Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou

We ended up in Rodney Bay anchorage for the best part of two weeks, not unusual for us I must admit, but the wind was howling, the rain squalls kept coming and as we were anchored very well, we stayed - hoping for an improvement in the weather. Don’t misunderstand though, it was very warm, the sun was out most days but the wind and the rain squalls were pretty unpleasant (I was thinking that I could get that on the UK south coast any day of the year – well the wind and rain that is!). We also visited a rather nice rustic restaurant/bar right by the water on Pigeon Island. A glorious place to be and very reminiscent (to me) of some places in the Peak District. The trip to this bar was an adventure in itself but I’ll leave the mate to talk about that!

During our time at anchor our friend, Steve, showed up and stayed for nearly a week. We’d met Steve back in Lanzarote and have met up a few times along the way since. One day, I went to help Steve weigh anchor, fuel and water up and re-anchor. He kept producing bottles of beer to which it was only impolite to refuse. The look on the mate’s face when I returned said it all…

Skip returned from his trip ashore with a shaggy dog story about delays at Immigration…

We’d planned to leave Rodney Bay and head for Bequia, but there was no enthusiasm from the mate for this at all. Why not, I wondered? Bequia is a nice place and we’ve been in Rodney Bay long enough. Hmmm, what could it be? The answer became apparent, we would have to leave Rodney Bay at 0300 to arrive in daylight at Bequia. The mate doesn’t do those sorts of times, so we had a rethink. Our new plan was to actually sail further and do an overnight passage to Carriacou, a Grenadian Island, which meant leaving at a civilised 1030. The relief on the mate’s face was palpable.

So at 1045 on Friday 9^th June we weighed anchor and set off from Rodney Bay. The first problem we encountered was the windlass pennant – it stopped working as the anchor was being raised. Luckily the anchor was at the surface of the water and with our new Manson Supreme (the anchor) we find it best to heave up the last metre or so by hand anyway. We were soon off under sail down past St Lucia’s beautiful coast. The mate steered whilst (you’ve guessed it) I repaired the windlass pennant, which thankfully required nothing more than cleaning the contact switches. Mind you, that said, it was a bit of a pain to get to the switches as the allen screws are ‘security’ allen screws (meaning the allen key has to have a hole in the middle). So the job itself took maybe 2 minutes, but getting all the gear out to do it and pack it all away again took 30 mins. Not to worry, all was well in the end, but I am often left wondering how anyone can own a boat if they don’t have some DIY ‘bent’.

Approaching the Pitons

We cleared the Pitons at the southern end of St Lucia in the afternoon and entered the St Vincent channel. There was a strong current against us as the ocean swells bend around the island and the wind was from the SE (not the ENE as forecast). So a fun time was had in 22kts of wind and 2m swells on the beam until we were nearly halfway across the channel. Then, the current receded some and we were able to make good progress. We closed in on the northern tip of St Vincent as it was going dark. St Vincent is a very high island and we noted some threatening clouds above its northernmost peak. We sailed on and as we were just in the lee of the island, the heavens opened and a rain squall of such proportions one would be unlikely to witness in the UK came thrashing towards us. Thankfully it wasn’t accompanied by a massive increase in wind so all we really did was get very wet and quite cold (yes, cold, here at 13° north!). I don’t mind a bit of fresh water and nor does the mate as it does wash salt of Stargazer’s deck and gear, which is always good!

As the sea state was a little rolly and this was our first night at sea (the first night is never great as you aren’t yet into the rhythm of things) our dinner option turned from who was going to cook chilli or some such, into ‘let’s have cheese on pre-made toasts’, which did the job…

We started our watch systems at 2100 with me asleep until midnight and the mate on watch. The first watch was under engine as the wind had died and we had reefed down ready for any squalls. As the mate woke me up to change watches, I looked out of the window and said ‘what are those unlit rocks over there?’ ‘What?!’ said the mate, not having noticed anything before she came below. We checked the chart and there were no rocks, just a climatic visual effect (*and two rather tired crew - Mate) on the southern tip of St Vincent, phew…

We continued on past Bequia and Mustique and Union Island came into view at first light. By this time we had some current with us and Stargazer was romping along at over 7kts with a double reefed main and a smidgeon more than a double reefed genoa.

0800 saw us into Tyrrel Bay on Carriacou where we saw our friend Steve had anchored. We hunted around a bit and dropped the hook in 7.5m with 40m of chain out. It was very windy as we anchored and I always like to be a good distance from other boats. Here, we found ourselves at the back of the pack with plenty of room ahead of us. We both checked our transits and went below for a good nap.

View from the cockpit

We’ve now been in Tyrrel Bay for two days and it’s been pretty blowy since we arrived. Being conscientious boat owners, we attached our anchor chum (well, actually three 5kg dumbbells on a bit of chain, lowered down the main anchor chain with a retrieving line) and the mate snorkelled on the anchor to check all was well – it was. I’m very pleased that the mate can snorkel (me, I haven’t a clue) and she looks very Bond girl professional as she does so… I might ask her to clean the underwater body of the hull whilst we’re here :)

Speaking of the mate, she wants to add her piece and put in some pictures and since I’m on her laptop as mine got wet and no longer works, I’d better hand over to her…

But, just before I go, I had better announce that a temporary state of dire emergency has arisen on Stargazer. We have finished the last of the Yorkshire Tea. Yes we have PG Tips back-up, but it’s not quite the same. Dear, lovely sister in law, if you read this – you know what to do! Yorkshire Gold would be even better :)

Jambe de Bois is, unsurprisingly, a restaurant/bar on wooden legs. It is right on the water at Pigeon Island and very rustic with higgledy piggledy, mismatched wooden tables and chairs out on the decking. The ambience is lovely and relaxed and you can tie up your dinghy on the jetty just outside, well, you can normally tie your dinghy up on the jetty just outside… I had forgotten that I’d read that the jetty was ‘under repair’ so not in use. We arrived at the jetty to discover that all the top planks had been removed so only the skeleton of the jetty remained. Undeterred, we started to tie our dinghies up as the Park Ranger arrived to explain that the jetty was closed and we should tie up further round the bay and walk in. After a little conversation to explain that we were happy to walk the planks he agreed that we could stay, and we embarked on our It’s a Knockout style passage ashore! It was well worth it and we enjoyed some great food and drinks before safely making it back to the dinghies and then our boats.

Skip in his favourite chair at Jambe de Bois

The passage from Rodney Bay was the usual mixed bag – I will now start expecting that instead of believing the forecast! The passage along the western side of St Lucia was great, with really lovely scenery as we neared the Pitons. The slop of the St Vincent channel was made bearable by a group of 3-4 brown boobies (birds!) that seemed to have learned that passing yachts caused flying fish to fly so the birds swooped and soared around us (so close I kept worrying they were going to get caught in the standing rigging) and then dived into the water catching the flying fish. They kept this up for about three hours – fascinating to watch.

Carriacou seems lovely – just what we expected the Caribbean to be. Checking in at Customs and Immigration took ages but there was a merry band of fellow cruisers waiting outside so plenty of chat and exchanging of stories. There is also a bar right next door but we waited until we’d completed the formalities before checking it out. We walked into the small town and encountered lizards, an iguana and a tortoise along the way :) There are plenty of restaurants and bars to explore and, to my delight, there are two laundrettes to choose from (joy!). It is pretty hot and sweaty and, as I write this, there is rain shower after rain shower rolling through. I’m very much looking forward to an afternoon swim off the boat before deciding where to spend Happy Hour this evening… 

Tortoise before it disappeared into its shell as a car came past!

Next Happy Hour stop?