Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Grenada to the Grenadines

Grenada to the Grenadines is some of the best sailing in the Caribbean! From Carriacou, Grenada's sister island to the north, to Bequia at the north end of the Grenadines chain you are making short hops from island to island, from one beautiful anchorage to another beautiful anchorage. This is our 4th time through this chain so we feel like we know it fairly well. One spot where we had never anchored was Sandy Cay, a small spit of an island off of Carriacou. We anchored at the west end of the island and dropped back to where we were only about 10 yards from the reef. The water is an amazing turquoise color and absolutely crystal clear! Great snorkeling right from our boat!


Sunrise the next morning.

This is Sandy Cay, the long stretch of white sand in the foreground. In the background is Union Island.

Looking out at Merengue and others at anchor off of Sandy Cay. The island of Carriacou is across the channel.

Sandy Cay is a narrow strip of sand about 10 feet at the highest point. We loved it there and ended up spending 2 days just walking the beach, snorkeling the reef and relaxing. Then it was over to Union Island to clear customs before heading to the Tobago Cays for some more snorkeling, this time with the turtles that live there. From there we headed to Bequia on a perfect day, beam-reach sailing all the way!

We love Bequia and we've shown you pictures from there before. One of my favorite things is the picturesque shoreline. The east shore of the bay is lined with hotels, restaurants and shops. I love the walkway that borders the water so you can walk into town to do your shopping right along the waters edge.


We usually dock the dinghy near the Gingerbread hotel. This is where we go to get baked goods and ice. To the left is the ice cream shop. Rum raisin, banana or maybe passion fruit or lime sorbet. How am I supposed to decide!

There are lots of places to sit in the shade and watch the activity in the harbor. Last weekend we got together for a game of dominoes with Will & Annie (S/V Como No) and Roland & Kathleen (S/V M'Lady Kathleen).

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. We've been invited to join friends for dinner but we are anxious to head north so we are leaving for St. Lucia at dawn. We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We know we have much to be thankful for!