Union Island – Tobago Cays – Mayreau – Carriacou – Grenada

I am not going to pretend that the last three weeks have been easy. Yes we are in an episode of Paradise Island, yes I had my bestie on board visiting from Perth but sciatica pain can be such a disabilitating monster that each day I was grateful to get through it without chopping off my left leg. That aside, the Caribbean truly is a magical place…the people, the beaches, the remoteness (compared to the Med) is really special and I have had an opportunity to enjoy it, especially seeing it through Fliss’s eyes.

We had a relatively easy passage to Union Island. Si and Fliss managed without me but Si pretty much had to do a 10 hour watch on his own. Fliss did great as it was her first off shore overnight passage and did extremely well. Minus the flying iPad injury and jumping on the captains toes :-)

Barbados Passage & Union Island

Once we cleared customs/immigration at Clifton, Union Island, Si organised a new internet/phone plan before we made our way to Tobago Cays. The initial plan was to enter via the southern passage however just as we approached a rain squall threatened. We lost our sunshine and vision so we aborted the approach and made our way around Mayreau Island to the wider passage to the Cays. With the assistance of Jono, we got through safely and dropped anchor not far from the stern of Jono and Mornays’ new yacht “Outback”. We hadn’t seen Jono since our visit to Perth earlier this year. Trevor, also an old mate of ours, had joined Jono to assist in the delivery of their new yacht from Grenada to the British Virgin Islands (BVI’s). Tequila, rum and wine was the order of the day as Jono set to work on my back and all those pressure points that nearly send you through the roof…but you know that it is good for you.

Outback

Tobago Cays is a perfect location for kicking back and relaxing, arguably one of the nicest spots in the Caribbean. The vivid aqua water is shared by turtles, rays and the largest Angle fish that I had ever seen plus the common and colourful range of reef and “gold” fish. There are also some gorgeous islands, with white beaches, palm trees and some very climbable hills that would be a great walk if you did not have a bad back. After three days we sadly said goodbye to Jono and Trevor. The wind had picked up and we needed to find a more protected bay. Also Jono had a hard slog north that was likely to be not much fun.

We decided to head around the corner to Salt Whiskey Bay, Mayreau. A very picturesque bay with white sand, palm trees, green mountains rising in the background and most importantly, several beach bars. We caught up with Laridae and I managed to get off the boat for a short walk and a couple of beers at the local bar. The second night, mother nature treated us to an incredible lightening show that continued late into the night.

Unfortunately we had to keep moving so we went back around to Union island to check out before heading to Tyrell Bay in Carriacou. After nearly hitting a unmarked wreck that we thought was a swimming platform, we got the anchor down. Fliss made friends with our neighbours after accidentally letting the dingy loose. When the neighbour kindly returned it, she let the neighbour and the dingy go a second time but fortunately they didn’t go far :-) It was Saturday night so agreed that we all needed to dress up and head to the “Slip Way”. We were entertained by a Kiwi singer who was a bit confused when we started singing along to all his songs and requested more “Jimmy”. A fun night had by all.

Tyrell Bay

Tyrell Bay is well protected but full of cruisers. As lovely as they are, it really is not our scene and needed to find a place that we could swim and not have other boats on top of us. So we headed to Sandy Island. It is pretty unprotected and we did have a very windy night but we picked up a mooring buoy and kicked back and enjoyed the beauty of sandy island. The days drifted together, dawn broke and in no time at all the sun was setting…..where did the days go? Maybe it was the work involved in moving Aura 50 meters from the anchor to a mooring ball? Maybe it was the need to re-provision at “On the Hook” or the walk along our private beach. We did an amazing snorkel as the fish life is really special with lots of big schools of colourful fish. We occasionally spotted a turtle and the local boobie birds would do a fly by to say hi.

Sandy Island

Sandy Island

There are only so many times that you can say, “only one more night”, until you know it is time to move on. We made the day passage south, passing Tyrell Bay and then the tip of Carriacou. It was a surprise how quickly we past the island, north to south in such a short time. The windward side provided a little swell that tossed our dingy about. It was easier to tow it than put it up on the deck. We anchored at Calivigny Island with plenty of room to swing which was a good thing as it was a windy night. We took the dingy around to Le Fleur Bleu marina to have a look at where we had booked to spend the next 10 days. After having a look around we decided that although the resort was lovely, it was fairly remote and we would have to organise transport to get anywhere. The following day we contacted True Blue Marina and were fortunate that they had a spot for us so we brought the boat around to True Blue bay. We were the only non-charter boat on the dock but it was closer to the essentials, such as the supermarkets, the airport and the Budget Marine chandlery. The best thing was I could easily get off the boat. The marina also has two pools so great for doing gentle exercises.

We only had two days left with Fliss but spent it by the pool and enjoying the local cafes. We had a great night at the Dodgy Dock restaurant, joined by Louise and Garry on Takamoana.

It was sad to say goodbye to Felicity, it was amazing how the last three weeks flew past.