Sometimes, a month is just not long enough.  This summer trip would include a couple of weeks with just Kristin and I, then two more weeks with her daughters.  During the month we would very much enjoy a sail to St. Lucia and we would again wallow in the beautiful Grenadines.  Oh, and love would bloom.

Go North

This trip we were determined to go north from St. Vincent for part of our trip.  We loved going south to Bequia and the Cays, but needed to stretch our legs.  So off to St. Lucia we went with a stop or two along the way.

Wallilabou - The Fire Drill

We wanted to stop at Petit Byahaut on the way but the bay was too bumpy and crowded for us.  So we went on to Wallilabou for our first encounter with those notorious Wallilabou (more aggressive) Boat Vendors. Where the heck are we?  Kristin and I slowly motored up toward the coordinates of Wallilabou, just enjoying the St. Vincent coastline.  With an old Doyle Guide in hand and the GPS clicking away, we were met by a couple of persistent boat-guys way out.  We tried to shake them by saying we weren’t necessarily going to stop at Wallilabou but they weren’t going to take any chances.  They followed us in, rowing like crazy all the way.  When we arrived, Wallilabou really didn’t look at all like it was supposed to.  The GPS said we were there but the picture in the guide said differently.  The bay was beautiful, even a bit prehistoric, but where was the pretty little white restaurant pictured in the guide? Round and round we went with those original Boat Vendors and a few others right on our tail all the time.  We felt pretty stupid when the situation became clear.  We had forgotten about the ‘Pirates’ movie set changes and didn’t figure that out until we’d circled the bay a half dozen times.

I suppose we would have figured it all out sooner if we weren’t dodging the boat-guy flotilla.  Generally, we found the vendors aggressive but willing to take no for an answer.  And, they could be funny.  For example, one of the guys paddled out on a surfboard with a big pile of vegetables and fruit between his legs.  He wanted $20 EC for the whole bunch but we really didn’t need anything so we declined.  As he sat there trying to convince us we needed his excellent produce, an occasional fruit or vegetable would fall off the board and sink.  Our friend would immediately say ‘no worry mon, they come back’.  This happened several times and eventually his big pile was reduced to about half.  Each casualty would bring the same ‘no worry, they come back’.  We soon figured out that he’d smoked a bit too much herb so we bought the rest from him for $10EC so he could go ashore and wait safely for his stuff to ‘come back’.  

That night, we had dinner at the Wallilabou Hotel Restaurant, a pleasant place to have a drink and OK for dinner.  The view of our boat while eating was wonderful.

We had, on an earlier trip, met some kids at Union Island who said they lived in Barrouallie, just over the hill from here.  So, since we thought we’d be coming to Wallilabou, we had brought a picture or two of Kevin and Zorik.  When we didn’t see them around, we gave the pictures to some other kids on the dock and they ran off to town.  Soon, Zorik and a friend came to meet us.  Zorik is a shy kid and didn’t really know what to do with us, but we had a fun time anyway.

The hiking up to the waterfall the next day was worthwhile, and a walk into town was also pleasant.  The next day we would be off to St. Lucia.

The Sail to St. Lucia - Hey It Was Just Great!

Since we had never crossed this stretch before, we were a bit wary.  The guidebook said to expect messy seas and lots of wind at the north end of St. Vincent.   Therefore, we got an early start.  It was also hazy so we couldn’t see the next island.  Our GPS told us that we had a substantial west-bound current so we headed as high as possible and hoped for the best.  To our delight, the Pitons popped out of the haze just about where we wanted them.  We went over to the Bat Cave anchorage for the next couple of nights.

Our first night near the Bat Cave was delightful.  We had a gentle breeze with a cliff just off our port side.  That cliff was full of fireflies and with the breeze, the night was special.  The Pitons were off our starboard side.

Our visit to Soufriere the next day was fun and lunch at the Hummingbird came with a spectacular view and good food.  We also found a good internet cafe on the third floor of a building downtown.  However, on our second night in the anchorage we had almost no wind and the anchorage became lumpy.  We were bouncing and worse, we suddenly had quite a few mosquitoes.  We decided to not stay for a third night but instead, we sailed over to grab a mooring off of Bang, between the Pitons.  There is a Wednesday night party at Bang and we recommend that you go once.  The drinks and food are mediocre and expensive, but the whole show is good for a laugh.  Another high point of our visit to the SMMA was getting to know one of the rangers named Norbert.  He was very willing to help and he cares about the place he is protecting.

Up to Rodney Bay - Is That Any Way to Anchor?

Our trip up to Rodney Bay was uneventful, our landing was not.  We pulled into the bay and looked for a place to anchor on the Gros Islet side of the bay.  The holding ground was patchy, full of crusty sand and rocks, and we had a problem.  Somehow, we had popped our anchor roller off.  Poor holding meant we had to drop then retrieve our anchor a couple of times before we got a good bite, and we did that without an anchor roller.  With no roller, the windlass was useless because chain won’t go around sharp right angles.  We finally got a good set and we went in for much deserved Rummer.  After a couple of nights, we developed refrigeration problems so we went into the Rodney Bay Marina.  We took a slip for a couple of days and did the town (Castries).  Our refrigeration was repaired by a guy named Prudence.  Look him up if you have problems; I think he did a nice job.

Our crew for the rest of the trip arrived.  Noelle and Veronique were veterans of years of charters and do enjoy these islands.  With persistent light winds, we were having mosquito problems and therefore, we successfully searched for mosquito netting.  After the women were through, our pretty boat looked like it was wearing several bridal veils. Later, we anchored off of Pigeon Island for a couple of days.

The pigeon island hikes up to the fort and the restaurant (Jambe De Bois) are well worth the time.

. . . It’s The Second Half Of The Cruise 

Back To The Pitons

We went back to Bang again and grabbed a mooring between those Pitons.  Hey, we were on a mooring between two massive breasts!  Yeah, this has got to be one of the prettiest places anywhere and is simply incredible when the swells are behaving. 

We went back to the big Bang Wednesday night party and this time, we had a personal visit by Lord Glenconner.  The good Lord visited every table and greeted each guest individually.  The party was pretty much the same as it was earlier but the crew had fun.

The next day, we went back to town, took a cab up to the Dasheene Restaurant for a great lunch with an incredible view.

This has got to be one of the best lunch spots in de ilons.  Finally, our cab driver took us to the drive-in volcano.  Hey, it’s the only one in the world, you have to go!

We Head South

Our sail back to St. Vincent was marvelous. We had good wind and a whale and a crew to do the steering.

However, our fine weather came to an end as we reached St. Vincent.  We didn’t stop at Wallilabou because it had been raining hard and the water was brown with river runoff.  For Kristin, Wallilabou is also very much about great swimming so with dirt in the water, we went on and ran right into some squalls.  We crossed the Kingstown Bay unable to see more than about 100 feet much of the time.  We then fought what seemed like a 2 knot current up to Young Island Cut and cleared in through a service.  It was expensive, and next time, I’ll stop at Wallilabou, even if it is raining and do the checkin myself.

Love Blooms

After a strategic stop in the Blue Lagoon to have the anchor roller properly repaired, we went on to Bequia.  As we pulled into Admiralty Bay, we noticed a boat off our port side that seemed familiar.  It was Te Natura, a pretty boat owned by some cruisers we had met previously at Janti’s Bar in Clifton.  This time however, the Te Naturans had son Cory aboard and he and Noelle hit it off rather quickly.  To make a long story short, love bloomed.

Back To The Cays Of Happiness

We sailed down to the Cays.  Yeah, we love it here and wish we could stay forever.  The water sparkles, the sun shines, and you can’t be in a bad mood . . .

. . . even if it is laundry day.

We took every opportunity to snorkel with the usual results.  Someday, I would like to spend about a month just hanging around the Cays.

A day or two later, Cory and his parents anchored nearby.  Some of our time was spent halyard flying off Te Natura, and more of the time was spent sharing the occasional bottle of wine and soaking up the Cays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fine time was had by all, especially Cory and Noelle.

 

Hey, whatever.  It is the Caribbean.

Noelle And Veronique Leave But Charlie And Earl Arrive

All things must end so it was off to Canouan for a night.  We took a mooring ball, went in to the Tamarind Hotel, and had a good time ashore while watching a wonderful sunset.

We did spend a very rocky night and that should have told us something.  The next morning it was almost too bumpy to get from the dinghy to the dock.  Noelle and Veronique flew out and Kristin and I, tired of the roll, went in to the hotel and quickly checked the satellite picture.  It looked like we had about an hour or two before a lot of activity would hit the area.  Thinking about the bumpy night, we tried to beat what was Tropical Storm Charlie back to Bequia.  This was a race that we lost. Not too long after leaving the north end of Canouan, we decided to turn back as the seas were rough and the winds felt like 50 knots. We hurried back to Charlestown Bay and watched a parade of boats from the Cays come into Canouan to escape Charlie.  The next morning all was back to normal, so we went sailing.

After a brief stop in Bequia, we made it back to the Blue Lagoon just in time to strip the boat and get it ready for Tropical Storm Earl.  We drank beer on the Barefoot veranda while watching Earl blast through.  At that point, we very much appreciated Barefoot’s hurricane moorings.

The Trip Was Ending But Not So Smoothly

The next day, we planned to slowly get the boat cleared off and then spend some time with the Barefoot guys drinking beer and doing a little touring in St. Vincent.  However, that morning, while taking a shower, Kristin suddenly felt incredibly dizzy. She was actually unable to walk and felt that she needed to be on solid ground.  I rowed her ashore and stretched her out on the beach but being on land made no difference.  She was still spinning.  I got her back to the boat and propped her up in the cockpit under a sunshade so she could at least talk with the several friends who were popping in to say goodbye.  We spent the night in the hotel overlooking the harbor and the next morning, caught a flight out to St. Lucia.  It was the flight from hell.  Kristin was so dizzy that when we exited the plane she had to hold onto my shoulder to keep from falling.  The taxi driver who came to pick us up told us that he thought she was blind and using me for her cane.  Well, fortunately we had made plans to spend 3 days at the Villa Beach Resort at Choc Bay.  There, Kristin was treated for an apparent ear infection by a local doctor.  The Villa Beach is definitely worth the stop and over the next couple of days we nursed Kristin and a bottle of wine or two while lounging on their front lawn and walking on the beach.  Yeah, she’s suffering.

And then, nuts, we were home.

Where Are They Now?

Soon after our return home, Cory came to California for a visit and we took him sailing.  Our cold water and cloudy skies did not dissuade him from returning to be with Noelle after she graduated from UCSB.  Currently, they reside in Marina Del Ray where Noelle is working with an environmental study company and Cory is employed at a marine communications firm.  What does the future hold for these two sailors?  Stay tuned.