Pirates of the Caribbean

Leaving Bequia we had a forecast of around 15 knots of wind, slightly forward of the beam, What we got was about 18 knots of wind never less than 60 degrees and with gusts up to 25 knots on a regular basis. When the gusts came, which was quite often, the wind swung even further forward. The seas in the channel between the islands was lumpy and we were frequently dumped on by waves. Fortunately, in this climate, you may be very wet but at least you are warm. We cheated and mainly motor sailed, arriving in Walillabou Bay, St. Vincent in the early afternoon 

Noonsite, which seems to be populated by an extrordinary number of scare stories, had warned us of aggressive boat boys, dinghy thefts and general lack of security. What we found was friendly boat boys who helped us tie a stern mooring from the buoy and ferried us ashore for a very reasonable price. We felt extremely secure and we loved this peaceful little bay

The bay had been the setting for parts of the film, Pirates of The Caribbean and a lot of the set was still there, albeit a bit tatty. There was also a bar/restaurant with cheap local food, showers and a patron who was happy to phone and ask customs to come along and deal with entry clearance.

From the bay, we had time to walk to the nearby waterfall and although it was nowhere near as dramatic as those on Grenada, it was still pretty and I was able to have a swim in its pool



The next day we were off again en route to Soufrierre in St Lucia.We had been warned that the channel between St. Vincent and St. Lucia could be bouncy and windy and that we should stay close to the coast with reefed main, engine on and no headsail until we were a few miles into the channel from whence we could gauge the state of play. In the event it was not too bad, though with a north easterly of about 20 knots, we motored about 10 miles into the channel. We had 2 reefs in the main  and we did get wet. In addition to the waves dumping, we also had squalls

Before long we saw the familiar mountain on the coast of St Lucia which appears in so many postcards

We arrived in Soufrierre mid afternoon and had to pick up a buoy as anchoring is forbidden because of possible danger to the coral. We only planned to stay one night so we took a taxi ashore to clear in. It is quite a poor town and not particularly impressive and we had to pay an overtime fee as we checked in on a Sunday (and you must check in the day you arrive).

After one night we were off again, heading for Rodney Bay.


We spent two nights in Rodney Bay, where we visited a supermarket for supplies and had a brief look around the town. There was a lot of tourism and lots of tourist bars and shops but again, we were not inspired to do much exploring so I guess you could say we have not really had much experience of St Lucia and the next day we set off again for Martinique.