In January of 1989, I visited St. Vincent and the Grenadines to do some sailing and scuba diving.
I needed some big water sailing experience on my own and thought that down here, I could sail between a few iconic islands and get some scuba diving in.
St. Vincent is one of the least touristy islands in the Caribbean—at the time, it was a relatively quiet island where fishermen got up at the crack of dawn to drop their nets into the sea and women still carried their daily catch of fish in buckets on their heads
My flying route from Montreal included a stopover in St. Lucia, where we landed at Georges Charles airport, on one end of the island and had to make our way to the opposite end in order to catch the connecting flight to St. Vincent at Hewanorra International Airport, which took about 30 minutes. An hour later, we were landing in E. T. Joshua airport on St. Vincent, which was a ten minute drive from Coconut Inn, where I was going to stay.
The island nation of St Vincent & the Grenadines is comprised of over 32 islands – from rich, mountainous rain forest to palm fringed beaches and huge coral reefs. St Vincent itself retains a large element of wildness due to its steep and hard to access interior, topped out by a 3,000 foot cloud shrouded volcano, La Soufrière.
Some of the Grenadines are inhabited—Bequia, Mustique, Union Island, Canouan, Petit Saint Vincent, Palm Island, Mayreau and Young Island—while others are not: The Tobago Cays, Baliceaux, Battowia, Quatre, Petite Mustique, Savan and Petit Nevis.
During my stay, I rented a 34 foot Morgan and planned to sail from St. Vincent to Bequia, Mustique and Canouan Island with a couple I met at the Charter Company. We had both turned up on the same day and decided it would be best to rent the boat together for a few days. I don’t remember their names and never heard from them again after we returned to St. Vincent.
The three islands I hoped to visit were pretty much in a straight line and then a long straight sail back to St. Vincent and I found the waters wonderful to sail in. The winds were steady and made for quick and easy sailing, albeit with some long tacks.
In order, I visited;
Bequia
Bequia – 14 kilometres away, Bequia is the second largest of the islands of the Grenadines, Bequia means “Island of the Clouds’ in Arawak. The native population are primarily a mixture of people of African, Scottish and Island Carib descent.
As you reach Admiralty Bay, you sail past a bluff on the left. Here, tucked away in the hillside is the oddity, Moonhole (I’ve added a photo below). Moonhole derives its name from a massive arch formed in volcanic substrate through which the setting moon is sometimes visible. In the 1960’s, began building a house beneath the arch with the aid of local masons from the nearby village of Paget Farm.
Using whalebones, native hardwoods, and objects recovered from the sea, they built large open rooms with sea views. Without wells or electricity, they collected rainwater from the roofs and stored it in cisterns for bathing and washing. The master bath had a large tree that grew right up through a large hole in the roof. Large windows facing the prevailing trade winds had plexiglass panes that could be lowered into place. The bedrooms surrounded a central dining room, veranda and large bar made from a humpback whale’s jaw bone.
It was wierd looking and sounding.
We spent an afternoon enjoying the village of Port Elizabeth, which offered a selection of bars, restaurants and trinket shops, before dinghying back to our sailboat and spent the night at anchor.
Mustique
Mustique – The next morning, we headed over to Mustique.
Mustique is unlike any other Caribbean island. Having frittered away most of his fortune, Scottish brewing heir Colin Tennant purchased the island in 1958 for $67,500. He founded The Mustique Company to develop the island, and limited the development to only 120 villas. In 1960, he gave a 10-acre parcel of land to the late Princess Margaret as a wedding present, and the island quickly became an exclusive playground for the ultra-wealthy and well-born. Other residents include Mick Jagger and David Bowie at one time.
At the time, we were not allowed onshore. We could snorkel in the harbour but basically, it was a look but don’t come ashore type of vibe so that’s what we did. We snorkelled and left.
Canouan
Canouan – We headed south to Canouan – a small island with roughly 1,700 inhabitants. This island is protected by a barrier reef that runs along the Atlantic side of the island, which had very good snorkeling and probably great diving, but we didn’t have tanks on board so all we could do was snorkel. We spent the night anchored in Charleston Bay and headed back to St. Vincent on Day 3 and tucked back in ashore in the late afternoon.
I loved sailing down here.
Wahoo !
On our way back from Canouan, I decided to try my luck at deep sea fishing and tied a bail of fishing line around a 2 x 4 piece of wood I found on the boat. I got a hook and tied something to it, I don’t recall what – it may have been a lure or it may have been a piece of lobster, and wedged the wood between the deck and basically dragged it behind the boat.
Wouldn’t you know it but a short time later I saw a flash of colour jump out of the water behind us and reeled in a 54 pound Wahoo, which I took back home and gave to the ladies at the Coconut Inn, where I was staying and for the remainder of my stay, I got to eat free (providing I had Wahoo).
They probably made a good profit off the balance… but it was a fun day coming back to the hotel with a 54 pound Wahoo.
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While on the island, there was a Jump Up taking place and I thought I would go visit.
These two kids decided that I was Chuck Norris and followed me for well over an hour until I finally signed a piece of paper they were both holding out.
Coconut Inn
I was staying at Coconut Inn, a hotel that may still be there but is certainly no longer the same name. It was small and located directly across form Young Island and each day, this lovely lady would come by carrying fresh fish in a basket on her head.
It was an odd property. Instead of a beach, some past owner had built stone breakwater walls directly in front of the property so you couldn’t actually swim off the property.
While visiting, I got to know the owner a bit in the evenings. He was from Boston and wanted to sell the property. He was asking $300,00.00 at the time and gave me his best pitch while I was there. I added a couple of shots of us negotiating below.
Needless to say, we did not make a deal.
It was time to get home and back on Blue Grace.
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