Grenada and the Grenadines Sailing Trip – Nov 2015

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Tales of Our Voyage

Our second trip explored the stunning Grenadine islands, leaving from Grenada.  Guests came from the US, Ireland and UK.

We were plagued with a few squalls during the first part of this trip, but these soon gave way to perfect trade wind sailing conditions between the islands![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row bg_type=”” parallax_style=”” bg_image_new=”” layer_image=”” bg_image_repeat=”” bg_image_size=”” bg_cstm_size=”” bg_img_attach=”” parallax_sense=”” bg_image_posiiton=”” animation_direction=”” animation_repeat=”” video_url=”” video_url_2=”” u_video_url=”” video_opts=”” video_poster=”” u_start_time=”” u_stop_time=”” viewport_vdo=”” enable_controls=”” bg_override=”” disable_on_mobile_img_parallax=”” parallax_content=”” parallax_content_sense=”” fadeout_row=”” fadeout_start_effect=”” enable_overlay=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_pattern=”” overlay_pattern_opacity=”” overlay_pattern_size=”” overlay_pattern_attachment=”” multi_color_overlay=”” multi_color_overlay_opacity=”” seperator_enable=”” seperator_type=”” seperator_position=”” seperator_shape_size=”” seperator_svg_height=”” seperator_shape_background=”” seperator_shape_border=”” seperator_shape_border_color=”” seperator_shape_border_width=”” icon_type=”” icon=”” icon_size=”” icon_color=”” icon_style=”” icon_color_bg=”” icon_border_style=”” icon_color_border=”” icon_border_size=”” icon_border_radius=”” icon_border_spacing=”” icon_img=”” img_width=”” ult_hide_row=”” ult_hide_row_large_screen=”” ult_hide_row_desktop=”” ult_hide_row_tablet=”” ult_hide_row_tablet_small=”” ult_hide_row_mobile=”” ult_hide_row_mobile_large=””][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_column_text]

Sailing Summary

Distance: 162 Nautical Miles

Duration: 10 Days

Fish Caught: 0[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Crew

Anna Brown

Kevin Docherty

Helen Flannery

Clare Moore

Ruthie Nixon

Clare Newell

Sarah Garwood

Chris Dinsmore

Dusty Miller

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Whistlestop Photo Gallery

Click on a thumbnail below to open the larger photo – from here you can play a full screen slideshow, download the pictures you’d like, write comments and share them on social media![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”10″ gal_title=”Grenadines Nov 2015″]

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Trip Map

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First Day Squalls

It was a tough sail the first day out, with 30 miles to do from Grenads’s St Georges to Tyrelly Bay on Carriacou.  We were hit by a squall or two and some big seas, and a strong East to West current made it a tough beat Northwards.  We finally dropped anchor as the darkness fell and settled for a dinner on board.

Following a hearty breakfast, we made our clearance out of Grenada and motored around the corner to the beautiful Sandy Island anchorage for some swimming and snorkelling.  An easy day after yesterday’s marathon, we took some time to explore the litle town of Hillsborough and experienced the longest ever meal at one of the local eateries!

Hello St Vincent

We had a beautiful sail up the channel the following morning, from Hillsborough to Clifton on Union island where we made our clearance into St Vincent and thee Grenadines.  Clifton is a wonderfully colourful town with a large fruit market bringing goods from Mainland St Vincent and a friendly local vibe.  The only good anchorage is close behind the reef which makes for some alarming anchoring as there’s also a reef behind you… not somewhere you’d want to drag your anchor 🙂  We moseyed on round to Chatham Bay in the waning afternoon for a night at anchor with fish splashing all around us.

The following day was still a little squally and we sailed up to the stunning anchorage at Saltwhistle Bay on Mayreau.  The locals put on a fantastic barbecue of fish, lobster and chicken and we danced the night away fuelled by rum punch.

Bequia Bound

From Saltwhistle, we attempted the 20 mile trip Norh to Bequia the following morning, but were beaten back by a fierce squall that saw Ibis hove to for 15 minutes and Bleu Turquoise lost a mainsail batten over the side!  We sought shelter in Canouan but a strong surge made going ashore pretty dangerous.

The next day dawned bright and breezy, however, and we made the passage with ease under a blue sky.  Bequia is a beautiful island to explore and we rounded off a fun day with dinner and some dancing at a local restaurant.  Long live the Dusty sandwich!

Tobago Cays Turtles

After a fantastic sail south with the wind on the beam, we anchored at the Tobago Cays in turquoise water with turtles swimming around us.  We spent a night here, exploring these beautiful Robinson Crusoe islands and snorkelling the surrounding reefs.

A short downwind sail and we found ourselves in Mayreau, where we climbed the humoungous hill for dinner with the Righteous Brothers in their eclectic, Rasta style restaurant.

Southbound Again

Back to Clifton for our clearance out of the Grenadines, and onward to Tyrell Bay where we had a great meal ashore and caught some local live music in the tiny village.  An early start the next day for another exciting downwind sail to Grenada, making the trip in just over 4 hours with some fast surfing to the North end of the island.

We had time to stop for some snorkelling at the underwater sculpture park before heading into Port Louis once more for our final crew dinner.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

What Our Guests Said…

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Dusty MillerSouthampton, UK

A big thank you for providing me with a holiday experience definitely not to be found in the mass market brochures, which was precisely what I was looking for and do believe the rest of our crew would agree judging by the fun we all had. The fantastic impromptu barbecues on many Caribbean islands with the locals and hot reggae sounds, rum punch and wonderful company interspersed by sailing daily being fanned by warm breezes and in my case by my captains tongue for I know nothing about sailing but enjoyed gentle tuition. So to sum it all up "I'll be back"