Carriacou was fun. The beautiful small Sandy Island had great snorkelling. The water was crystal clear and full of fish life.

A local had recommended we go to the Friday night party at the Lambi Queen in Tyrrell Bay to hear one of his church members, who “sings like an angel”. It was obviously the place to be, the small restaurant/bar was full to overflowing with locals and visitors. The band was great and the African drummers, a specialty of Carriacou were fantastic.

We toured the island on the local bus, particularly wanting to see Windward where they still make the traditional timber boats. There weren’t many boats to see, but the houses were very picturesque.

The buses are so much more casual than at home. There is no schedule, the bus leaves when full. Our driver did his shopping while doing a few loops of the town waiting for customers. Coming back from Windward, the bus driver was stopping off along the way to sell chicken rotis (with bones) to her regular customers.

Tyrrell Bay is a favourite with cruisers. It has internet and you can even have your hair cut at the waterfront bar.

Grenada, was our last stop in this island chain. We went into Clarkes Court Bay, then then the Marina so Mike at Palm Tree Marine could work on our generator. Not the pristine anchorage we’d been used to! The rum distillery is close by, so the water in the bay is the colour of stewed tea. We worked hard getting many jobs done.

We were very pleased to find Cardius, a local who restored Sea Cloud’s very sad looking timberwork. He was a pleasure to have around and did a beautiful job.

Like St Martin, the cruising community is very strong here, with many people sitting here permanently enjoying the many social activities and services organised by the cruisers advertised on the morning’s local net.

We’d decided to rent a car for the weekend – a hint – don’t use Thomas and Sons car rental! Instead of the new car shown on their website, they gave us a wreck which died within the first half hour, so we resorted to the very good local bus system for the day. Saturday market in the main town of St Georges, was colourful and busy.

Klaus and Helene on Lusea (a HR46) joined us for a day tour of the island. It was much more relaxing to be driven and not to have to navigate the small winding roads. Grenada is lush and green with many hills and waterfalls.

The tour of the Belmont Estate where they still process cocoa and grow many different types of fruit was well worthwhile.

We anchored in Prickly Bay for our last evening in Grenada – what a change from Clarke’s Court Bay! We could see why cruisers stay in this spot. The St George University Club was a great place for our last dinner in this part of the world and prepare Sea Cloud before our 3 day sail to Bonaire.

Bonaire

Passing the Pitons of St Lucia  in the early morning,

we sailed past St Vincent to Bequia, the northernmost island of the Grenadines. The anchorage off Princess Margaret Beach was very pleasant.

It is either a short dinghy ride to one of the many dinghy docks in the town, or a walk along the coastal path, past the picturesque restaurant and shops along the waterfront.

The tropical fruit at the Rasta market was delicious, but of course ended up being overpriced as I’m not good at bargaining.

It was a hot walk across the island to visit Brother King’s turtle sanctuary.

The Sugar Reef resort in the old plantation building was a delightful place for lunch.

Alik, the sail and canvas maker in Bequia had been recommended. His service was fast and very good.

The islands are all so close in the Grenadines. A brisk sail took us to the island of Mustique, where we picked up a mooring. The bay has a reputation for very rolly, we were lucky and had a few very calm days.

The famous Basil’s Bar was being demolished, a disappointment as it was the place to go on Mustique.

Other than that, Mustique quickly became one of our favourite islands. The beaches are beautiful and snorkelling good.

And you can get a really good coffee and croissant at Sweetie Pie bakery.

Mustique is the only place we’ve seen where you need to reserve a picnic table for lunch. As we wandered past to find a snorkelling spot, tables were being decorated and set with white tablecloths in preparation for island guests. The old cotton plantations have been turned into exclusive resorts, such as the very beautiful Cottonhouse.

Unlike peak periods, there were no restrictions as to where we could walk. We only saw two other people in our 4 hour hike along north and east coast track.

The lunch time view over the bay from Firefly was beautiful, unfortunately the meal very ordinary and overpriced.

Navigating through the reefs into Tobago Cays takes plenty of concentration, but is well worth it. Turtles are everywhere, fish are plentiful and the colour of the water spectacular in this marine park.

Having read John Caldwell’s book, Desperate Voyage we really wanted to see Palm Island. As a non sailor, he bought a boat and sailed from the US to Australia post WW2, almost killing himself numerous times along the way. He settled on what was initially called Prune Island, developing it into a small resort, which is now the beautiful Palm Island.

Chatham Bay on the lee side of Union Island, was a wonderfully calm anchorage after days of sitting in the wind. Apart from the numerous small establishments offering beach barbeques, there is nothing much here, except, once again, the big Sea Cloud.

The people, the veggie market and the town of Clifton, the capital of Union Island are all very colourful.

Happy Island, a small island on the reef was built by a local out of conch shells. At sunset the bar was a very lively spot, with very interactive dancing staff and killer rum punches.