Gill and Pauls' Time in the Grenadines

We (Paul and Gill Slater) followed Reinhard as guests on the 'Piano'. We have known Sue and Malcolm for many years as I used to work with Sue. Paul and I retired last year, giving us the opportunity to take up Sue and Malcolm’s invitation to join them for some sailing. Our previous experience of sailing is in dinghies and on flotilla holidays around the Greek islands. 'Piano' is definitely a step up from this!

We arrived in St Lucia late afternoon on 26th February, getting to Rodney Bay about 5 o’clock. After a meal at Bosun’s Locker we collapsed into bed, ready to be up bright and early.

The following morning we joined Reinhard and Sue on a trip around St Lucia, exploring the island before we set off on our sailing trip. In spite of the jet lag, we really enjoyed getting a feel for the area, visiting Castries,

Reinhard was here too 

 Marigot Bay and Anse de Raye. Edward, our driver, pointed out breadfruit, calabash, avocado, mango, banana and cashew fruits with nuts forming on them. At Place cassava we watched a farmer digging for cassava roots. These were used in the bakery to make cassava bread and sell cassava flour. 

Cassava Root.

We also stopped at several view points, giving us the opportunity to see Dennery and Font a Dir. We followed a detour where the road had been completely washed away during the Christmas storms. We arrived back at Rodney Bay in time for sundowners and pizza.

On 28th we used the dinghy to reach the large supermarkets at Rodney Bay, stocking up on provisions before motoring out into the bay and anchoring. We had our first experience of snorkelling in the beautiful, warm Caribbean waters with an astounding variety of fish.

1st March gave we set off early on our first sail on 'Piano'. Malcolm and Sue had planned a fantastic trip for us, combining plenty of sailing with the opportunity to visit and explore the islands of the Caribbean, particularly the Grenadines. This was a fairly short sail, arriving at the Pitons in time to snorkel before lunch. Malcolm and Paul then went in the dinghy to sign out while Sue and I sheltered from the rain showers, had a dip and baked a cake.  Dinner on board followed by 2 episodes of Black Adder.

2nd March saw us on one of the longest sails of the trip, leaving by 7 and arriving at Bequia just in time for sundowners at 6.00 p.m. The weather was very mixed, We had a good start, then the wind dropped and we had to motor sail. This was followed by rain showers, some with no wind and some with squalls of 20-30 knots. It was also choppy, with quite a swell. Eventually arrived at Admiralty Bay in evening sunshine. We were followed at one point by a large pod of dolphins. The next morning we went ashore and took a truck to the top of Mount Pleasant, giving views of St Vincent. We walked back down then visited the market to stock up on fruit and veg, getting the chance to try various fruits before we bought them. We had lunch in the Fig Tree before returning to Piano for a refreshing swim. Hazel and Tony (S/Y Longbow of Itchen) were in the bay and joined us for sundowners. We returned ashore to Port Elizabeth the next morning for a bit more shopping, then took the dinghy for some spectacular snorkelling. In the afternoon we sailed round to Friendship Bay, where we dropped a stern anchor as it was a very rolly mooring.

What Fun...

5th March we left Bequia and sailed to Mustique. I had my first experience at helming, which was great. Malcolm’s advice and support made sure that we stayed on course and arrived without incident, in time for lunch. The variety of fish we saw when snorkelling was again stunning, also a turtle close to the boat.  We went ashore for sundowners at Basil’s bar and all had one of his famous cocktails. 

The next morning we went ashore to explore Mustique, an island that is quite different from the other Caribbean islands. It is well manicured and beautifully kept. We walked around the northern end and past the library to Endeavour Bay, eating a picnic lunch on the white sand and swimming in the turquoise sea. We carried on to Sandy Bay, then called in at Basil’s for beers before returning to 'Piano' for dinner of roast pork. We woke the following morning to find an oil tanker moored in the bay, with a pipeline to the island. Paul and I snorkelled from the boat while Malcolm used the dive gear to renew the propeller . We went ashore in the afternoon and walked through the nature reserve on the south of the island, which had mangrove swamps and a lagoon. We finished with a swim from  the white sand beach. 

8th March we sailed from Mustique to Canouan, a 2 hour sail with good winds behind us all the way. Paul helmed most of the way, I also took a turn as it was choppy and my first experience of helming across the waves. We arrived in time for lunch and went to pick up a bit of shopping from the one town on Canouan. Unfortunately the ATM wasn’t working. We had lunch on board, then went snorkelling, seeing many fish that we hadn’t seen before – not sure what they were because it is much harder to identify them back on the boat that you think! Ian and Jackie (S/Y Blackthorne Lady) were in the bay, so they came over for sundowners, bringing a large jug of rum punch. The next morning Paul, Malcolm and I explored Canouan, walking over to the other side of the island and back passed the salt flats. It was a bit of a rainy afternoon, so Sue and I went to the dive shop to try (unsuccessfully) to get the regulator fixed  while Malcolm fitted a new bow propeller. As the ATM was open, we were able to go to the Mango Restaurant for dinner – our first taste of Caribbean fish. Very nice, but we got soaked on the way back to 'Piano'.

Land Iguana, Baradal Island Tobago Cays

10th March  we had a good sail to the Tobago Cays, arriving at about 11.30 am. This is a beautiful group of uninhabited islands that form a Marine Park. There are so many different shades of blues and turquoises in the sea, it is unbelievable. We dropped anchor between the islands and were immediately visited by a number of small boats, offering to help us anchor, sell us fruit and veg and various other items. We bought a fresh loaf and ordered croissants for the next morning. We also bought tickets for a beach BBQ from Michael, who arranged to pick us up at 7.00 pm. After coffee, we took the dinghy to Baradal Island and snorkeled just off the beach. There were turtles everywhere, we just swam above them and watched them.   Also, lots of coral and different fish, including a Flying Gunard. After lunch we walked on the island, seeing land iguanas. Michael took us to the BBQ in the evening, fresh lobster with a selection of Caribbean vegetables and fresh fruit. We spent 2 nights here, admiring the huge variety of coral and sea life.

12th March we left after coffee and headed for Union Island. As it wasn’t far, we only had the yankee up. Good wind. We arrived in time for lunch, then headed ashore to stock up on provisions. There is a very colourful market area. We went back ashore to Barracuda Bar for sundowners – cocktails and tapas. The tapas were so big it doubled up as dinner! Definitely a place to be recommended. Next morning Paul, Malcolm and I walked up to the fortress at the end of the island. It was quite a climb but the views were fantastic. It was a very clear day and we had fantastic views of all of the Grenadines. We got back to 'Piano' to find the toilet door had broken and couldn’t be opened, so Paul and Malcolm had to take it apart. We then had a short sail to Chatham Bay. We anchored for the night and went snorkelling, seeing lots of starfish.  The following morning we snorkelled, seeing a French Angel fish, then after coffee motored the short distance to Mayreau. This is the only inhabited island in the Marine Park, with one small town.

16th March A really good sail of about 5 hours back to Bequia. There was quite a bit of rain but really good winds.  We went to Mac’s for pizzas for dinner. The next day was spent in Bequia, stocking up on provisions,

 (we discovered Doris’s, a real emporium) Malcolm tried the dive shop, and snorkelling. We were entertained by a small turtle swimming around the boat. Last night’s pizzas were so large, they did lunch today as well.  The final day at Bequia gave us the opportunity to walk to Fort Hamilton at the end of Admiralty Bay, giving good views. After a quick swim we joined Elkie and Franz, (S/Y Yan Pleziere) with their visitors Ingrid and Bordo, for sundowners at the Fig Tree.  

19th March we left Bequia at 6.30 am and arrived at Martinique at 9.00 pm. An excellent days sailing, good winds all the way except for about 1 1/2  hours when we were in the lee of St Vincent. Reached 7-8 knots all the rest of the time. Big seas between St Vincent and St Lucia, but this time it was in the sunshine! We arrived and anchored in the dark in St Anne’s bay. We were a bit taken aback the next morning, when we saw all the fishing buoys we had managed to avoid. We went shopping at the large supermarket, then explored the small town of St Ann’s. Martinique is totally different from the other islands we have visited, totally French and far more roads and traffic, also some very nice buildings.

21st March we left St Anne’s by 7.00am for a very fast sail to Fort de France, arriving by 11.00, much earlier than Malcolm expected. We made some sandwiches and went ashore to explore. This is by far the biggest city we have seen in the Caribbean, with lots of interesting buildings, especially the library. Lots of French boutiques.

22nd March we left Martinique at 8.30am, for our final sail back to St Lucia. We arrived back in Rodney Bay for lunch. This gave us a day to try to remove all the salt from 'Piano' and get it back to the pristine condition it was in when we arrived. We finished the holiday a we had begun, with dinner at Bosun’s Locker, before returning to the airport on the 24th via Pigeon Island. This was a fantastic trip and we would like to thank Sue and Malcolm for their hospitality and their planning.

Reinhards Time in The Caribbean Feb/March

Leg: St. Lucia to St. Lucia 6th to 27th Feb 2014

This blog is not written by Sue. As Malcolm and Sue’s first time second mate in the Caribbean I volunteered to write down what we experienced during this time.

I am Reinhard Struefing and I know Malcolm back from the seventies when he worked and I studied in Kiel/Germany. In the eighties we both worked in Reading and shared our past time: windsurfing and sailing. Since then we always kept in touch , in the nineties together with Sue.

Working part time now, I gladly accepted Malcolm and Sue’s invitation to accompany them in Caribbean waters.

Arriving at St. Lucia in the evening after 10 hours flight from Hamburg via Frankfurt I experienced a very warm welcome by Malcolm and Sue. Next morning at day light I could marvel at 'Piano’s' new gelcoat, what an elegant yacht!

Since we wanted to do a lot of sailing we set off immediately. Despite a lot of clouds and some rain sailing was very impressive: warm weather, just T-Shirt and shorts, Atlantic swell, deep blue water, all this I hardly had experienced during my Baltic Sea cruises. We arrived in St. Anne on Martinique a nice, not too touristy place in the south of Martinique. On the 8^th the dinghy first was used to check in at immigration, by the way, this job kept the skipper busy at all anchorages. Then we used the dinghy to visit the local supermarket to buy French food, Chilean wine and German beer and pay with Euros, global world. The afternoon I enjoyed swimming in turquoise waters so warm that it almost felt like silk, a daring comparison, but in this area one has to become enthusiastic.

The 9^th saw us sailing to Fort de France, the capital of Martinique which protected by a big fortress developed to a city, though remarkably quiet on a Sunday afternoon and so we went to immigration on Monday. So we started our longest leg of this trip on Monday 10^th aiming for St. Martin 250 miles away. Passing the Mount Pelé, the big volcano in the north of Martinique, we encountered a lot of dolphins busy with hunting their lunch. During evening and night we sailed along Dominica and later Guadeloupe, of course in a moon lit night, just to meet the stereotypes, and still with just T-Shirt and shorts.

Passing some more islands we arrived at the French part St. Martin on Wednesday 12th and dropped anchor at Marigot Bay. Here I first saw the super sailing yachts (in the Baltic you hardly find them) with masts so high that red lights mark these as air traffic obstacles, perhaps a status symbol of the very rich. Malcolm immediately went to work to find out why the generator’s cooling was not working. He identified the exhaust elbow but could not fix it because of lack of spare parts. So the engine had to charge the batteries. For tea Mike from S/Y Right Turn came over , one of the many friends Malcolm and Sue know from their former cruises. For dinner we went by dinghy into the lagoon, very stylish to park your dinghy next to the table.

The next two days we spent snorkeling, exploring the lagoon (with many more super yachts) and sailing to Grand Case Bay, very nice for its beach and the restaurants. On the 15^th we started very early for the British Virgin Islands in order to arrive there still at daylight but after some hours we realized we would not make it in time. So we turned back again. By the way, our early start was more than compensated by a sunrise and a simultaneous moon set. After passing St. Martin we headed for Ile Fourchue near St. Barths. This uninhabited island is nice for snorkeling. All these different kinds of fish are fascinating, especially for someone like me who just knows cod and sole.

During the 16^th we moved on some 3 miles to Columbiere beach at St. Barth, on a Sunday very busy with local yachts. Here we could observe a turtle unimpressed by human beings. Next day it was a short trip to the main anchorage of St. Barth. Needless to say, that we passed more super yachts. The former Swedish, now French island seems to me almost like the St. Tropez of the French West Indies.

Tuesday 18^th we were sailing again: On our way back Malcom and Sue wanted to show me Antiqua. We had to beat one more time, sometimes in squally conditions. We arrived around midnight and anchored at Five Island bay waiting for day light to enter Jolly Harbour, a nice tourist settlement where one can park the boat next to the terrace. After the usual check in we took a bus into St. Johns, a lively “normal” Caribbean town and capital of Antigua. However, the highlight of

 Antigua is Nelson’s Dockyard, a very pleasant place, to which we sailed on Thursday 20^th. Walking around the restored buildings I almost felt like a contemporary of Nelson specially after having visited the museum. Although there are lots of super yachts around this place feels not so posh because these boats were in use by many sailors.

With not many remaining days we left Antiqua during the afternoon on Friday the 21st and had a nice overnight sail along Guadeloupe to Dominica where we arrived during the morning. At Portsmouth anchorage we were welcomed by Titus, one of the boat boys. He arranged for us an excursion on Sunday 23rd, quite an adventure as it turned out. Paul, our guide, was reluctant to guide us because to his opinion one should rest on Sundays. The minibus he drove had seen better days: The bumper had to be but back in position occasionally by a kick, the engine overheated in the middle of nowhere,

 but some bottles of water revitalized it. Two boys, apparently on drugs stopped our bus asking for trouble but as Paul mentioned his black belt in martial arts they backed down immediately. Apart from this Dominica has all the ingredients of stereotype Caribbean Island: abundant, often unspoiled  vegetation, big mountains, quite a number of beaches, waterfalls, rain forests. Paul is a flora expert. So we learned a lot about plants but why he often related to the nanu(?) plant remains unknown for Malcolm and me: it has a good impact on the prostrate.

After a nice barbecue organized by the boat boys we said good bye to Dominica, sailed south and arrived at St. Pierre, Martinique on the 24^th. This place is a bit like a modern Pompeii. In 1902 St. Pierre was destroyed by an eruption of the volcano Mount Pele. 30000 people died , only 2 survivors, one of them a death sentenced prisoner. Unlike Pompeii this little town is rebuilt but some ruins still can be visited.

On the 25^th we hoisted anchor for my last leg on this trip. After a pleasant reach we entered the marina of Rodney Bay during the afternoon. Suddenly game( or sail) over for me. For sun downer,  Susan and Andrew (S/Y Andromeda) came to greet us, small world as they are members of the Burghfield Sailing Club. But before and on the next day maintenance had to be done: rinsing the boat with fresh water, taking the spray hood to the sailmakers, laundry, preparing the generator for the engineer and so on. In the afternoon the new guests arrived: Paul and Gill. So we tested “Piano” for hosting 5 people which worked very well.

Going to the airport on the other side of St. Lucia we wanted to have a closer look at St. Lucia. So Sue, Gill, Paul and I (Malcolm had to stay with the engineer) took a taxi along western route to have a look at the two pitons at Soufriere. The sulfur springs and botanical gardens can be found there as well and are worth visiting.

Then it was time to say good bye: I have to express my gratitude to Malcolm and Sue for enabling my best sailing holiday. I think we got on really well but I apologize for not being an expert cook, I did not meet their standards but I will work on it in case there is a second chance. And I apologize for my English: it has got a bit rusty over the years.