Cloud Nine

Sailing in the Grenadines

Grenada is the southernmost island in the Caribbean chain, these southern islands are known as The Windward Islands. It is known as the ‘Spice Isle’ and is spectacularly beautiful with mountainous rain forests in the northern part. The Southern part is much busier with an international airport and the capital, St Georges, with its markets, colonial architecture and the famous Grand Anse beach. There are plenty of beautiful natural harbours along the south coast – we keep Cloud Nine in Prickly Bay.

There aren’t many natural anchorages north of St Georges so we usually make a direct passage north to Carriacou, sometimes stopping off at the remote islands near ‘Kickem Jenny’. Carriacou is a delightful island with lots of small uninhabited islands around it and some very good restaurants, diving and snorkelling. The main town, Hillsborough, is a favourite provisioning spot and this is where we usually ‘sign out’ of Grenada to go further north. It is only about four miles to Union Island but that is in ‘St Vincent and the Grenadines’, another country so there is some paper work to do and a change of courtesy flags!

Slightly out to the east are the twin islands of Petit Martinique and Petit St Vincent, one in each country but only half a mile apart! They are delightful stopping places with the cheapest spirits in the Caribbean on Petit Martinique, magnificent boat building on the beach and a big hill to walk up for a spectacular view. Petit St Vincent is a very smart hotel but you can go to have cocktails in the bar looking out to the sound while watching the fireflies and humming birds or you can walk and swim off the beautiful beaches.

Union Island is lovely too with another small town, Clifton, and on the other side the wild Chatham Bay which is only accessible by sea and where there are some beach bars with barbeques that grill fresh lobster, amongst other things. The snorkelling here is amazing round the headland to the north of the bay with literally millions of small fish swimming round you while Pelicans and Boobies dive in to feed – not to be missed.

Travelling only another four or five miles north is Mayreau, one of jewels of the Grenadines with its lovely little town on the hill between Saline Bay and Saltwhistle. Its church must have the best view in the world! This is where ‘Righteous Robert’ runs his ‘Rastafarian Restaurant’ and the beach over the dunes from Saltwhistle really is the best in the Caribbean - and terrific for kite surfing as it is on the windward side.

Tobago Cays is rightly famous, it is part of a huge horseshoe reef and is a collection of small islands and coral reefs. It is a marine conservation park and is strictly preserved. In the catamaran with its shallow draught we can go to anchorages right close to the reef, anchoring on sand of course, and swimming off the boat you will see turtles, rays and every kind of reef fish you can imagine. It is a wonderful place.

Bequia is another wonderful island, completely different. There are great little shops, restaurants on the waterfront and plenty of bijou retail outlets if you need a little therapy! As well as excellent diving, more lovely beaches and scenery. On the south side is the little island of Petit Nevis and Friendship Bay which has a beach bar and restaurant that is well worth visiting.

It is about a ten-mile reach, or about an hours sailing in Cloud Nine, to Mustique - the poshest island in the Caribbean. Everything here is just perfect and beautifully looked after. Basil’s Bar on the waterfront is famous for it’s blues festival and Saturday night ‘Jump Up’s’ where local resident Mick Jagger is reputed to join in some times?! There are also some very nice restaurants, if you can afford it!

North of Bequia is the next big island, St Vincent. It was one of the last of the Caribbean islands to be colonised and used to be considered ‘bandit territory’ but the south at least is very civilised now with several charter companies based there and at Young Island Cut there are some good eateries, bars and dive shops, etc. There is a supermarket and airport nearby with flights to Grenada, Barbados and other islands – so it is possible to change crew there