- kwilenacat
Ya mon .. great Caribbean vibes - winward islands
We wanted to take our time and make the most of the Caribbean Winward islands. Apparently, it becomes more civilised the further up north you go.
The Windward Islands are on the map's lower right (above and to the right of Venezuela).
We had to do many island country check ins and check outs for ourselves and the boat..
Grenada
We enjoyed many festivities during the 50th anniversary of Grenada's Independence.
Stadium celebrations included a spectacular drone show and fireworks. Sven (who took below 2 photos) was standing so close....
We hired a car to explore Grenada. As always, Sven drove like a true local. In 2 instances, the concreted inland streets were so steep, that we were unable to make it up to the top with our small rental car and with 4 adults in it. We had to let it roll back down the narrow steep street .... an interesting experience! Our Swedish sailor friends in the back seats seemed to enjoy it!
Beautiful walk to the seven sister waterfalls, passing large bamboo plants and flowers,
We decided to swim in the top waterfall. We were the first ones to arrive and had this magic place to ourselves.
The short rain added to this lovely experience.
OUPS!!! Look at the guilty face - Sven tried to add an additional little pebble to this existing sculpture....
Robyn and Sven were trying to find the other seven sister waterfalls but had to turn back, since they forgot to bring a machete to get through this jungle! It was also very muddy and slippery.
Pearls Airport was the first airport. It was opened in 1943 and was later replaced by its current International Airport, The old airport landing strip is now used as a car racetrack.
Mona monkeys can be found on the island. They came to Grenada aboard slave ships in the 18th century.
A quick "Lunch" stop. We ate boiled and BBQ corn (the only items on the menu).
Takeaway was corn wrapped into their leaves :-)
Walk to the Welcome stone
Cacao and Muscat nut plants.
Music is everywhere. Love the sound of these "Caribbean drums".
Second picture: A group of us walked back along the beach and heard a local band playing. We stopped for a drink and danced with the locals.
Some late photos shared with us after our double handed Atlantic crossing (from Canary islands via Cape Verde (6 days) to Grenada (an additional 16 days).
Some additional pictures of our Arrival in Grenada after the Atlantic crossing.
Grenada Marina life - farmers market and degustation stands.
High calorie rum cocktails appropriately called death by chocolate!
Charriacou
These kind of notices can be seen on many of the manchineel trees.
We met a local 15 year old mum who was keen to chat with us. Some other local children wanted to play Dominos.
We have always pictured the Caribbean to look just like this. Turquoise water, white sand and lush palm trees.
Sand between our toes.. Leave nothing but footprints on the beach :-)
The winward islands are very green and get plenty of rain.
We arrived on the last 2 days of the 7 days Carriacou Carnival It comprises of street dances, gigs, band parades, wild masquerade (Jab Jab) and unique Shakespeare Mas (speech-mas tradition and stick fighting).
Carnival
Sven and Robyn enjoying the celebration
We missed the Jab Jab which is a celebration of freedom from hardship / slavery. They wear black helmets with black horns and rub black oil all over their body and dance.
After a lot of celebration, festivities and rum, we were looking forward to some peace and quiet and found just that in the Anse La Roche bay. By coincidence it was Valentines day (this one will be hard to top). We were alone in the bay and the BBQ Lobster shack at the beach was open too!
This lovely picture of use was taken by a beach goer who was keen to share it with us. Love it!
Paddled back to the boat. Below is the bar and Lobster place at dawn.
Mopion Island
A tiny pure-sand island with just a single thatch umbrella in the middle. Measuring about 20 metres by 8 metres - so if you go here, choose your companions carefully!
Union Island
Checked in for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in Chatham bay.
At the beach bar we were given the cocktail menu together with a Medicinal Cannabis Menu.
Snorkelling.- we enjoyed seeing different fish species from the Med sea and love the much warmer waters.
Mayreach Island
various Beach clubs - from the upmarket to the fun ones.
We needed 2 onions. Fruit and vegetables are very expensive here and there is very limited choice. We eat in local restaurants wherever we can.
The Tobago Cays
The Tobago Cays are a group of small uninhabited islands protected from the sea by a horseshoe reef. We were told it is a "must see" by boat. The water and reef colours are just stunning. A visit from the Park Rangers who collect the park fees.
Tuff view...
We just had to do it..... This part of "pirate of the Caribbean" was filmed on this Petit Tabac island / near Tobago cays
A turtle watching / snorkelling area has been established (no boats are allowed). Of course turtles, tropical fish and stingrays also swim around the boats outside the zoned off area.
Night time: BBQ at the beach
We have often met up with our Swedish Sailing buddies Robyn and Camilla. It will be sad when they are turning back to head home to Sweden.
Beautiful stingrays and large fish at the beach, waiting for the fishermen's "leftovers"
Canouan island
We walked past colourful houses to a local Conch restaurant. We just had to try it. You can have conch on Pizza, Pasta, fried, in salads etc etc.
The entire beach was covered in huge but empty Conch shells. Robyn and I were
looking for "THE ONE", he got instructions from Milla to find a white one.
Sorting out/giving away our European flags as we don't need them anymore.
Need to read label of the local drinks next time: Includes Horny Goat, Weed, Caffeine and Alcohol!
Bequa Island
Special Boat deliveries for water, fuel and ice....
After eating dry Knaeckebrot for the last few weeks (we do not like the sweet, white bred here)... we bought some croissants from a passing by boat. They sold them on behalf of a hotel who obviously made too many... it was a welcome treat. We ate them on the dinghy on our way to a hike.
There are so many turtles everywhere, some living very dangerously when crossing the roads. Robyn just stepped over one thinking it is a rock.
Our boat is somewhere down there
Pizza hut 😊 and drinks at one of the many many beach bars all claiming to have the "best rum", "cheapest drinks" and "free beers tomorrow"!
Picking up money from small ATM"s can be a refreshing relief from the heat.... many are airconditioned. It's a great way to cool down.
St Vincent island.
Initially I did not feel comfortable to stay alone in remote bays on St Vincent (there had been some bad news articles/statistics regarding theft/crime rates and cruisers safety in the Caribbean). We were alone in Byahaut bay and felt completely safe here and everywhere else we went to date.
The rain passed quickly and the sun returned.
Keartons bay was the pure opposite from our previous anchorage. We had many boats hassling us for all sorts of services and trying to sell items to us. Kids came onboard without asking (this has never happened to us in the last 3 years),. They were curious but friendly at all times. They borrowed our Paddle board for a while and had up to 9 kids balancing on it.
Sven and Robyn hiked up to the active Volcano Soufriere with a steep 900 m incline and a 6 hour round trip
Sven had too much energy one morning and started helping surprised locals with breaking up frozen chicken packages.
Has been a long time since we have done "line to shore", but this is the first time we did this onto a Palmtree.
We like to watch the local fishermen. 3 small boats hold the nets, then start to make the nets smaller and smaller. Divers are around and in the net to update the boats about the fish in the net.
Went to a Karaoke bar, full with locals. There were no top singers, which added to the fun. Some sang Bob Marley songs and the guy below sang a song by Lucky Dube called: Ding Ding Licky Licky Bong.
We waited for a bus for over 1 hour the the next morning. We needed to do our country check out. The passing buses were all full and we were just about to give up when one stopped and told us we could squeeze in.
The "public bus" is just a small bus filled with many people. OH, what a one hour ride up and down the hills it was!! The bus driver even stopped in a small town to do his banking whilst we waited patiently, like "sardines", in the hot bus.
We liked the experience so much that we also took the bus back. We had 24 people (which included 2 young children) in this white bus.
Saint Lucia Island
Another check in and check out for our boat and us.
We bought some fruit and vegetables of this lovely man. There is not much variety in the Caribbean islands and it is very expensive.
The Pitons of Saint Lucia are among the largest of the worlds' volcanic plugs and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This ripped man was selling Smoothies and very strong Cocktails from his boat.
We bought Pina Coladas from him and also got some small roses, birds and fish decorations which he made from banana plant leaves. You cans see one of the Pitons and our boat in the background.
Night photos in Pitons bay. Clear sky and lots of stars.
Wings at the entrance of a beach club
We are currently in Martinique, the last of the Winward islands. We will continue north, following the Leeward islands.
Below is link of our live position (not all updated, we are currently having AIS issues)
Below is our interactive map of all anchorages and marina stops to date (road trips are not shown on the map).
Hard to beat that Valentine’s Day!
How many islands are there! They each seem a bit different - you’ll be there for years!
Looks like great fun....cocktails 🍸🍸and reggae music seem to be the order of the day...and the seafood looks wonderful!! Thanks for yet another newsy blog...stay safe xx Noel