Wednesday, April 23, 2008

On to St Vincent

Well, it has been a while since I started a blog so here goes. As mentioned, the Pitons are awesome and we might have stayed a bit longer if we had time - except the mooring was a bit "rock and rolly"

The morning dawned bright and early when we left there to go to St Vincent and the Grenadines. It was a lovely day and after we got underway, Randy took the helm. As has been mentioned, Randy is better able to handle the threat of seasickness when he is focussed on something and it is also known that for anyone with that problem, keeping your eyes on the horizon is really helpful. Besides, Randy likes going fast so he was hoping for a good wind day!!

We had planned to sail from the Pitons to an anchorage about half-way down St Vincent called Wallilabou. The first anchorage we could had stopped in and been able to clear customs was Chateaubelair but in 2006 there had been a number of armed (with cutlass) robberies on yachts. They had apparently caught the people responsible but since we were only staying one night in St Vincent we decided to err on the side of caution.

The days sailing went well in the beginning as we sailed down the leeward side of St Lucia but once we cleared the island, the winds began to pick up and the seas got a bit more active. The swells were about a 1 1/2 meter (4-5 ft) but there was also wind chop so it was a bit rough. The wind was also a factor, with gusts up to 30 kts at times. Randy handled it really well though - until he had to use the head, which meant going below decks, which is not a place to be when you are prone to seasickness. Enough said!! By that time we were in sight of St Vincent and although the winds were still up, the chop had lessened. The winds had also gotten gustier so we had to take some sail down for a bit.
We finally made it to Wallilabou, however. It is a small bay with only a few houses and a couple of restaurants. It is , however, where a bunch of scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean Pts 2 and 3 were shot and they had left a lot of the sets they used for the movies as permanent structures. Now Cheryl and I will have to watch Pt 2 again and Pt 3 for the first time to see what we recognize.



We moored in front of one of the restaurants and it was quite a process as they required the bow to be moored and the stern to be attached to something like the shore or pylons or whatever was available. Joel, one of the boat boys, assisted as did Smiley and another lad, the latter primarly interested in selling us stuff after we were moored. The problem with the mooring was they knew what needed to be done but didn't pass a clear idea of that information on to the skipper (me)!!


We finally got it done, however and although there were 4 other boats quite close (one chartered by some people from Calgary), it proved to be a quiet night and after we went into the restaurant, where Randy treated us to a really good meal, we were able to enjoy a good nights sleep.
Red sky at night - sailors delight.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the way the pictures come up so bright and clear and beautiful!!!! By the way Griff, you look JUST like Dad from the back,,, tan, muscles, love handles, build.... Boy I miss him! Too bad he and Mum can't read about your adventures with Cheryll! They would be so proud! Love ya Hol

Anonymous said...

Hi Cheryl and Griff,
Thank you for the birthday card. Fab and I went to Mexico: Mayan Riveria the first part of April. We went out on a Catamaran and saw a sailing ship much like yours. The weather was blustery, the waves rocking and high.Many people on board were ill. I have a great deal of admiration for both of you. We love your pictures and journal of your journey. Blessings to both of you. A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.-John A Shedd Stay safe.
P.S. I just finished Level6 in Boulder Colorado on my way now with my teaching practicum.
Love,
Nancy
April 27 9:10 p.m.