A Bare Boat Charter and a Wedding in the Eastern Caribbean
Recently we’ve found ourselves dreaming of far-off places where the air is clear and breezes are fair, and we imagine we’re not the only ones. And although right now may not be the best time for a Caribbean charter, it’s always fun to read stories about other people’s adventures. Here’s a story about a Caribbean charter, and a wedding, from this month’s Latitude.
We can’t help ourselves — we love St. Vincent and the Grenadines. So, we returned again for 28 days from December 20, 2019, to January 18, 2020.
This would be a somewhat different trip because Yumi and I had earlier decided to get married on Bequia at the Frangipani Hotel. The trip itinerary was two weeks on the boat and two weeks in a cottage on Bequia.
Our friends and neighbors, Andy and Libby Vevers, joined us on the boat for the second year in a row. We decided to take the new weekly American Airlines flight from Miami to St. Vincent, which leaves every Saturday. From the airport, you can grab a taxi ($80 EC or roughly $30 USD) to the one-hour ferry ride to Admiralty Bay, Bequia.
We chartered the same boat we sailed last year — Cinnamon of Falmouth, a Bavaria 40 — from Sail Grenadines. We continue to love this charter company.
It is low-key, the staff are super-helpful and friendly, and the boat check-out is painless. We had pre-provisioned with the basics, and after shopping at Knights and Doris’, and picking up a lobster pizza from Mac’s Pizzeria to eat underway, we shoved off on December 22 for Mayreau. (We must note that Doris’ no longer has bakery items! Sad, but true. Go to Lina’s across from the ferry terminal.)
The conditions throughout the trip were awesome, as usual, with about 18 knots of wind from the east at the beginning, but then lightening to 12 knots. We like Saline Bay on Mayreau over the more famous Salt Whistle Bay because it is low-key, and there is plenty of room to drop an anchor with lots of chain and swing. After a pasta dinner back on Cinnamon, we settled in to play dominoes, drink rum, and chat about our plans.
In the morning, we made our traditional pilgrimage up the hill to visit our friend Robert Righteous. He was proud to show us his new rooftop deck, and it was good to see that he is well. He gave us some free ice (which we hadn’t been able to find otherwise in town)! We shoved off for Union Island after lunch.
I had proposed to Yumi in Chatham Bay about a year earlier, on January 1, 2019, and the place is very special to us. When we entered the bay, we could see conditions were calm, the water was clear, turtles were thriving, birds were diving … perfect.
Chatham Bay is famous for shrieking gusts coming straight down the hill and across the bay, so the “best” spot for anchoring is close to the protected shore up in the north part of the bay. The trick is to put someone on the bow who can spot sandy spots, and then drop the anchor in sand. Last year, our anchoring was flawless; this year not so much.
Yumi and Art’s story continues at Latitude 38.com.