Itinerary for charter in St Vincent and the Grenadines
Suggested itinerary for a 14 day Caribbean charter from Blue Lagoon, St Vincent.
This is a level 3 sailing area
Day 1
16 miles
Blue Lagoon, St Vincent to Brittania Bay Mustique
St Vincent is the ideal place for provisioning so it is worth stocking up here or at the large supermarket just outside the airport. Fridays and Saturdays are market days and it is fun wandering around the noisy and very colourful market stalls and buying fresh fruit and vegetables. Don’t miss out on the more unusual ones, just ask the vendor what to do with them and they will be please to give you lots of ideas! A taxi to Blue Lagoon with all your shopping will cost you $20 EC, any more and just ask the next driver. The dollar bus is an economical way to get to town and even it the one that stops for you looks full, they will miraculously find another seat and squeeze you in. It would be a mistake to try the bus though with more than a couple of bags of shopping.
St Vincent Market
When you leave the Blue Lagoon base a skipper will take the boat out of the harbour, help you with your sails and ensure that everything is ok. With a strong westerly tide and NE prevailing wind the best option from St Vincent is to make Mustique your first stop, you should have a nice reach down the windward coast of Bequia and across to Britannia Bay. Pick up a mooring buoy in here, there is a charge of $75 US for one night with two nights free, the same charge is made for anchoring should there be no mooring buoys available.
Mustique is a 1400 acre privately owned island made up of seven lush valleys and wooded hills rising to a height of 495 feet. At the foot of each valley is a pristine white sandy beach edged by crystalline azure water. The island is home to many rich and famous people, notably David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Raquel Welsh and the late Princess Margaret. There are around 90 houses on the island as well as a neat local village, fish camp, one hotel, one guesthouse, one beach bar and a few exclusive shops with prices to match. Groceries and beverages can be purchased from Corea’s grocery store or choose the Mustique General Store for fine foods in paradise. Across the street fresh fruit and vegetables are sold from Stanley’s waterfront stall. Sweetie Pie’s French bakery is a wonderful place to buy baguettes, quiche and almond pastries. Make a stop here to fill your picnic basket before setting off on a hike across the island.
Stanley's Fruit Market
You can choose to explore by taxi tour, hired mule – similar to a golf cart, on horseback or on foot. There are several excellent hikes that will test the calf muscles and you will be rewarded with some breathtaking views, glorious white sandy beached fringed with swaying palm trees and an up close encounter with some of Mustique’s wildlife. Underwater are a myriad of colourful fish, frigate birds fly overhead and on land we saw lizards and tortoises alongside the road. Best of all early in the season you will practically have the island to yourself.
Day 2
Mustique
Make the most of your two free nights in Mustique and experience a bit more of this exclusive island. At $25 a night you may have the cheap seats but you can be certain that the visitors sitting in Basil’s Bar and paying thousands of dollars to stay on the island will be looking out at the yachts and quietly wishing they had the freedom to explore the Caribbean by sea.
Macaroni Beach
Hike to Macaroni Beach on the windward side and you will find a picture perfect narrow strip of white sand onto which the Atlantic rollers crash. On a calm day the swimming here is delightful and refreshing after a hilly walk. Beware of the Manchineel trees here and elsewhere, the apple like fruits are poisonous as is the sap from the leaves if you shelter underneath when it is raining. It is worth continuing your walk around the headland where you will find yet another beautiful bay. Eventually, just before a steep headland there is a path leading back onto the road and it is a mainly downhill walk back to Brittania Bay.
Make sure you have stocked up on ice for the essential El Dorado rum and coke as you watch the sun go down over the island of Canuon 12 miles away to the south, the next stepping stone southwards down the chain of Grenadine islands. You will be rocked gently to sleep providing you have chosen the right spot away from the rolly northern corner of the bay and Basil’s Bar where the music will play until late.
Basil's Bar
Day 3
Mustique
Everywhere in the Grenadines you will find the warmest, bluest most inviting seas. Mustique is no exception and a gentle walk along the beach will soon take you away from civilization and the chances are you will find your own personal beach and bathing pool complete with beach hut. This is the perfect spot for a picnic lunch from the Sweetie Pie bakery. Here on the leeward side the snorkelling is excellent on the shallow reefs and the swimming sublime. With nothing except sea, sand and palms and the islands of Bequia to the north and Canuan to the south this is truly a paradise island and not surprisingly a choice of the rich and famous.
Mustique Beach Hut
No matter how delightful the swimming for us the next bay always beckons and with a very basic map to direct us there are always surprise discoveries to be made. One of these was a blow hole on Obsidian Beach which we discovered accidentally whilst searching unsuccessfully for Gellico Beach which we never found. As the pressure builds up within a rock fissure the ‘Old Man of Mustique’ roars and a huge spray of water is projected from the narrow gap in the rocks. Fortunately with such warm water getting soaked by the spray is not a problem.
Day 4
Mustique to Meyreu
19 miles
It is a 3 – 4 hour sail from Mustique to Meyrue, if you cannot get into Saltwhistle Bay there is another anchorage around the headland at Saline Bay. The single unnamed village is a short walk to the top of ‘Heart Attack Hill’ and easily reached from either anchorage. Here you can get basic supplies or eat out at a variety of different restaurants, Dennis’s Hideaway has a fantastic lookout where you can take coffee overlooking the bay.
Saltwhistle Bay has the typical Caribbean beach that everyone dreams of and although there is a smart hotel and bar just behind the shoreline it is so well hidden you would never know it was there.
Meyrue
Right on the beach are two bars, ‘Black Boys’ serve ice cold beer and homemade rum punch made with very strong local rum so beware! They provide the authentic ‘Carib’ experience and will also cook you excellent lobster on the BBQ . Ask for Denny, he is a fantastic chef and told us that the recipe for his sauce is so secret it is only found on the island of Meyrue. He cooked our lobster supper in front of us, there was no doubt at all about the freshness of the lobster as it twitched in the flames before being served up with rice, jacket potatoes, salad and the secret sauce.
Dennie's Lobster Supper
Black Boy is a great host and treats all his guests as long lost friends! Next door ‘The Last Bar before the Jungle’ does much the same.
Here as everywhere else in the Caribbean, boat boys will meet your boat and ask you if you want a mooring, suggest anchorages and sell ice, bread and lobster. Be wary of taking their advice especially with regard to anchorages as it has been known for them to suggest dangerous spots so that they can rescue you and your boat – at a price! However for every rogue we are sure that there are a dozen good guys and the deeper you dig the greater the reward. You will discover that the Caribbean is as much about the people as the places, we met some wonderful local people including boat boy Ralph on his boat ‘Fake Friend’ who looked as if he had just stepped off the set of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.
Fake Friend
After spending two nights in Saltwhistle Bay we were very sad to leave.
Day 6
Meyrue to Union Island
4 miles
After the laid back island life of Meyrue the small town of Clifton on Union Island is an interesting contrast. Just an hour sail from Meyrue, Union Island stands out owing to its dramatic mountainous outline with Mount Taboi at 1000 feet the highest peak in the Grenadines. Clifton is charming and colourful, the exquisite wooden market stalls with their bright array of fruit, vegetables and tee-shirts look as if they are part of a splendid child’s toy town set. From your yacht at anchor in the bay you can take a water taxi ashore or take your own dinghy; there are several dinghy docks to choose from close to the main shopping area and very convenient for transporting provisions back to the boat. Sullivan at ‘The Anchorage’ will be your friend for life if you take him a cap with a ‘Royal Navy’ insignia. He wanted Stuart’s and even promised to exchange it for a Grenadine Islands one but unfortunately we didn’t have time to arrange the transaction and Stuart could not be without a hat in the hot sunshine.
Shopping on Union island is fun and with application most things can be obtained as well as a few treats. The ‘Grand Union Supermarket’ has a good range of staples, Captain Gourmet is a lovely French deli where the prices are surprisingly reasonable with a good range of frozen meat and fresh bread is available daily from the bakery. For fruit and vegetables there are several options however watch out for the ‘Gringo tax’ as prices are calculated based on how high the vendors feel he can go. Jenny gave us a good deal and also makes fresh smoothies to sell from her pretty stall. Another option is to step back a couple of streets where the prices are more reasonable. We met ‘Herman the German’ and ‘Zandrine’ with their little stall outside the ‘Anchor Bar’ who gave a not only excellent prices but also introduced us to some unusual local produce such as plantines, dashine and tania with lots of tips on how to cook and serve them. They even threw in a few extra treats for us to try.
For gifts and books visit ‘Beads and Art’, Annie France’s delightful little boutique has an interesting selection of local crafts, paintings and adult and childrens’ books including a good range of nature guides. Annie makes beautiful jewellery from beads and semi-precious stones and silver turtle necklaces and bracelets set with a brilliant azure stone called ‘Lapis Lazuli’ found only in the Grenadines.
If you want to visit Tobago Cays from Union Island you will have to go back around Mayrue and take the northern approach so you might like to return to Saltwhistle Bay so you can make a good start in the morning. Alternatively leave Union Island until after visiting the Cays. There is a southern passage from Union Island but it is not buoyed and not an easy way in. If you are chartering your insurance may be invalidated if you choose to use this passage leaving you liable for entire value of the boat if things go wrong and you end up on the reef.
Day 7
Union to Tobago Cays
8 miles (via Meyrue)
When you reach the entrance to the Tobago Cays you will be assigned a boat vendor who will escort you to the anchorage and when you are settled he will show you his wares. If you do not wish to purchase he will not be offended so let him know so he can get back in line for the next yacht and not waste his time. Our vendor was ‘My Quality’ who showed us around his ‘department store’ stocked up with t-shirts, sarongs, bread ice and other goodies. He informed us the only thing he didn’t have was an escalator! We bought banana bread which was delicious and perfect for elevenses. Other vendors have names such as Mr Everywhere, Mr Surprise and Free Spirit and very colourful boats.
To be continues…..