The Windward Islands are further from
the US, and thus a little more laid-back and 'Island-Time' is more established.
A pretty, underdeveloped island we enjoyed the laid-back Happy Hour at the
Coconut Beach Hotel and went on a mangrove tour with 'Adventure Eric', a father
of 3 who was going to get married 'some day'. The capital city of Rousseau
was pretty shabby and we were glad we had chosen to anchor in the northern part
of the island near the hotel.
Another French island, Martinique is a province of Paris, and baguettes were
once again available. In 1902 Mt Pele, the main volcano erupted, and
killed 30,000 people in the town of St Pierre - a disaster that could have been
avoided if people had listened to the experts rather the the mayor who was
trying to avoid panic. The town still has the ruins of the buildings
from 90 years earlier.
A fairly prosperous island with a full-service marina, we drove around the
island is search of the sights - and found a smoldering mud pool and lots of
beaches. Entering the anchorage in Marigot Bay was fascinating - it is
reputed that Lord Nelson hid an entire fleet in the bay invisible from the sea
and eyes of the French Navy.
St Vincent had a reputation for aggressive boat-boys, so we gave it a miss -
regretably since others who stopped found it delightful. Bequia is an
island full of craftsmen - one can buy exquisite models of sailing craft from
the carvers on ex-whaling station. In fact, they still have the right to
go after whales if they feel the need. The other craft of note is batik,
and we succumbed and bought a few pieces - just to help the local economy.
Mustique
This is a rich, private island with multi-million dollar houses belonging to
the rich and famous - Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, David Bowie and the
like. We ogled the homes and the well-tended golf course before mooring
near the waterfront restaurant.
Canouan/Tobago Cays
Canouan was a small, dusty island with some subsistence fishing, a little
development, and not much else. The Tobago Cays however, were the cat's
meow! We loved that we could anchor in 10' of clear water, and swim to the
edge of the reef and see spectacular coral - the best we ever saw in the
Caribbean. A small lobster found its way onto our spear for a snack.
Enterprising boat-boys would run fresh bread and frozen milk out from Union Isl.
to sell to the cruisers and charter boats.
Mayreau/Union/Palm Island
These small islands had little to commend them - we spent a day at each and
we moved south to get out of the hurricane belt before September.
Carriacou
It was fascinating to watch the local craftsmen build 45' boats on the beach,
selecting shaped branches for the curved parts of the boats so they would not
have to bend them.
Grenada had recently been 'liberated' by American forces from Cubans, and it
was interesting. Surprisingly, several natives approached us and thanked
us for the US intervention. We spent 2 weeks in Secret Harbour, and found
it delightful! The people were nice, the cattle woke us with their mooing
in the mornings, and cruisers met on Hog Island on weekends for a barbeque and
fun and games. We visited spice plantations and distilleries and bought
some of the worst rum imaginable. Finally, an overnighter took us to Los Testigos,an island of
Venezuela
No Pictures
Unfortunately we have NO pictures of these beautiful islands because of the
loss
of our storage locker in the USA.
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