For Deh Love of Boats

The Caribbean is a place of boats....work boats, race boats, cruising boats, fishing boats, sailing boats, powerboats, row boats, cruise ships, and more.  Some are made of steel, others fibreglass and most of the local boats are made of wood.  Some are made in factories, some are built by do it your selfers and many of the locals have the skills to build their own traditional wooden boats.  Some are big, some are small and some are incredibly huge.  What they all have in common is that they are central to the lives of the people of the Caribbean, both those of us who just are passing through and those people that make their living from the sea. I believe that is why the Caribbean holds so many regattas.  The racing events are a celebration of boats as well as the skills of the people who sail them.  Boats are revered on these island and in most cases very well looked after.

 The following is a pictorial celebration of boats of the windward islands from Bequia in The Grenadines to Grenada.

This schooner came into Chatham Bay, Union Island to say hello to the English boat next to us.

This wooden sail boat is a working boat in the village of Ashton, Union Island.

These fishing boats were along the waterfront in Ashton.

These wooden boats in Petit Martinique are at the ready for fishing.

The next two pictures show wooden fishing boats made in Petit Martinique and kept on moorings.  The colours of blue and orange are a favourite in the Caribbean.

 

This wooden schooner from Bequia takes passengers on day trips.

This is the catamaran Black Swan that anchored beside us in the Tobago Cays and made us feel small.  Notice the size of the crew on deck.

This large power boat was another big visitor to the popular Tobago Cays anchorage. The tender beside it is almost as long as Celebrian and probably worth several hundred thousand dollars?!

Another beautiful schooner visits the Tobago Cays.

The clipper ship line is a popular way to cruise The Grenadines.   Certainly if you enjoy sailing and living in luxury this ship is the way to travel.  The best of both worlds ....a boat that can sail well and the comfort of a cruise ship.  Of all the larger sailing cruise ships that we saw we liked the clipper the best.  She was rigged to sail and not just pretend to sail.

Local working boats in Bequia.

In Bequia there is a floating diesel and water boat available.  Bequia was very yachty and lots of services were available for cruisers...diesel or water delivered to the boat, the usual bread and fish and my favourite...Daffodil's Laundry Service.

 Bequia race boats out for a practice.

The clipper ship stopped in Bequia while we were there.  What a great sight it was to see it as the sun went down and its lights came on.

You can buy hand made wooden ships in Bequia.  This was a beauty and priced close to a thousand US.

Many of the smaller race boats at the Bequia Regatta had obvious sponsorship.  Their crews were young people from the French islands as well as Barbados.

This beautiful wooden race boat was from Petit Saint Vincent and was racing in Bequia.

This monohall was one of the larger single hull boats we were anchored nearby.  Once again notice the size of the crew on deck to get perspective.

Launching one of the 28 foot wooden double enders in Bequia.

Carriacou has a long tradition of boat building.

Three beautiful wooden boats built in Carriacou and anchored off of Windward, Carriacou.

This is a floating welding and aluminum shop anchored in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou.

Several days a week there are cruise ships anchored off of St. George's, Grenada.

Goldberry is our family car and gets almost daily use whether its going to shore for chores or pleasure.  She also provides water scaffolding for the captain when he is varnishing.

Our favourite boat and the one we love deh most....Celebrian.

Deh Tre Tings for Happiness....Diesel, Water, Ganja?

From the Tobago Cays we sailed back to Mayreau where we had anchored before leaving for Bequia.  We wanted to do the hike over the ridge to Saltwhistle Bay, a very popular anchorage for cruising boats.

We packed a picnic to have on the windward beach near Saltwhistle and headed off.  As it turned out it was quite the walk. We think nothing of hiking a mile at home; however a mile climbing in 30 degree plus heat (90 F) is a different matter.
There is only one road and it climbs up through a small village.  This  was one of the  more unique  and funky restaurants and bars.  Most of the villages have more bars than shops.  In fact the island of Carriacou, population less than 5,000 claims they have over 90 rum bars.

  Gratefully we did spend some time on the windward beach and had our picnic and a swim.  We watched several young French men kite sailing off the beach.  Themselves and their gear had been brought by a fishing boat from Union Island.

From Saline Bay we motorsailed across to the western coast of Union Island and a lovely bay called Chatham.  There are no roads here so the people here are mostly fishermen who come by boat.  There are several quaint beach type bars that cater to the charter boats but no other services.

We have found that the prices in The Grenadines are way out of line due to the increase of the charter business and people willing to pay inflated prices.  Ordinarily you can buy fish from the locals for a reasonable price; however here there are too many people trying to make a fast buck.  We keep saying we aren't going to buy more fish and be taken to the cleaners but mahi mahi is hard to turn down.  Dr. G was just one more of the local sheisters, who to add insult to injury broke our fillet knife.  The mahi mahi was delish but the price was unfair.

The next day a local fisherman sold us a snapper for a very fair price so it is possible to find honest people but increasingly more difficult.

From Chatham Bay we moved around the island to Frigate Rock and the small village of Ashton.  We paddled into the village and had a walk around.  Unlike Union where boats clear in and out of The Grenadines, Ashton is a sleepy fishing village.

From Chatham Bay we headed into Union Island where we were greeted by a local boat boy with a cheerful "Welcome to paradise....would you like any diesel, water or ganja (marijhuana)?  Everything for happiness on this small island of less than five thousand.

We did our usual stops of bakery, market, and grocery store along with our favourite take out food lady.  Rob had to have coconut water; however drinking the water out of the shell without a straw was a little bit of a challenge.  Coconut water is sterile and is very good for you; however it is not a practical fruit for the boat!?  After all our chores were done it was time for Rob to go to Customs and Immigration and clear us out of the country.
It is always wonderful to go to town and trade garbage for fresh vegetables! I have learned to cook plaintains  which look like bananas and fy up in butter, rum and cinnamon as a side dish.  We have also been cooking and eating christophene which is a squash like vegetable like our zuchinni.  We eat mangoes on our cereal as well as lots of bananas and the grapefruit and oranges are delicious.  Just recently I made soursop juice from a big green prickly plant.  When in deh islands, yah gotta eat deh island foods.

Our plan after clearing out of Union Island was to sail over to Petite Martinique and Petite St. Vincent.  We will clear customs for Grenada after the weekend in Carriacou where we spent some time last year.  The islands of Petite Saint Vincent (belonging to St. Vincent and The Grenadines) and Petite Martinique (belonging to Grenada) are a mile apart and the customs people don't seem to get too upset if you spend a day or two  there between countries.  Petite St. Vincent is a private island with a small upscale resort. The summer rates for the resort are $7,000 a week for a one bedroom cottage with 3 meals a day ; however alcohol is not included.  Petite Martinique is a small village of less than one thousand.

  They make their living by fishing and the tradition of wooden boat building.  Fibreglass hurt the industry for awhile but there seems to be a resurgence of the trade and the anchorage was a tribute to the skills of the local boat builders.  

Fishing and workboats are all along the beach in Petite Martinique interspersed among the rum bars.

Drinking is a popular past time in deh islands.  Celebrian is never far from a beach bar??

We hiked around Petite Martinique.  The island in the distance is Petite St. Vincent, also known as PSV.

You can really see the reef systems from up high.  We had a picnic stop and soaked in the views.  

PSV from Petite Martinique ....we anchored where you see the sailboat in this picture.

You need good tires or be a goat on these islands to get around???

Some of the homes on Petite Martinique were so quaint.  I just loved the lace curtains in this little cabin.

There is a humanitarian project on Petite Martinique called Sunflower Spices that use solar to breakdown bananas and similar fruit like plaintains, sweet potato, bluggos, breadfruit into a  flour mixture.  The picture shows the dryers and the boxes of empty fruit. The flour is then donated to hospitals, the elderly and others in need.  We gave them a donation and received a small bag of flour to try from the founder Osbert Felix.  You use approximately one quarter of your recipe with this flour. and it should provide some banana flavouring.

The anchorage at PSV is in lovely sand. We thought we were going to fill our water tank with this cloud; however it blew over for the most part and all we got was an increase in wind. 

Deh Signs Along the Way

Only in the Caribbean could you have a grocery store and bar in the same room???  Better still are the pharmacies with their racks of wine and spirits.  These signs were in the small village of Ashton on Union Island.

The population is less than 250 on the island of Mayreux; however it still has several tiny stores claiming to be superma ...rkets?!?

Mural in the Tobago Cays Marine Park Office in Clifton, Union Island.  It was painted by a local doctor.

Sign outside the Marine Park Office and wall painting in the office in Clifton, Union Island.

Petite Martinique, the smallest of the two islands belonging to Grenada with a population of approximately one thousand.

 A banana a day keeps the doctor away....sign on the school wall in Petite Martinique.  Stone Grenadian flag along the road in Petite Martinique.

Map of The Grenadines in our cruising guide showing all of the islands from St. Vincent to Grenada.  We sailed as far north as Bequia for the regatta and then have been making our way south exploring many of the islands along the way.