Union Island - Last of the Grenadines

Well, after leaving Mayreau we took the long and arduous sail to Union Island (about 3 nm and we only needed the foresail to get here). Union Island is the midway point between St Vincent proper and Grenada and is very handy to Mayreau, Tobago Cays, Petit St Vincent and Palm Island, all part of the Grenadine Islands. The island is only 3.2 sq miles, with a population of about 1900, including Palm Island and Petit St Vincent. These latter two islands are quite small with the only habitations being resorts or resort buildings. The people who work these resorts mostly come from either Union Island or Mayreau.

There are two towns here, with Clifton being the main town and Ashton just down the coast. They were actually going to build a huge marina/resort complex at Ashton that would join Frigate Island (a blip of land with a big hill) and the mainland but like so many projects down here in the Caribbean, it was started and then abandoned. I said to Cheryl (minor cynic/realist that I am) that I think a lot of these get started by companies who get the initial investment from whatever source they can, begin the project and then abandon it after skimming the investment money off the top. Of course the islanders are the ones who suffer because not only do they lose the possibility of financial input to the islands but any building or digging or work that has already been done is just left where it is and is usually just an eyesore.

So, what have we done here - well, we anchored in Clifton Bay, which is well protected from the seas by the reefs surrounding it but still exposed to the wind, which is a good thing - keeps the heat down. A downside is the bottom which, like Admiralty Bay in Bequia, is in most places a layer of sand over rock or gravel. There is some good sand close to the reef but if you remember from our last blog where we left Mayreau early because of the fishing nets being put out, the result is we got here too early and the boats that were going to leave had not gone yet. Consequently the good anchoring spots were taken up. We had a boat boy following us trying to get us to take a mooring ball but the balls here are suspect at best so we didn't want to do that. As a result the first time we dropped the hook (anchor) it started to slide and then of course when we started to bring it up it got caught on a rock and we had to do some fancy maneuvering to get it loose. All the while the boat boy is offering the mooring buoy or offering to dive down and free the anchor etc etc. Actually quite annoying. We did try fastening to his ball but it put us very close to two other boats so we picked another spot and anchored again. We stayed on that spot for the night but didn't feel real sure that it was securely hooked so moved ahead the next day to a spot that actually buried our anchor.

On the edge of the anchorage there is what appears to be a small island with a building on it. We found out that it is a bar and has a history. The fellow that owns it used to have a bar in Ashton that was not profitable. He was also involved with the environmental clean-up in Ashton and had a pile of conch shells to get rid of. He took the shells, made an island by the reef and build a bar. As they say the rest is history.

The people of Union Island are friendly and helpful although the boat boys drive like they are in a race so we have to pick the time we swim off the boat. There seems to be a number of European business people, notably French, and it is funny because although most businesses close for a couple of hours around lunchtime, the French stores close at noon for the day.

One of our day adventures involved walking down to the other town, Ashton, where we tried to find the breakwater that was built to extend to Frigate Island for the marina. We were able to see it from the shore but could not find where it started so we never did get out there. One reason we wanted to look was to see what the anchorage by Frigate Island was like in case we didn't like Clifton but as it turned out, we decided not to anchor there anyway.

Another of our adventures was a walk up Fort Hill. The fort was originally called Fort Murray but the locals started calling it Fort Hill quite a while after it was no longer in use. It's original purpose was so the British (Union was once owned by an English merchant) could protect Mayreau, Palm Island (originally Prune Island) and Union Island from the French and from American privateers (pirates).

Fort Hill as seen from Mystic Journey

We climbed to the little gazebo you can barely see on top!!!

There is a good view from the top of the hill and while up there we could see not only the whole of Union but also Mayreau, Palm Island, Tobago Cays, Petit St Vincent, Petit Martinique (belongs to Grenada) Canouan and Carriacou (also Grenadian) and way off in the distance a glimpse of Bequia. It gave us a good perspective on the directional context of all these islands that are so close together.

Since they don't have crows on the islands we have not seen any scarecrows in the gardens. However, we did see what we are calling a 'scaregull' on a boat. It was on top of this boat's bimini and the arms flapped in the wind. There were no gulls sitting on that boat although they were plentiful throughout the anchorage. Griff said the 'scaregull' reminded him of the final scene of 'Moby Dick' where Gregory Peck is tied to the whale and his arm flaps whenever the whale surfaces.

We have decided to stay here for this weekend and then on Monday head for Petit Martinique for a day or two. Although this island belongs to Grenada there is no customs and immigration clearance there, apparently they realize that sailing over to Carriacou to check in to Grenada customs and then sailing back to Petit Martinique would likely result in most yachties taking a pass on visiting there so they don't bother much with clearance for the short term.


So, here is is Sunday and we are taking a day of rest. I had to work on the starboard solar panel yesterday and also clean some filters but otherwise we have been quite lazy. Since the wifi here is quite good, however, my task has been to write this blog so we can put pictures in before we leave so - here you are.