Meandering in the Grenadines

After three days in Mayreau, we sailed the four miles south to Union Island, the southernmost and one of the largest of the Grenadines, with 2000 to 2500 inhabitants. After asking about a dozen natives how the island got it's name, one Rastafarian shoemaker told me that this was the island on which, in the old days, the chiefs of all the inhabited islands united to hold their meetings.

The sail down was a broad reach and we used only the genoa. This sail has been little used this winter -- due to heavy winds.

Clifton, the main town on the island, is a street about five blocks long, lined with colorful shops and restaurants. The harbor is formed on one side by this town, and on the other by a huge reef that blocks the incoming ocean waves, but not the wind. (In the middle of this reef is a bar/restaurant which can only be accessed by dinghy...we haven't gone yet but it looks very appealing.) At the head of the harbor is the side of the runway of the busy little airport here. In the middle of the harbor is another reef, unmarked. On the side of this reef nearer town the water is 45 feet deep, making for a long anchor chain, while on the more popular outer side, where we anchored, the water is 20 to 35 feet deep. Our first stop was the garbage shed, to get rid of stinky stuff and then to arrange for internet access on the boat which is available (not great, though) in this harbor. We shopped for groceries at The Grand Union (not what you're thinking, believe me!) and at the local market for produce. Union is a dry island and all produce is shipped in from St. Vincent, a wet island. St. Vincent is wet because its peaks are so high that they "grab" the passing clouds which send down their rain. We also had the bent snubber line hook bent back into shape by Mr. Unitech who also sold us a refill of propane because our bottle was almost empty.

Windara, with Glenn and Elsa Gustafson, (this photo was taken on ILENE at Mayreau)

showed up the next day and we had breakfast with them at the Anchorage Yacht Club the following day. This was a big disappointment, e.g., we had to ask for the juice that was listed as part of the Continental breakfast twice before it was reluctantly delivered, at the end of the meal. Elsa said it was poor training, which, with the poor coffee and non-baguette, made for a poor breakfast. Glenn gave us a spare patio light with photoelectric switch, solar panel and rechargeable battery which we screwed onto the top of our dinghy outboard -- to diminish the likelihood of the dinghy being hit by another boat during the night.

After breakfast, Elsa, but not Glenn, joined us on what ended up as a four mile walk on mostly paved roads. We went to the next town on the same side of the island, Ashton, and saw the churches and the well there. We could see the water in the well and a sign said that the mechanical pump had been added in recent decades, which made life easier for the people here. No washing or bathing is permitted in the well area, because whatever gets washed off should not contaminate the well. Then we selected a road that took us over the hump of the island to the other side. There we saw what a modern sign labeled as the quarry. Small sheets of corrugated metal supported in their corners by wooden posts provided some shade for the men and women working there, about five of them, each under one of the metal awnings. Each sat on a pile of rocks with a hammer, pounding the bigger rocks into gravel. I sensed that each was an independent entrepreneur. They all smiled at us. It was so primitive that I took no photos. This road led to the other coast, the one on which waves crashed on the beach. We saw two empty hotels. One, the Amerindian, was closed and the other, The Islander's Inn, was about to open soon. It would be operated and was built by Sandra,

from southwest Germany (shown here with Elsa) and her husband during the last ten winters. The other 6 months of each of those years were spent in Germany making money for this dream of theirs. It will have about ten rooms all facing the ocean and hence in no need of air conditioning. The brush that covered 20 yards between the hotel and the sea had recently been cut/burned to provide access and once landscaped will be lovely. We had a refreshing drink with Sandra and wished her luck with The Islander's Inn -- a great place for people who want to truly get away from everything and read books in quietude.

Yesterday, after saying goodbye to the Gustafsons (who we hope we may meet up with again in Grenada) we sailed North for the first time since this voyage began, to return to the Tobago Cays. We did so based on Glenn and Elsa's intelligence as to where the turtles swam. We retraced our course around Mayreau beating into gentle winds with double reefed main (too heavily reefed) and small jib, past Saltwhistle Bay. This time we did take ILENE into the Cays proper, and there were half as many boats as last time; it was not crowded. For the first time on this trip, and it was not because of heavy winds, our anchor dragged while we were eating lunch there. After resetting it we bought another black fin tuna, this time from Mattie Man.

After lowering the dink so we had access to the aft swim platform, we swam the 100 yards to the edge of the area marked as protected by a string of small white floats and put on the snorkels and masks. For the next hour we followed, at a respectable distance of about ten feet, four different sea turtles which were about 2 feet wide. They swam with us (actually we swam with them) in the water that was 8 to 12 feet deep. They mostly were grabbing short seaweed growing from the bottom with their beaks and eating it, coming up to the surface for a look around (or to breathe?) every 5 to 10 minutes. Their front fins are so well articulated that they can move in any direction and the fins can rotate to any angle making these awkward looking creatures quite maneuverable. If we had an underwater camera it would have been the picture of our journey.

Back on board, the Park Ranger boat came along side as we were finishing our showers. I told them that we had paid for two days last time (it is $10EC or $2.50US per person per day) but this time we were only here for two hours. They said "That's cool, my brother" and left us without seeking payment. The air was clear of clouds and we could see St Vincent to the north, every one of the Grenadines and Carriacou and Grenada to the south (our final stops this winter); the whole known world was spread out for us. It was a beautiful sight for Roger who is a map lover.

We read for a bit and then headed back to Union Island, retracing again the same route except this time it was a beam reach west and a broad reach south. We used full main and small jib in winds of ten knots and made a very pleasant 3.5 to 5 knots with little heeling during the short passage. It reminded me of a pleasant sail on Long Island Sound. Ilene loved our leisurely pace. We had left at 10:30 am and were back before 5. And then came the tuna and a very good night sleep with little wind.