Carriocou to St.Lucia

 Looking at my calendar I see it has been two weeks since we left Grenada;  it feels like much longer than that. Eight islands later ( I’m including Sandy Island, Carriacou a mere spit of sand and coral in the count) each island seems to blur into the next and we are having trouble remembering the names of the anchorages and towns.  Two things remain constant. The weather has been outstanding. Day after day of sun and warmth with the occasional cloud thrown in giving us momentary shade for which we are quite grateful. It might very well rain during the night, but only for a few minutes, just long enough to require us to jump up and close the hatches. Repeat daily.   The scenery is just beautiful. Mountainous Islands, cute little towns, sandy beaches all surrounded by turquoise waters.

Grenada to Carriacou - Diamond Rock

The Islands we have visited these last two weeks are all part of the Grenadines. We checked in on Union Island, the most southerly and cleared out of Bequia, the most northerly excluding St. Vincent, last week. The islands are typically 10 to 15 miles apart, a short sail and within sight of the next in the chain. They have all been delightful. They all offer good uphill hiking with magnificent views. The snorkeling and diving has been very good. At the Tobago Cays we snorkeled off the dingy at Horseshoe Reef where there were lots of fish and healthy looking coral. One of these days I will remember to take my underwater camera!  At all of the anchorages we have been greeted by the local “boat boys” hoping to sell either a service or product. Water taxi, laundry pick up, bread, ice,  drinks, live lobster, fish, t-shirts, we have been offered it all. 

Hillsborough, Carriacou

Petite St. Vincent from Carriacou

Sandy Island off Carriacou

Clifton Anchorage, Union Island with Palm Island in distance

Downtown Clifton, Union Island

Ian limin', Salt Whistle Bay, Mayreau

Pippa chillin, Salt Whistle Bay

Ian goes to church, Mayreau

Salt Whistle Bay, Mayreau

Sidney, boat dude, Tobago Cays

Zooropa off Horseshoe Reef, Tobago Cays

Mustique is an island unlike any other we have seen. The scenery and vegetation are the same but the houses!  Unbelievable. We biked the Island ( well, half of it, the hills and heat got the better of us). It is immaculate. The roads are all in good repair, there’s no garbage to be seen, the hedges are neatly trimmed and the landscaping is simply beautiful.

Shops, Mustique

Macaroni Beach, Mustique

We have really enjoyed Admiralty Bay, Bequia, and wish we could have stayed longer. We will definitely be back for a more leisurely visit. It has a large anchorage with lots of different anchoring or mooring ball options. Two very nice sandy beaches, with good snorkeling off of them. A very nice pathway winds around the southern side of the bay giving a pleasant walk from the beach into town. The town is actually a good size with several chandelry’s , grocery stores and a fresh fruit market.  Doris’ Fresh Foods was particularly outstanding.

  

  We are currently anchored at Rodney Bay, St. Lucia following a midnight to noon passage.  Unfortunately the winds were on our nose so we ended up motoring.  We did have a couple of pesky porpoises off the Pitons playing in our bow wake and encountered a pod of whales (species unknown) during the passage.

 Rodney Bay is a large anchorage with beaches, hiking and lots of boating infrastructure centered around the IGY Marina.   Seems like a great place to get some boat work done.  The marina is quite congested at the moment as the ARC boats have been arriving over the past week with many remaining for recuperation.

 The excitement is building on Zooropa  now as the kiddlies arrive tomorrow to spend Christmas with us. We can hardly wait!!   Merry Christmas everyone from the Zoo crew.