We are travelling again! Sorta ;P

Well hot damn! We have had the amazing privilege to travel again (it was a privilege before but now during COVID times is like a super mega privilege x1000 that very few people have).

After receiving our negative COVID test results, in early July we left Young’s Cut fairly quickly. No offence to Young’s Cut at all, it was a beautiful spot, Jimmy and Nicole were so good at organizing everything and the mooring balls were in really good shape…we were just eager to get a move on. After being in one bay in Dominica for almost 4 months we were not suffering from the “lets slow down and relax” kinda thing that can happen when you are moving from place to place frequently. In fact we would have left when as soon as we got the test results except Greg and I needed SIM cards for our phones and the store in Kingstown wasn’t open on the weekend (we got our test results late Friday afternoon). Between the negative test and our departure on Monday we squeezed in a very cool hike up Fort Duvernette and the inspection of a few very interesting churches in Kingstown.

Ok so back to sailing. Yes SAILING!! We left Young’s Cut and had the hopes of heading SE towards two uninhabited islands (Battowia and Baliceaux) for the day to shoot some lion fish and explore…the anchorage was supposed to be rough and the islands haunted so we didn’t plan to stay overnight. Well we got a nice taste of current against wind on our way there and decided no thanks, and bailed for Bequia. It wasn’t dangerous or anything…just more sporty than we felt we needed to endure and likely too rough for that day anchorage. So rather than have the waves bash into our side while we pushed forward at a slow rate, we made a 90 degree turn to the SW and found ourselves in the lee of Bequia sooner than later and riding down some big waves (still against the current though so we weren’t screaming along too fast)! We successfully (by chance) out ran a squall that we lost sight of S/V Bliss in but they had the pleasure of catching a big wahoo while we were already anchored (which we helped them eat).

The Grenadines are comprised of 32 small islands including but not limited to Bequia, Mustique, Union, Canouan, Palm Island, Mayreau, Young Island, Tobago Cays, Petite Saint Vincent, Quatre, Petite Mustique and the aforementioned Battowia and Baliceaux…and many more! Those mentioned are get-to-able for the most part, in good conditions, and of those some much more than others. The major head turning moment for us when SVG opened was the ability to sail between islands for a portion of the summer rather than head right down to Grenada and sit in one spot for a time, move to another anchorage for a time, and repeat. Now that’s not entirely fair to Grenada because there are many anchorages on that big island and sailing from north to south (17 miles) is actually quite a bit further than the sail between most of the islands in the Grenadines…which means we could get some good sailing in moving from place to place in Grenada. As well, Carriacou belongs to Grenada which is one of the most southern islands in the Grenadines so there’s that as another destination. But the allure of so many islands to hop around in SVG was real for us, and besides, we were still planning to go to Grenada, just a bit later than originally thought. Maybe part of this feeling about Grenada is that for me, it signifies the end of “season 1 // year 1” for us on the boat. And I’m not sure what “season 2 // year 2” has in store for us…as such I’m a bit reluctant to cross that finish line. For Greg I think it’s more about the pending boat work as a looming cloud of stress and cost. Either way, we aren’t giving Grenada a fair shake and we know it.

That said, we’ve been here for about 5 weeks now and it’s been so so so nice to sail up and down this chain. We felt strongly we wanted to get to the Tobago Cays early in case a big storm came (cue two other blog posts, one on the Cays specifically and one on Gonzalo who showed up early in the season!). So we prioritized that anchorage and then after 8 glorious days there we start to move around. A quick snapshot of our Grenadines experience so far:

Look at all the boats in Admiralty Bay! Greg’s finder is pointing to Matriarch ;) Taken from Peggy’s Rock.

BEQUIA

When we left Young’s Cut we were boat 9 in SVG’s new process and so we were expecting most of the Grenadines to be fairly empty. And looking forward to it! Alas we arrive in Bequia and there were TONS OF BOATS?! Where the hell did all these people come from??? Well turns out Bequia has a lot of ex-pats and there were a lot of boats that weathered COVID there. Who knew? Man, what a change of scenery from Dominica where we were the last of 4 boats when we left - 4 in the whole country! We weren’t disappointed or anything, just surprised! Our next surprise was how absolutely stunning the water was, deep in the anchorage but crystal clear to the extent of being able to see every little blade of sea grass or every small rock you tried to avoid when dropping the anchor. Bequia felt like a resort town…we had gotten very used to the rural remote living in Dominica (and loved it!) and Bequia was a bit of a shock to the system. Kingstown on mainland St. Vincent was too for that matter. We were told that SVG was very rural but compared to what we were used to it felt like a bustling metropolis.

One of our first stops in Bequia was an incredibly well stocked chandlery - the first one we’ve seen since St. Martin. Another shock to the system…you could get everything there! LED lights! Dry bags! Gaff! 10gallon buckets! Oil! Filters! Deck hardware! It was amazing…and then I was amazed that I found it amazing ;) We ended up getting a few things we needed (gaff, bucket, oil) but didn’t indulge in the things we wanted yet. We hadn’t discussed it directly but Greg and I both had the feeling of dollars flying away from us on this island and we were already guarding against it a bit. Needless to say, dinner out that night at Mac’s Pizza and Kitchen, while delicious, was the last one on that island probably for us…(she says now).

Me, joyously making my way back down to sea level from Peggy’s Rock…or not so joyously…I may have refused to turn around for that picture…it’s all a blur.

While in Bequia Greg made it known that there was a really intense hike he wanted to do with a great view at the top (Peggy’s Rock)…so without looking at the trail myself we all packed up our water and snacks and headed to the trailhead on a local bus. After we hopped of the bus we began climbing…up…and more up…and more up….and holy crap could I ever tell I live my life at sea level. Sucking wind like a vacuum I got to the top with the kids and our friends without too much embarrassment (i.e. I didn’t lie down and take a nap like I wanted to half-way), and truly the view was amazing. The day was hot but the breeze was cool and constant so we all hung out on this 10ft x 10ft sort of open space admiring the view and pounding our almonds, cookies, and water for at least half and hour. We will not discuss the way back down other than to say it was steep ;P

We plan to head back there before leaving SVG for another dip in the chandlery and a fish supply store, a more fulsome provisioning then we’ve found further south (like maybe some cheese and yogurt!!) and probably a few more hikes and snorkels :)

CANOUAN

Bequia was beautiful but we had this nagging thought that it was hurricane season after all and if we wanted to see Tobago Cays (we did) we really should get down there as soon as possible before a storm forces us out. Sooo we said goodbye to Bequia for now with the hopes that the storm season this year is super chill and we have time to go back in a few weeks and headed to Canouan - a 10 square mile island that literally hadn’t had a tourist since March until we dropped our anchor in the bay. In fact there was picture taking at one of the local places on shore by the owner who was pretty psyched to see us. We only spend two nights here (Tobago Cays were a siren’s call) but we really loved the pace and temperament of the island. It was much more chill than Bequia and the people we met were so open and kind we spent an entire day literally making friends as we walked through the town. We found a great hilltop bar run by Jovi who offered us cold Hiroun (local beer) and fruit smoothies for the kids and further down the hill we followed the sounds of reggae to find Maxwells where Darlynne and I played a few locals in dominoes (I played terribly - I blame being distracted by the great DJ), indulged in a few more cold beers and then said goodbye to everyone and carried our roadie for the walk back ;)

It felt very familiar (not sure why but I think felt similar to Portsmouth, Dominica) and in a way we were reluctant to leave after only two days, especially since people are struggling on these islands without tourists…if that’s what we are (“tourists”). The label doesn’t really matter except that you don’t “holiday” like a “tourist” when you live on your boat full-time unless you have unlimited funds (nope not us). Cruisers and charter boats spend money differently but those nuances aren’t necessary understood by people who aren’t doing either activity - totally understandable. It just means sometimes we have to navigate expectations of locals who are offering tours, car rentals, beach BBQs and other really fun but really expensive things to do if you do them on a regular basis. Gotta pace on those things when this is your life for years vs. this being your life for a week or two. It’s especially hard to pass on some of these opportunities when you know people on the island are struggling so we have said yes to a few more of these things than we normally would…

Found this tiny patch of beach after our octopus adventure and we were just basking in the awesomeness of life at that moment…and the kids were playing with rocks (IDK)…

All that said, possibly one of the most amazing encounters of my life were at this island…we, all 5 of us, swam for the better part of an hour with one, and then two, octopus along a shallow reef. I am mildly obsessed with octopus and to be able to watch one hunt, instantly camouflage to take on the exact look of a rock, then a reef fish, then the sand…was my version of a spiritual experience. We had so much time with this amazing creature and it let us float over top, fully aware we were there of course, for so long that I felt so connected to the natural world I think in some way it changed me forever. I know it sounds super cheese-ball but spend 30 minutes with an octopus in the wild and you see if you feel the same about life!

We have since returned to this island (I write from here now) and have started walking all over starting with a very challenging 4 mile walk (yes only 4 miles but damn it was hot and very steep) that took us to the windward side and right down into a very high end resort where we spend a stupid amount of money on a very tasty lunch but were able to negotiate a free ride back to our dinghy so that took the sting out a little bit. (Thanks to Darlynne from S/V Bliss for making that happen!). Today will likely be squally so we are tackling boat work and hope to sneak out for a swim at the beach of another resort that is currently closed (meaning we can sit on the lounge chairs and have it all to ourselves!).

There is a great fruit / veg market right off the main dock and give we just ate our last two mangoes and the last coconut it’s time to visit that as well ;)

TOBAGO CAYS

During our first stop in Canouan Predict Wind told us we had a beautiful week ahead of dry skies and steady winds so it was time to bounce. Darlynne and Harry on Bliss made friends with a local who just launched his boat and came around before we up-anchored to show us and then he casually mentioned “I’ll maybe come by the Cays to see you guys!”…which we didn’t think much of at the time to be honest but our first morning there he showed up…with a 5 foot long crack in his hull that he suffered on the way over and his boat was very much sinking by the time he beached it with some help from us and S/V Bliss. Fortunately he was able to get a ride back home towing his boat…we haven’t seen him since we’ve been back but hope he was able to fix that up :S

Everything is so close here - we are talking 5 or so miles between islands - so we motored from Canouan to the Tobago Cays in under and hour with a bit of Genoa out for stability and our eyes on the charts and on the sea…it’s a pretty specific path you have to take into the Cays, even for for a monohaul that draws a modest 6’6”…there are reefs and rocks all around you and one channel in / out that you do not want to deviate from.

The Tobago Cays are magic…a huge protected marine park that is home to a mind-blowing number of huge sea turtles that clearly are older than I am, an amazing array of reef fish including sharks (we saw a lemon shark, nurse shark and black tip reef shark while snorkelling!) We will do // have done a blog post more specifically on the Tobago Cays - it deserves it’s own space :)

You know it’s clear when you can see a school of small reef squid from your deck!

MAYREAU

We eventually needed to dump our head (no dumping in marine park) and get rid of a bag of garbage so we headed out of the Cays and over to Mayreau. We’ve popped back and forth from Mayreau a few times now, a very cool little island with only a few hundred people living there and a few stunning anchorages. Again, the sailing aspect of the trip here is always brief - basically Maryreau is about 5nm or less from everywhere in the southern Grenadines…genny out and an easy pace. For our first trip there, the weather was beautiful and we were fine going 3.5knots as it would make our lovely 45 min journey just a bit longer :) We arrived in Salt Whistle Bay and were treated to a stunning C-shaped beach and again (sorry it never gets old for us) crystal clear waters and beautiful white sand. This anchorage was very small compared to most and our estimates had us thinking it would be pretty full with 25 boats but we were told on shore that in peak-pre-COVID times they could fit over 90!! Yikes. Apparently they anchor catamarans onshore with stern anchors as well and then fender up. Picture a row of parked cars along a main street in town…like that. On that beach there were some VERY friendly cats and one that would not leave me alone while working - it was cute until it wasn’t.

Saline Bay we enjoyed on our second visit and the beach was a lone line of perfection despite the huge Machineel trees that dropped hundreds of sweet smelling poison apples…I tell you that tree truly fascinates me. (Liam battled one of these trees in Bequia and lost, see below, and that’s just from touching the leaves!)

On this island we meet a few cool people that ended up spending some time with us and our friends on S/V Bliss…Kenron, Aba, Freddy, and Alex were all pretty fun to hang out with, share some beers and spearfishing stories, and talk about life on a boat full-time (vs. life on a runabout that they use to work between islands)…despite living right on top of the sea the idea of a family sailing offshore down from the US seemed pretty crazy to them (sometimes it seems pretty crazy to us too). We owe them a domino match and I expect to get sorely beaten.

We haven’t spent that much time on land in Mayreau and plan to be back before heading down to Grenada…such a small and walkable island has us tempted to get to the highest peak and then back to the beach for a reward beer ;)

UNION ISLAND

One of several trips to Union so far to get some food. The Snack Shack had a really REALLY good brunch crepe and the Yummy Stuff Bakery and Cafe was as advertised ;)

This island is a stone’s throw from Mayreau, and where we’ve hopped to 3 or 4 times now to re-provision fairly well. The dry goods options are modest; however we had pretty good luck there with fruit and veg, bread and restaurants. The provisioning down here is nothing like on the mainland…fortunately before we left Dominica we spent weeks stocking up the boat again with canned goods and dried goods so we are eating our way through those items, topped up with the fresh items we can find down here. No growing on these islands but the produce comes down from Saint Vincent by ferry so it’s fairly well stocked - though has the travel surcharge (understandable) which makes things about 2x the cost we had in Dominica.

On Union I did something I’ve not done for years…I bought a new bathing suit :P As one can imagine the salt and sun destroy many things and my collections of old, cheap and otherwise shitty suits that I’ll held onto since high school (no joke) are starting to fall apart. I plan to buy some from a handmade designer in Toronto but in the meantime on Union we went into the Salty Girl store and I got one 50% off! Funny how a year on a boat and so much time in the Caribbean has me so indifferent to teeny tiny bathing suits…it’s nice to shake off the I-need-coverage // body image stuff ;) I also indulged in a hat purchase…why am I making such a big deal about buying a few things?? Well seriously we don’t buy much we can’t eat these days (or drink) so when we do it feels like something worth writing about hahaha…I will move on.

Like all the islands, Union has been hit hard by COVID, maybe more than some. The people we met on this island seemed more stressed about their business than on the other islands so far, which stands to reason as there is a Customs office here where charter boats (with all their tourist dollars) would check in and out of here to or from Grenada, it is a popular place to have a meal out and buy groceries before hopping over to the Cays or somewhere else…no charters means no business. On top of that they had a catastrophic and deadly explosion at the gas station just a few months ago that wracked the community. We go often and I hope that the island comes on better times soon.

Lots of anchorages here including Chatham Bay which is big for an island so small and reminded me a bit of Portsmouth (Dominica) but with 99% less people along the shore. Almost uniformly 4m with mostly sand it’s worth the swirly winds you get from the high hills…we love that spot.

View of Chatham Bay from an impromtu hike up a steep and rocky hillside…worth it to get this pic and…you know get some exercise.

PETITE SAINT VINCENT & MOPION

Mopion was a very cool spot. When it arrived it was full of people but they all left after about 30 mins on various water taxis and we had the place to ourselves!

This spot was a cool little hang out for a few days - given that Petite Saint Vincent is a privately owned island with an exclusive resort rife with security that is still patrolling during COVID times we didn’t get on that island at all. In fact friends of ours on S/V Fearless and S/V Wilderness got hustled off the beach (which technically they were allowed to be on)…so it sounds like the time there sucked but it didn’t! The view was stunning, the island was beautiful to look at and the snorkelling around the shore was like a nursery + aquarium in one including baby octopus and a billion fish that are like Micro-Machines of the adult version (remember Micro-Machines? I loved those things…).

A quick 1nm ride from Matriarch was a little sandy spit of an island called Mopion. The only thing that you can see of Mopion is the one palapa on the east side (using side magnanimously here)…the whole island was maybe 50 paces long and wide! Surrounded by a VERY shallow reef there are just a few spots you can sneak in with your dingy and if you take a wrong turn snorkelling (like I did) you find yourself crawling over sharp stuff trying very hard not to touch anything that you can hurt, or can hurt you. We came with several other boats and a few coolers with beer and for a few glorious hours we owned that island. It was ours. It was awesome. Very cool place and worth being kicked out of other places for ;)

We didn’t stay too long, 3 nights, but it was relaxing and in a way uncomplicated to be in a spot where you didn’t really feel compelled to go explore (because you couldn’t really). Totally different to do so by our own choosing rather than say, during a quarantine.

GRENADA (Whhhhhhaaaatttt?)

And speaking of quarantine…why is Grenada in this blog post? Well because during the middle of all of this Tropic Storm / at times Hurricane Gonzalo decided to veer south rather than north and forced us to bail quickly to a safe harbour in Grenada during which time we were quarantined to the boat (obviously, having not checked in or gone through their COVID-related processes) in a crowded, very deep and none-to-clean anchorage. Was not love at first sight. We were pleased when the storm passed and we could sail back north to what felt like paradise.

Greg is writing // has written a separate post on our decision making and execution during our first taste of what it’s like living on a sailboat in the Caribbean during hurricane season.

Phew! So that’s as brief a summary of the places we’ve been enjoying for the last 5-6 weeks as I can provide…there are a few places left we hope to visit (Palm Island is right here but requires the right conditions, Quatre would be cool, and for that we have to go back to Bequia and we still haven’t given up on Battowia and Baliceaux entirely). While the area we are travelling around is small and somewhat homogeneous, there are unique little treasures and distinct experiences and people that will keep these islands separate in our minds. It’s been such a pleasure to wake up in the morning and contemplate going somewhere, even if it’s only an hour sail away, somewhere different, somewhere new, somewhere lovely that we’d like to see again. The sense of freedom renewed, if not temporarily, has been so so wonderful. As our time in SVG winds down (we will not renew for a 3rd 30 days and our current 30 days runs out the end of this month) we are planning out the, haul-put and boat jobs for Grenada and mapping out how we can maybe get some family down to visit us and follow all of their COVID processes and procedures.

Wish so many of you could be with us.

Much love, M