Chatham Bay to Tyrrel Bay

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we sailed the 10nm from Chatham Bay on Union Island in the SVGs to Tyrrel Bay on Carriacou island in Grenada.  It was a nice 2 hour sail on a beam to close reach.

Carriacou Ahoy!

Here are our track and graphs...

Track

Arrival Track

Graphs

We had a nice ESE breeze but sadly the sky was overcast and hazy.  For the last two weeks we've had hazy weather caused by dust blown across from the Sahara.  The red dust accumulating on the boat is now very obvious.  We wash it off the decks but it will take a good downpour of rain to get it off the rig.

Departing Chatham Bay

We cleared-in to Grenada at the Carriacou Marina on the S side of the bay.  Others have had a long wait but it took us only 10 minutes.  The Marina Office was able to change Euros to EC Dollars to assist our clearance which cost EC$120.  

Anchored in Tyrrel Bay

Steep path to/from Carriacou Marina

After clearing we had lunch at Iguanas Cafe which is alongside the Marina Office and Customes & Immigration.  We then walked from the marina into town to explore.  We found the ATM next to the Alexis supermarket.  It would have been easier to dinghy across but the walk was good exercise.

There are several rickety jetties along the E side of the bay.  But its easy to go directly ashore on the sandy beach.  There's a substantial jetty adjacent to the marina on the NE side of the bay.  This is best for walking to Paradise Beach on the N side of the island.  There are large green bins along the beachside road which - we're told - are available to cruisers for rubbish disposal.

We discovered we were anchored only 100m from UK sv Matusadona.  We last saw them in the Canaries late last year.  We went ashore with them yesterday afternoon to the Paradise Beach Bar where we painted wooden boat signs for display in the bar.  Good fun and nice to catch up with them.  Kiwi friends on sv Cerulean also arrived yesterday and we joined them ashore for dinner at the Gallery Bistro.

At the Paradise Beach Bar

'Artist' at work?

With the Matusadonas

The name of the bay is interesting.  All charts show it as Tyrrel and all maps as Tyrell.  A ferry's name uses Tyrrel so we've gone with that here!

Looking forward to exploring Carriacou over the next few days.

Trust all's well where you are.

Chatham Bay (Union Island)

Hi everyone,

We spent four nights at Chatham Bay on Union Island in the SVGs.  It's a very laid-back place with a set of small cafes on the beach.  Quite isolated from the rest of the island with only a dirt track up to the main road.  The anchorage wasn't rolly for most of our stay, the wind is gusty as it comes over the hill but the holding is extremely good.

Chatham Bay from the NE side

The main dinghy dock in the Bay is at the resort.  However we found it badly affected by swell and didn't dare attempt a landing there.  They are at the S end of the bay.  At the N end of the bay there's little swell so it's easy to land on the beach.  Once on the beach its a nice walk to any of the cafes/bars/resorts.

We visited Sunset Cove, Sun Beach Eat and the resort for drinks and/or meals.  All are nice and have their own style.  Sun Beach Eat offers a taxi service into Clifton for those who want to see the island and visit the main town.

Sea Beach Eat

The caretaker at Sea Beach Eat goes by the name of HighTech.  He's a keen amateur radio guy and a Mr Fixit.  He plans to start a VHF net in the bay on VHF 68 at 0800 each morning.

View over the Bay from Sea Beach Eat

The Tenuta resort sadly has few visitors due to Covid.  It's a really nice place.  It seems the lack of visitors has resulted in them making cruisers welcome for drinks, meals and a swim in their pool.

Tenuta Chatham Bay Resort

Nice Beach

Sunset Cove is another nice bar and cafe.  It offers a clearance service for EC$130.  We took up the latter to clear out.

Snorkelling in the bay seems best at the NE corner.  We saw huge schools of tiny and smallish fish, plus quite a few colourful larger fish and nice coral.  We didn't see any turtles while snorkelling but saw several while aboard Zen Again.

Sunset Cove offers Clearance Agency

Our visit to Chatham Bay was very relaxing.  Next stop Carriacou!

Trust all's well where you are.

Tobago Cays to Chatham Bay

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we had a quick 90 minute sail from Tobago Cays to Chatham Bay on the W side of Union Island at the southern end of the Grenadines.  We had a nice ENE breeze of 12G18 knots.  Twas nice to be gybing downwind again!

Here are our track and graphs...

Departure Track

Overall Track

Arrival Track

Graphs

The fun part of the passage was coming out of the Cays via Penguin Channel and the Southern Approach. There was plenty of water but we made our exit late morning to better see the shallows.

Heading towards Southern Approach, Union to port Mayreau to Starboard

Approaching Bloody Head on Union Island

Rounding Rapid Point into Chatham Bay

Why did we come to Chatham Bay?  I was born in its namesake!  Just had to happen.

There are about 18 boats here, all with plenty of swinging room  Our anchor's totally dug in with only the top of the roll-bar visible.  The Bay is well known for being gusty and indeed it is.

Soon after arrival guys from the three main establishments ashore visited.  They are Sunset Cove, Sea Beach Eat and Tenuta Chatham Bay Resort.  We plan to sample them all.  The resort has the only dinghy dock so we'll probably start there.

Trust all's well where you are!

Tobago Cays

Hi everyone,

We spent two full days anchored inside the large Horseshoe Reef which surrounds the main lagoon in the Tobago Cays.  We were anchored SSW of Baradal in 5m of water over sand.  Good holding.  There's a 1m tidal range which has a significant effect on the sea state.  It can be quite choppy around high tide but settles down at low tide.

Snorkelling the lagoon

We had four swimming sessions, all using our dinghy to get to interesting start points.  For two we tied up to a dinghy trot and could then swim freely.  For the other two we took the dinghy upwind to the edge of Horseshoe Reef then drifted downwind with the dinghy in hand.  All took us over areas of sand, coral and sea grass.

Some of the coral patches are very shallow - don't dinghy over them!

Spectacular coral patches not done justice by our cameras

Lots of fish on all the coral patches

Some large schools of fish

Bombie with fish

We saw several rays.  Most were accompanied by several decent-sized fish.

Ray

Ray with escort

The most spectacular sights were the turtles.  Lots of them and they aren't shy at all.

Turtle

Sometimes up to 5 turtles in sight

Well Fed

We loved Tobago Cays.  The anchorage wasn't the smoothest but the holding was good and the snorkelling spectacular!

Did we have a good time?

Bequia to Tobago Cays

Hi everyone,

On Wednesday we sailed from Admiralty Bay in Bequia to the Tobago Cays anchorage W of the channel between Petit Rameau and Petit Bateau islands.  The route was 26nm, our track was 27nm and our log distance 28nm.  The wind was 12G18 E for the 5h45m passage, under a hazy sky caused by dust all the way from the Sahara!

Anchored in Tobago Cays

Here are the track and graphs...

Overall Track

Arrival Track

Graphs

We soon discovered the anchorage was rolly.  Seas were refracting around the N of Petit Rameau and the S of Petit Bateau producing random rolling aboard.  And a current was jetting out of the channel between the islands leaving us current-rode with the NE wind off the bow.  Not very comfortable but we decided to stay until tomorrow for better light in the coral patches E of the two islands.

Passing Canouan Island

Anchored off the channel between Peiti Rameau and Petit Bateau

We were visited by Mandy who runs a beach BBQ at the W end of the channel.  A little too expensive for us at EC$100 per person.

On Thursday we motored through the channel which is over 4m in depth and had 1.5 to 2.0 knots of W current flowing through.  The Navionics charts appeared accurate, especially the SonarCharts.  We anchored SW of Baradal island in 4m over sand.  There were perhaps a dozen boats in the anchorage - far fewer than during the main season.

Track

Graphs

We were visited by the Park Rangers and paid to stay for two days.  EC$10/person/day.  Outstanding value!

Park Rangers

Twas time to find the turtles, rays and fish on the reefs!

Bequia

Hi everyone,

We've spent five great days in Bequia.  The island reminds us of St Helena and Bermuda - all places which have a rich sailing history and really 'get' cruisers.  Bequia's Admiralty Bay provides excellent protection and used to be a popular port for careening (cleaning the hull of) wooden ships.  It has a strong wooden shipbuilding heritage.

The anchorage from Port Elizabeth

The small town of Port Elizabeth is neat and tidy.  It has bars, cafes and hotels, and good facilities for cruisers.  There are several dinghy docks.  The main one has nearby rubbish and toilet facilities, and the main taxi rank.  Dinghy docks at the Frangipani and Gingerbread hotels can be used by cruisers too.

Approaching Port Elizabeth in the dinghy

Main dinghy dock

Nic and Zen Again

Port Elizabeth has the common Caribbean arrangement of Front Street (for the cruisers and tourists) and Back Street (for the locals).  But Front Street is simple bars, cafes and shops - no Gucci shops here.

Part of Front Street, Port Elizabeth

Maria's Cafe on Front Street

Upstairs at Maria's

Gingerbread Hotel - one of several on Port Elizabeth waterfront

Beautiful Anglican Church in Port Elizabeth

We walked around the waterfront and visited the model-making workshop.  Very impressive craftsmanship with models of traditional and modern craft.

Models on display in the workshop

Modern vessels too

The hills above Port Elizabeth give a great view over the island.  Mt Pleasant is about 220m above sea level so we took a walk.  There are quite a few modern homes there, owned mostly by expats I presume.

Going Up!

Admiralty Bay from Mt Pleasant

Looking E from Mt Pleasant

With our friends Anna and Kevin of Gosport-based UK yacht Lady of Lorien we visited the Bequia Beach Hotel on the other side of the island for lunch.  The meal was very good, albeit more expensive than places in Port Elizabeth, and the small steel band was great.

Taxi to the Bequia Beach Hotel

Lunch at the Bequia Beach Hotel

The steel band

Nic and Anna having a go!

Local craft sailing in the bay

Also with the Lady of Lorien crew we visited the Bequia Heritage Museaum.  Very good indeed.  Known history of Bequia goes back to 400AD.  Most of the older exhibits were exposed by a hurricane.  There's also information about Bequia's whaling history and modern practices.

Locally built whaling boat

Whaling tender

Whaling display

400-500AD Amerind 'bat' Incense Burner

Cruiser faciltiies in Admiralty Bay include a water boat, fuel boat, laundry boat and bread boat.  The moorings cost EC$40 to EC$50 per night which puts you very close to the town.

The water boat

We expect to head south very soon, visiting several Grenadine islands before continuing on to Grenada.

Trust all's well where you are!