christmas tablecloth and a spectacular view, we are happy. The guys were even happier when we got Banane Flambee for desert.

BEQUIA

Port Elisabeth

The next morning we sail for the island of Bequia. The only time we had to put on our raincoats and head into a dark grey wall. It was pissing with rain, but only shortly, by the time we arrived the sun was out again and we didn’t see another raincloud the rest of the trip. Wind 20knots, 2m waves, a wet and bumpy ride, and I forgot to take the pills, maybe I am slowly getting used to this. 

We have to get to a mooring since our anchor winch is not working, down is okay but it doesn’t come up, the fuse blew multiple times, so we gave up, and the manual winch is jammed, so Rolf had to pull the bloody heavy anchor up by hand this morning. The local marine base guy comes to our aid after a call to the Sunsail base but he can’t help us either. We need a new switch to get things running again. In the meantime us girls have checked out the shops and bars and when the guys arrive ashore we do some serious shopping then head for the cocktail lab. This is a really cool place but unfortunately it is closed on Mondays. So drinks at the Whaleboner, a bar where the barstools are whale vertebrae, and huge ribs frame the entrance, followed by a very nice dinner at Laura’s beside the dockside marina.

Stay in the bay day

We are stuck here waiting for a new switch for the anchor winch. We stay on our yacht, read a book, swim behind the boat. The current here is so strong you just swim on the spot, as close to the boat as you can, don’t drift off, you won’t make it back. Suddenly a big catamaran appears beside us, are you Emilie ? Yes we are. They hand us a small parcel and off they go. Now what ?

The really nice old marine base guy arrives at 3pm and after 3 hrs still hasn’t fixed it, so we go for drinks, what else. This time we go to Jack’s Bar at Queen Elisabeth Beach, right across the bay from where we are moored. That was a brilliant idea, a very cool place, great drinks and dinner, and the best sunset of the trip, plus we were sitting at the bar in pole position. Life is good.

MUSTIQUE

Mustique Harbour

We leave the lovely island of Bequia for an even lovelier one called Mustique. This is where all the celebrities live. Visitors are only allowed on a small part of the west shore so as to give them some privacy. It still is picture book perfect Caribbean here. The water is so very turquoise blue, the few little shops ashore are pink and white, lots of palm trees, colorful fishing boats, a white sand beach and of course Basils Bar, another one from our memory list. Basils Bar is a must do for all sailors, if you are anywhere near it you go. So we went, but very much out of free will. 

Hardly any people around as we go ashore to check out the shops, have an ice cream and swim at the beach. At Basils Bar we have a jug of rum punch because 4 single drinks are much too expensive. Maybe not such a smart idea in the middle of a hot afternoon, but the mood rises as the rum punch level drops. We hit the Basil shop and Jürg really gets into a shopping mood. The guys buy a silly hat and I can barely stop him buying the very crazy matching shirt.

Dinner at our boat since it is much to expensive here, everything is in USD which is 3x the EC$. But we got some great crew photos by the very nice waiter, who had nothing better to do anyway without other guests. It would have been more fun with loads of people around, but it was good fun anyway. Around 10pm a boat pulls up beside us, are you Emilie ? Yes, we are. So now we get another parcel. Not just a switch a whole new motor for the anchor windlass. Great. Later somebody will come and fix everything. This is the Caribbean, which is like Africa. Things happen when they happen. So we head for bays with moorings and at some point help will arrive. 

MAYREAU

Saline Bay

Can’t wait to leave. This squeaking boat is driving me crazy, can’t sleep any night. I try to sleep up on deck but it is rocking so badly in the swell here that I get seasick (swell are long low waves which keep coming in at a regular interval, like a rocking chair but then from left to right) I head down to my bed again around 4am and take a navy cap, the really strong seasickness pill with amfetamines and all in it, you normally get very sleepy when you take them, which was just what I needed. Slept like a baby for 4 hrs. We make tuna sandwiches for lunch, the guys take the last garbage ashore and buy some very last provisions, then we leave for Mayreau. A boatboy comes to greet us and gets us a lovely mooring 10m in front of a white palm fringed sandy beach. Pole position once again. And good news, a boat shows up and some guys coming over from Union fix our anchor. Well, that was what they said…. We tried again after they left and the stupid thing still doesn’t come up. Let’s just go for the moorings from now on. 

Now Mayreau is the most important on our memory list. We really crashed here in the year 2000, in a bar called Robert Righteous and the Youths. We hiked up the hill and hid for a rainstorm right there in the bar. Great rum punch, just as we wanted to leave it poured down again, so we stayed and had another one, and since it kept raining another one. Skipper Chris almost married the mare’s daughter, we bought rounds for the whole bar, and spent a fortune. In the end we had great difficulty walking down the hill, and even more finding our unlit boat in the pitch dark night. 

So we found Robert who now is around 70, the bar, almost all the trees and bushes, and most of the little village, got torn down by hurricane Beryl in 2024 and they are still rebuilding. So we donated some money, had a few beers and a photo with Robert, then down to the beach and the tiny restaurant our boat boy Jason has here. Fried fish with a nice sauce, red snapper it was, potatoes, coleslaw salad, fried rice, plantain, all very tasty. He advises us to go for the Tobago Cays tomorrow around 9 to get there by 10, he will save us a mooring, good plan. 

TOBAGO CAYS

The channel

We take an hour for the 5 NM and arrive just in time, we get a mooring in crazy blue water just before lots and lots of boats arrive. Thank you Jason ! We are good here for the night, on a mooring in the channel between Petit Rameau and Petit Bateau and tonight we get our lobster BBQ on the beach right across from where we are. We take the dinghy to the little island with the very bluest water, called Baradel, the guys go snorkeling and we relax on the beach and have another swim. When they return we do a silly photoshoot with us jumping like 20-year-olds, not doing such a bad job jumping, just not very much in synch, so we have to do it a lot of times. The background is just phenomenal this is the spot with the extremest water colors, so lovely. 

Around 5pm we dinghy across to the Petit Bateau, the BBQ island. There are about 10 grill and a lot of tables under shady roofs, each vendor can grill his food here and serve his clients. Cas from Cumberland Bay told us to ask for Big Mama, but since we already got Jason and he did a good job last night, we trust him with the lobsters as well. 

We do get to meet big Mama, who really is big, but sleeping away on a bench, so we tell her greetings from Cas from St Vincent and she smiles, yes, he told me you are coming. But she is happy to chill and watch Jason cook. I buy another turtle necklace from her, got about 3 now. There are about 5 or 6 guys here today all grilling lobsters, incredible, they must be preparing around 20. In high season they do over 100 a day, where the hell do they get all these lobsters ? I get one guy to pose, then another and yet another, and don’t forget our Jason. The light is brilliant, the lobsters look cool, I even get to hold and pose with one in my hand. I hold the end of the tail which is rather prickly, but any thing for a good photo. The dinner is very nice and after dark we retreat to our boat for a lovely coffee, Nescafe that is, but on a boat it really does taste better. 

UNION ISLAND

Clifton harbor

We chill the next morning and leave after lunch for Union which is very close. There is not much to see or do there, but we have to go to clear customs, Union is the southernmost Port of Entry for St Vincent and the Grenadines, which we will tomorrow leave behind, and enter the waters of Grenada & Carriacou. The eye of the hurricane in 2024 went directly over Union Island but they are doing a great job rebuilding, better than on Mayreau. There is a market square with a couple of little shops which sell fruits, veggies and some souvenirs, a few little bars and restaurants and a supermarket and ATM, all we need to survive. 

For sundowners we go to Thomson Island Bar and Grill, all the way out on the reef. There is a little leading line between all the reefs to get there, better use it or you will ground even your dinghy, the water is so shallow. It is a funny little bar, full of funny signs and again, we have it all to ourselves.

So we do a few photos all over the place, and some of us with colorful drinks in the hand. Then we sit and enjoy the view and the drinks. Dinner at the Bougainvilla Hotel where pizza is the only choice, so we have pizza. 

Another horrible squeaky night which we hadn’t really expected being behind the reef and so well protected, but the slightest rocking of the boat starts the noise. When sailing this is a fine boat, but it should only be rented out for day tours !

CARRIACOU

Tyrell Bay

Another lovely, easy sailing day gets us to Tyrell Bay on Carriacou. We wanted to stop at Jack a Dan to see the underwater sculptures, or at Sandy Island for some snorkeling, but on Sunday customs close early and we have to race to make it to Tyrell, so we’ll do that later. The guys go to customs and we prepare lunch. 

In the sailing manual I saw a cool place in the next bay north of here, facing Sandy Island, so after lunch we take the dinghy to a dock beside the ferry terminal and get a really nice local guy called Yaya to drop us off at the Paradise Beach Club. He drops us off a bit further down the beach where dozens of locals are gathered and loud boom boom music vibrates from gigantic speakers. At the Hardwood Bar Rolf gets a guy to take him and Jürg to the 30 underwater sculptures at Jack a Dan, and us girls we spend an afternoon at the beach with the locals. Lovely to swim here in the clear blue waters of the gradually sloping beach, so easy to get in and out, much better than swimming against the current behind the boat. The little FIDEL shop with cool souvenirs by local artists unfortunately is closed today. Saves us some money. 

I have a ball photographing local kids and we check out the Paradise Beach Club where we book a table for dinner. When the guys get back it is time for our daily rum punch, today at the Hardwood Bar. Really good rum punch, so we have a second. Oh boy it is strong, mama here at Hardwood knows her job. The photos get funnier and funnier.

There is a new concrete building with public washrooms close to the parking lot here, so we take our chances and have a really nice long hot shower with sweet water, so good, and only 5 EC$ each, such a luxury ! From there to the Paradise Beach Club for dinner which was splendid as well and they organized us a taxi back to our illegally tied up dinghy. It was still there, thank God. 

GRENADA

Grand Mall

We leave Carriacou for Grenada, quite a long ride but all goes well as always. We get a mooring at Grand Mall in the marine protected area right where the underwater sculpture park is. It was the very first to be created in 2006, the artist Jason deCaires Taylor is now world famous and building them all over the world. It is directly south of Moliniere Point. The guys go check it out and again get some cool underwater photos, then Jürg flies the drone and we get some more cool „overwater“ photos.n 

Drinks then dinner, this anchorage is very rolly, I’am worried about tonight, we should have gone into the marina, but now it is too late. Our last night on the boat tonight. Can’t say I am sorry. 

4 nights ashore

God this was the worst night ever, the swell never ever stopped, we almost rolled out of bed. After a quick breakfast we do a little tour of the bay before entering the marina. Entering the harbor the channel divides into two, just before you turn right into the marina, to the left is the Carenage, the old city of St George. Looks cool. We found out later it looks far better from a boat than when walking around there. We are safely back in the marina, now clear the boat and head for the hotel after a nice lunch in the marina and a little shopping in the FIDEL shop, this one was open, yippie ! Now relax a few days on the beach at a nice hotel with a proper shower, no rocking motion and no squeaking ! Beach holidays are quite okay for a few days !

It was a brilliant trip, as always,

when the funky sailors are on the boat !

For our favorite photos: go to gallery