A Bit of Exploring: 22/08/11 - 23/08/11

We have just over two days to explore a couple of islands in the Grenadines that we haven’t seen before, specifically Petit St Vincent, Petite Martinique and Carriacou.  Ann, Terry and Alice arrive on 24 August and we want to see if any of these islands are worth a visit.

The irritating thing is all the checking out and checking in that you have to do around these islands.  Half of them belong to St Vincent and the others belong to Grenada.  Geographically the islands aren’t necessarily near the main island they belong to.  Consequently we sail from Mayreau to Carriacou to check into Grenada, passing Palm Island, Petit Martinique and Petit St Vincent then head back the way we came to Petite Martinique.  Theoretically, Customs turns a blind eye to visiting boats not doing this but we don’t want to test that theory and find ourselves on the wrong side of the law!

Photo:  Hillsborough, Carriacou

We anchor in the only anchorage on Petite Martinique.  It’s a sleepy little place and we are the only yacht there, swinging amongst the many fishing boats.

Photos:  Petite Martinique

We clamber into the dinghy and go ashore to look around.  There is only one restaurant here and walking along the beach we find it with no problem.  The menu looks OK but not cheap for such a remote place.  We go through onto the ‘main’ road and discover that this really is a ‘one restaurant’ island.  There are a couple of tiny shops, a bank, school and no doubt half a dozen churches but that’s it.

Photos:  Local housing on Petite Martinique

Everyone we pass says hello and is friendly but after an hour there really isn’t much more to look at so we find our way back to the boat.

Photo:  Boat building on Petite Martinique

Photo:  Another beautiful sunset

The next morning we decide to head to Grenada.  The sail down is uneventful and we anchor in the bay outside St George’s, the place where we finished our circumnavigation just four months ago.  The last time we were here in this bay was when we arrived to the World ARC fanfare having escorted Basia from Brazil after her collision with a freighter along with Eowyn and Tucanon.  As I put the anchor down, I think back over those events – it couldn’t be more different!