9 June 2011 Bequia to Little Bay, Canouan
We decided to leave Bequia today, so we went into town to do some last minute shopping before going to the more isolated anchorages in the Grenadines. As we arrived at the dinghy dock, some locals were just pulling a seine net onto the beach. We had a look at the small herring-type fish that they had caught and Glenys bought a big bag for $5EC.
The back toilet is starting to lose suction and I think that it’s on the way out, so I bought a spares kit for £60! I bought another dive belt and some weights and, on an impulse, bought a four foot gaff to help me land those big fish. I’m now up to £380 for fishing tackle. Glenys bought some food and more Sunbrella to make some side flaps for the bimini – we’re determined to be able to keep rain (and sun) out of the cockpit.
We had a cracking sail down to Canouan - hard on the wind (again!), but only 15 knot winds and flat seas. There was a lot of Sargassum seaweed in the water, which was a nuisance because I had to keep pulling in the fishing lure when we snagged some with the hook. The effort paid off because eventually we caught a nice 6lb Dorado. Glenys hove-to while I played the fish – it fought well, leaping out of the water a few times, but I pulled it alongside and used my new gaff to lift it on deck. A quick smack with my new “Billy”, a few stabs with an ice pick into its brain and we had our first Dorado. What a magnificent fish – all blues, yellows and silver.
Unfortunately, I’m not very good at killing fish; I can’t seem to find where its brain is. This results in the fish thrashing about and copious amounts of blood being splashed about, which takes ages to clean up. Also, while gaffing the Dorado today, I managed to lose my reading glasses over the side (which I had foolishly left hanging around my neck.) Make that £420 for fishing tackle…
We anchored in Little Bay, just off the beach in about six metres of water over sand. This is a very pretty place with no-one else - we can see the main anchorage (packed with yachts) about a mile away. I cut the Dorado into steaks and fillets, while Glenys gutted the herrings ready to barbeque them. We had a quick snorkel (which was very good) and our day was gone.
As night fell, we started to swirl around on the anchor as big gusts of wind hit us. We are anchored about 50 metres from the reef and the beach. While it is a lovely anchorage in the sunshine, and it’s nice to be alone for once, it’s a bit worrying in the dark with the sound of waves breaking gently on the reef behind us.
10 June 2011 Little Bay to Charlestown Bay, Canouan
We didn’t drag onto the reef last night, but we did swirl around in the current making it a very hot sweaty night.
We did a few jobs in the morning. I was so annoyed by the hot, sweaty night that I installed a fan above my bed which, in true boat fashion, was a drawn out affair involving the removal of the mirror in the aft heads to run the wiring. Glenys sewed the other side flap to the Ober-windscoop and added a panel to attach the hatch with bungee cord – it looks good.
Later in the morning, we went diving. We took the dinghy north up the coast and dropped the anchor just past the second small bay. It was a nice dive. There was a small one knot current going north, so we drifted for twenty minutes and then swam back. We saw a big “Spotted Eagle Ray” which naturally swam away as soon as it saw us – I managed to get one reasonable photo of it.
Back on Alba, we had pan-fried Dorado sandwiches for lunch and filled the dive tanks. There were some big gusts coming done from the island and I’m pretty sure that our anchor was dragging slightly in the hard sand, so we went into the main anchorage for the night.
There was a huge shoal of Southern Sennet swirling around our boat as we anchored, so we went snorkelling to investigate. They were very bunched together and, after a while, we saw the reason why – a big four foot Barracuda was slowly circling the shoal no doubt looking to pounce on any stragglers.
We had “Dorado in a Creamy Mustard Sauce” for dinner.
11 June 2011 Charlestown Bay, Canouan
We decided to go for a walk to see if we could get up the highest peak on the island. We first walked down to Friendship Bay (because I went the wrong way) and then climbed back up the road to the Atlantic side of the island – very impressive reefs. There must be a lot of tortoises on the island because we spotted four on our walk.
The road eventually petered out into a dirt surface and we came across a locked gate barring our path. We knew that this end of the island is owned by a company running a luxury resort, but the guide book said that you can sometimes get permission to go walking. We could see a small guard house about 200 yards past the gate, so we clambered around the side of the gate and walked up to the security guard – who was asleep. I gently woke him up and he said that we should walk around the road to see the supervisor who may allow us in.
We came across another guy near a small hut and asked him if we could walk up the hill and he said that if we could find our way then no problem. We continued along the road with a fine view of the resort. There’s a lot of construction work being done on one fantastic beach and the rest looks like Disney World with a beautifully manicured golf course as the centre piece.
As we started to walk down into the resort, the Security Manager drew up beside us in a golf buggy and asked us pleasantly who we were and what we were doing. We were in scruffy hiking clothes with small rucksacks, so I guess that we stood out as being different to their normal guests. We told him that we were going for a walk to the top of the hill. He told us that wasn’t possible as this was a private resort. There were very sinister undertones to what he said to us - such a mentioning a 12 bore shot gun with rock salt if he had seen us going around the gate. Basically, he escorted us off the premises. I was slightly outraged (even though we were trespassing) and I now think that the place is more like “The Village” from “The Prisoner “than Disney World.
We chilled out in the afternoon and went to “Foggy Mountain” for a drink with Jeff and Pam.
12 June 2011 Canouan to Saline Bay, Mayreau
We dodged a few squalls and had a great reach to Mayreau. Before leaving, I made up a trolling lure from a herring that I had salted. Just outside Salt Whistle Bay, I got a bite from a big fish. The line quickly whizzed off the reel so I grabbed the rod and gave it a couple of quick tugs. Unfortunately the fish got away – taking my herring with it. I’m guessing that it was a big Barracuda because we were only in 10 metres of water.
We anchored in Saline Bay with “Foggy Mountain” and another yacht. This is such a great anchorage – steady winds and a beautiful beach. I don’t know why people bother to anchor in Salt Whistle Bay which is always very crowded. We went snorkelling on the Wreck of the Purina, which is a world war two gunboat just outside the bay in about 10-15 metres of water. We dived on this 15 years ago, but now it is within the Marine Park and all diving has to be with a local dive centre. There was no current and the water was clear so we had a great time free-diving down to the wreck.
We chilled out after our Dorado sandwich for lunch and then went snorkelling with “Foggy Mountain”, which was shallow but we saw lots of small lobster.
We had “Foggy Mountain” and Krista and Bill from “Secoudon” around for drinks – started at six o’clock and finished at half past nine, lubricated by the bottle of rum that Krista brought.
13 June 2011 Saline Bay, Mayreau
I felt a bit “dull” this morning, mostly due to Krista’s rum which seemed to magically appear in my glass last night.
We went for walk across the island to the windward side and along a nice deserted beach. The beach eventually petered out and we picked up a small, partially overgrown track that continued along the coast line. We came across several small isolated beaches with magnificent views of the Tobago Cays and the turquoise waters over reefs. After an hour, we arrived at Salt Whistle Bay which is a pretty little bay, but packed with yachts. We walked up the hill back to the main village and got drenched by a big squall that caught us out.
We lounged about in the afternoon because it was too hot to do anything.
14 June 2011 Saline Bay, Mayreau
There’s a strong Tropical Wave moving through the area, so we decided to stay here for another day. Our aft toilet has been getting harder and harder to pump out, so I stripped it down and replaced all of the seals and moving parts. Not the nicest job in the world, but at least we haven’t been using it for any “heavy” work for the last week, so it was relatively clear. It works a treat now.
Glenys spent the day sewing - making a slight modification to the ober-windscoop and making a fitted bed sheet.
I’m glad that we stayed because some serious squalls hit us in the afternoon – 30 knot winds and heavy rain. It was a pain to keep having to open and close hatches as each squall went through – a hot, sticky, miserable afternoon.
15 June 2011 Saline Bay, Mayreau
We had another cool, breezy night. There was a short spell of rain, but the Ober-windscoop did it job and no rain came in through our hatch. Our anti-mosquito regime has also been working well – we’ve been putting the mosquito screen on the hatch in our cabin, putting the mosquito frame in the washboard and closed all other hatches. I’ve now gone a week without a single bite – touch wood…
The weather forecast seem to indicate that the Tropical Wave has gone past us, but there was a lot of Cumulus cloud to the east of us in the morning, so we decided to stay put and go to Union tomorrow. I took advantage of the fast Internet connection and added some Google Earth pages to our web site while Glenys did some sewing.
The afternoon was dreadful. We had a few rain showers and then at about three o’clock, the wind picked up to gale force. All the boats in the anchorage were veering about in the 40 knots gusts. We had to take down the Ober-windscoop in fear of it being ripped away. There was two hours of high winds and lashing rain as a front went through. White caps formed outside the bay and visibility dropped to about ¼ mile in the heavy rain. Quite a few yachts were caught out between the islands and limped into Saline Bay in the gusts, gratefully dropping anchor in the relatively calm bay.
The wind dropped off in the evening and it was just a little bit rolly.