Heading Northbound!

After all the work and preparation, we were excited to be leaving Le Phare Bleu in Grenada and start heading northbound. 

However, because of the squalls and heavy downpour the morning of our departure, we realized that we would not be able to make it to Carriacou before dark.  While it is feasible to anchor or grab a ball at night, it certainly is not desirable.  With the hurricane having gone through Carriacou, we were also a little concerned about navigating in that area in the dark.  So we ended up heading into Port Louis Marina in Grenada.  This was a very nice marina that had a number of super yachts.  In fact, Port Louis Marina was the arrival point of the boats that had travelled across the Atlantic Ocean on the ARC+ sailing rally from the Canary Islands, stopping in Cape Verde and then continuing on to Grenada.  The passage to the Caribbean is about 1250 nm and takes 12 to 16 days, taking advantage of the north east trade winds.  We saw several of these boats and chatted to a number of the participants while we were there.

Because we were only staying for one night, the marina assigned us a dock that would have normally gone to a super yacht.  It was pretty funny because we tied side on, while a super yacht would have tied stern to in that same space 😂. 

It worked out quite well to stop in Port Louis as you can clear customs for your departure on site.  They open at 8 in the morning, so Roger arrived 10 mins early to be the first in line and allow us an early departure.  Despite our good intentions, the customs officials ending up arriving after 9 am. One of the locals told me that was about 40 minutes earlier than normal.  However, it still worked out well for us as we were able to bypass Carriacou entirely and head for St Vincent and the Grenadines.  

This time on our way north, we made sure to stay outside of the exclusion zone for Kick'em Jenny, the still active underwater volcano.  

We decided to spend Christmas in Bequia, which is just south of St Vincent and north of Mustique.   Because we have Pirate, we had to take a bit more circuitous route to get there.  For sailors without pets, they can check into St Vincent and the Grenadines in Union Island at the south end of the island chain and then head north toward Bequia.    For those with pets, you are required to go to St Vincent, the most northern island, so that the veterinarian can physically check your paperwork and your pet.  This means that we actually sail past Bequia, our destination, and then sail back.  

Our sail north bound was a little salty, meaning that there were fair sized waves and a few squalls.  Winds were up to 30 knots, so we reefed the main and downsized our roller-furler jib.  Even then, we were sailing at 8 knots.   After 6 hours sailing, we stopped at Chatham Bay in Union Island but were not able to go ashore because we were not yet checked in to Saint Vincent.  However we anchored for the night, had a fabulous swim in the beautiful clear waters. We then had dinner onboard and watched the sun set. We had been in that same bay in March and there were several beach bars, some shacks on the beach where locals lived and a fancy resort.  When we arrived this time, there was nothing on the beach except the remains of the resort. Hurricane Beryl had wiped the beach clean. What happened to the people who lived there is terrible but the beach is now more beautiful than ever. 

The next morning we were greeted by a beautiful rainbow.  Regardless of the size of our yachts, we all enjoyed the same beautiful view.  

It was an upwind sail again.  As we were leaving, we finally got confirmation of our appointment with the veterinarian for 3:30 that day in Blue Lagoon in Saint Vincent.  With 7 hours of sailing ahead of us, we power-sailed to improve our speed and charge our batteries.  

Customs and immigration went smoothly, and Pirate got checked in so we could finally relax and enjoy our time in the Grenadines.  The next day, we were headed to Bequia looking forward to some peace and quiet ... or so we thought.