Leaving Antigua was primarily a journey back to Grenada where we would be spending three months for the hurricane season, before returning back to the UK. Our insurance stipulates that we must be below 12.07 degrees North between 1 June and 31 November so being the risk averse, compliant sailors we are, we were keen to comply!

We did have a couple of stops along the way though, as there were no hurricanes in sight so far!

St Lucia

We knew our Tot Club sponsors, Alasdair and Gill, were still in Antigua and we wanted to call in and say hello!!  It was a flying visit and we only stayed in Rodney Bay at anchor for a couple of nights, before heading to the south of the island to make progress before our next destination.

Check in at St Lucia was interesting – we had been told that you could check in and out at the same time if only staying 48, which we decided to do. Skipper only was allowed to check in so Chris went ahead – and boy was it packed!! Eventually he got to the Customs check in and started the process… but only afterwards did he discover that the dual check in and out was for Customs only – you still had to return for Immigration (passport stamp). Apparently the only real benefit to this is if you want to check out on a Sunday, as you don’t need to pay the Customs ‘overtime’ charge which is common on the islands!

Totting

Sure enough we met up with Alasdair and Gill and were joined by another tot club member who had his burgee flying off his yacht in the marina. We enjoyed a tot, toasted the King and spent an evening of beers and food.

Alasdair has a classic yacht with a timber hull called Guiding Light, he was hoping to get her ready for Antigua Classics week, however time had escaped him and he still had things to do. The week prior to our arrival he had splashed her and as expected there was water ingress. The old girl needed a drink and the timber needs time to swell to seal the joints. All was looking good except the flow didn’t abate as expected and so out she came for more attention.

Alasdair showed us around Guiding Light in the boat yard and so we climbed the precarious ladder to see her. There are no guardrails, so Jen was quick to get into the safety of the cockpit.

The work Gill and Alasdair had done was outstanding, from the stripping back of beams to the renewal and replacement of doors and cupboards and sole boards. On deck too the work was exceptional and once all back together she will be a delightful yacht. Alasdair’s aim this year is the get her to Antigua for the 2027 classics week. We hope we see him, Gill and Guiding Light there.

We had a couple of lovely days and fun evenings, one of which turned in to a slight adventure. We had heard about the Hop, a street party a couple of kilometres walk away from the marina. We walked in to the area early, whilst it was still light, and there was plenty of activity preparing stalls with food and drinks. At the end of the road near the beach the sound system was established and the reggae beat was blaring out.

It was getting darker and we were unsure if we would be able to get a taxi back and we were concerned a little for our safety. We weren’t comfortable and so we circled back and ended up going with Alasdair and Gill for dinner in a delightful restaurant called  Seasalt Cafe.

Weighing anchor in Rodney bay we sailed the few miles to the Southern end of St Lucia to pick up a mooring in a bay between the Pitons. The Pitons and two steep peaks that make for a dramatic background and we enjoyed a quiet night at anchor looking at the stunning scenery.

Saint Vincent and Grenadines

We wanted to go back to Bequia to catch up with friends on Sea Dreamer and Kai Lani, and intended to check in at Chateaubelair,  St Vincent again – but we read that they don’t open on a Monday or Tuesday morning, so we decided to bypass and carry straight on to Bequia.  It was quite rolly whenever we were in open sea, but Yanula Blue handled it admirably as always.

Bequia was fun and we anchored right next to Sea Dreamer – probably close enough to chat to them directly!! We had a lovely night out but were keen to carry on again and wanted to visit Mustique, as we hadn’t stopped there on the way up the chain.

Friends of Kai Lani has said it was rolly and the weather was forecast to be reasonably choppy, but we don’t mind that so headed off anyway – and it was all just fine!  We communicated back to Sea Dreamer and Kai Lani that it was no problem and they followed in our footsteps.

Mustique was simply amazing!!!  You can get a buoy for a single charge of $220EC for 1 night, plus 2 free – or at least that’s how it is positioned!  Many people say they only stay 1 night, but we loved it so much we stayed for 3 – and on the final day we decided to extend, but were told we still had another included night anyway – we were very confused, but pleased with that.

The mooring buoys on Mustique are close enough to some coral reefs that you can simply jump off the boat and in a few kicks of your fins, be in the midst of some of the most amazing colours and variety of fish you can see. We also constantly saw turtles around the boat and were thrilled when they swam by us when we were in the water.

One day Chris called Jen over and pointed into a coral reef where a large-ish tail was poking out! It was undoubtedly a shark, which we researched later and was probably a juvenile reef shark. Bless, he thought he was hiding, but we saw him! Mention of ‘shark’ was enough for Jen to quickly get back and out of the water.

Mustique is known as the favoured island of the rich and famous – from Mick Jagger to Princess Margaret, and Wills and Kate to Sam Smith! There are many villas to rent on the island and they are just a little bit expensive. Much of the island is private but we found enough places to walk and see.

Basils Bar is infamous especially for their Wednesday night Jump Up, which we of course didn’t know about when we booked!  We of course did end up dancing the night away and consuming more than a few pitchers of rum punch with John, Karon, Pat and Laura.

We also had a very posh dinner at the Cotton House Restaurant – very exclusive, although not actually that great for food we thought.

All in all though Mustique was amazing and we were sad to leave, but we really wanted to get to Tobago Cays.

Tobago Cays

Tobago Cays is a reef and small islands, known for diving and swimming and abundant wildlife. We had tried to stay on the way North, but it was just too choppy and we didn’t think it was worth it. We desperately wanted to try again – but unfortunately it was still too choppy. We did go in and picked up a buoy behind Kai Lani, but decided it just wouldn’t be a comfortable night – plus you have to pay a marine park fee, so we left and went back to Mayreau.

Mayreau and Canouan

We stayed just the one night in Mayreau and were very undecided as to where to go next – but our friends had moved to a marina called Sandy Lane on Canouan already and we decided to follow their lead.

Wow – what a bit of luxury! This is the most crazy marina – built to take 110 yachts and there must have been just 10 there! Crazy!

The facilities are like a luxury hotel with amazing showers, laundry, pool, beach bars and more.  We stayed 5 days!!  We could have stayed much longer and it would be a great place to stay for the ‘off’ season – but the clock was ticking for us and we had to move on South again.

Union Island

We were able to checkout at the airport on Canouan, so after that was done we headed off a short journey back to Union Island. We just anchored for the night but had a lovely evening meal on Sea Dreamer.  Their catamaran has under water lighting and that night it attracted some HUGE fish! Initially they were thought to be sharks, but we think they were actually tarpin. Jen asked Sea Dreamer to turn the lights off in the hope that the large beasts left before we had to dinghy back to Yanula Blue!

Back to Grenada

After Union Island we headed straight to Grenada, but wanted to have a peaceful final night in a bay before we arrived back to our next home.  It was raining hard, with a northerly swell, and our first option was not possible.  We carried on to the next bay we had earmarked and found some Viking friends there with Agape already anchored.

This was called Black Bay as it was made of black sand. There was a party boat already anchored and they were having lots of fun!  They didn’t stay long though and soon peace resumed.  We went for a quick snorkel but there wasn’t much to see, other than a huge fishing trap with what looked like a tuna inside it.  We went to see Agape for a while but then settled in for the night.

Then that was it – early the next morning we set off for Prickly Bay, where we had a buoy booked for 3 months.

Prickly Bay

It was very difficult to find the buoy 28 that we had been assigned and eventually we realised someone was already on it. Luckily they were by the boat just having a swim and we told them we had it booked and so they moved – they had just taken the chance it was free – sorry!!

It was very easy to pick up this well maintained buoy and of course when done we cracked open a beer! Now what do we do for 3 months here?!