Dalton W. Williams
Mayreau
Petite Martinique
Petit St.
Vincent (PSV)
I departed Bequia around 10:30 in the morning sailing west out of Admiralty Bay past the west end of Bequia and then turning south directly for the Island of Mayreau passing west of Mustique and Canouan, Islands that I will return to in the coming winter season. The reason for my haste to get south is I have been offered the opportunity to replenish some of my cruising kitty by returning to Colorado to do three weeks of consulting in early June.
Arriving at Salt Whistle Bay on the northern tip of
Mayreau about 4:00 in the afternoon, the small bay is very crowded with boats.
Single handing now, I decided to slowly motor through the bay to find a good
anchoring position and then back out into deep water to prepare Quietly. I
pulled out about 15t feet of anchor chain and laid it carefully on deck to check
that the anchor chain was free and to position the anchor for quick deployment
when I got back to the spot I hand picked out. Double checking everything
I motor slowly back into the anchorage and deploy the anchor exactly where I
wanted to.
The anchor went over the roller and the chain followed the anchor to the bottom as the 20 Knot wind began blowing the bow off just as I had planned. But that is when it happened, the chain stopped feeding from the haws tube! The anchor was just barely touching the bottom was and the tip was dragging across the bottom as the wind blew the bow around. I yanked on the chain and then tried to raise the anchor, both to no avail as the chain was caught in the tube. I immediately ran back to the helm and carefully guided the boat backwards using the engine, rudder and bow thruster to carefully drag the anchor so as not to snag another boat's anchor. As the depth began to increase I sighed relief as now the anchor was hanging off my bow.
As I backed out into deep water clear of the anchorage, I turned the boat, engaged the autopilot and went below to the chain locker to see what had happened. There was several links in a tangle with one stuck sideways in the haws tube. With several strong pulls it came free and I carefully laid the chain out back through the cabin to make certain there were no more tangles. Assuring that, I carefully placed the chain back in the chain locker and raised the anchor which was still hanging. I then once again checked the chain in the chain locker and seeing all was right once again prepared the anchor for deployment.
This time when I approached the spot I had picked everything worked normally and I anchored with out any problem getting a good set as Brenda and John came up behind me on Willow. They anchored just behind me and I swam over to their boat to greet them.
Salt
Whistle Bay is a very pretty low horse shoe beach. Just across the beach
through the palm trees you can see the Atlantic Ocean pounding across the reefs
the remaining gentle waves lapping up on the other side of the beach.
Quite nice as the wind blows across the beach providing a nice breeze.
John and Brenda came over for dinner and we sat out in
Quietly's cockpit visiting in the cool breeze watching the sun set in the west
and the stars appear overhead. We planned a walk the following morning up
to the top of the hill that formed Mayreau.
It
was a spectacular view from the top when we arrived just before noon the
following morning. The sun was perfect to view the
Tobago Cays which lie just south east of Mayreau. We stood behind the
stone church watching several cruising boats pick their way through the reefs of
the Tobago Cays laughing that some one up here could direct the boat through the
narrow passages as a flight controller would direct landing air planes.
I
don't know what happened when I made the picture of the Tobago Cays from behind
the church, but is perhaps the worst picture ever made of one of the world's
truly spectacular view. {sigh} I will be back in the coming winter season
and must get a better picture. If you look carefully you can see several boats
anchored out in the cays.
Mayreau
is a very small island with a land area of perhaps one square mile and a
population of a few hundred. All three roads lead to the top of the hill where
the stone church sits. Just across from the church is the street sign that
points to everything on the island. I though you might get a chuckle
reading the one and only street sign on the island.
After our walk up to the top of Mayreau, it was time for me to pull up my anchor and head south to Petite Martinique to get fuel and across to Petit St. Vincent (PSV) to anchor for the night before continuing my trip south towards Grenada.
Petite Martinique is actually the most northern outpost of Grenada and separated from Petit St. Vincent which is the southern outpost of the Grenadines by less than a quarter of mile.
To get there I first had to thread my around between eastern Union Island and Palm Island and through the narrow entrance through the reefs to Petite Martinique. There is absolutely nothing here except a very small fishing village and a rather well known duty free fuel dock. Which is precisely where I was going. After filling all of Quietly's tanks, I then sailed 1/4 mile across to Petit St. Vincent where I anchored behind the reef for the night along with two other boats.
Petit St. Vincent is an interesting story. The island was purchased in the 50's by two retired Air Force friends Doug Terman and Haze Richardson and a financial backer Willis Nichols who thought it would be fun to own a Caribbean island and build a hotel. The partnership went through several evolutions and over time Haze acquired his partners interest and now owns the island and hotel. PSV is a quiet and very exclusive resort who's secluded cottages are usually fully booked at $500 per night in season. Guest are pampered by an attentive staff that comes running when the guest raise a flag up the flagpole outside each guest cottage.
Cruisers are welcome for dinner with reservations and at the bar in the evenings with proper attire though if the bar gets crowded cruisers will be politely asked to leave so that the ambiance for the hotel guest is maintained. Petit St. Vincent has some excellent snorkeling in the reefs north east of the island, but I was to be in Grenada by night fall so I did not go ashore got an early start and set my course down the eastern side of Grenada for St. David's Bay.
I have spent far too little time in these wonderful islands and will return in the winter sailing season to spend several months in the Windward Islands. But for now it is on to Grenada were I will spend be spending the summer.