The Lesser Antilles: an almost 500 km long arch of islands from the Virgin Islands in the north to the ABC islands off the coast of Venezuela, high volcanic islands with evergreen rainforests and flat coral islands, long white sandy beaches lined with palm trees and waves breaking on the cliffs, a colorful mix of peoples, crystal-clear water, colonial architecture and colorful wooden houses in confectioner style, rum, reggae, Creole cuisine and the special joie de vivre of the locals – Caribbean is not one of the most attractive travel destinations
for nothing.
Sailors particularly appreciate the constant trade winds. There is hardly any other area in the world with such reliable wind conditions.
The CHRONOS dinghies are already waiting in the new Port Louis Marina in St. George’s, the capital of Grenada, to take us on board the CHRONOS, which is clearly anchored in the bay. A first swim directly from the ship – any remaining tiredness disappears. Our watches are set back 5 hours from CET… We have quite a lot of wind, 5-6 Bft, which accompanies us on the longer stretch to Union Island, along the west coast of Grenada, past
densely wooded slopes and small villages with colorful wooden houses. The water shows all shades of blue and turquoise. Then we are out of the lee of the island and sailing in the open Atlantic.
Our destination is a first highlight: Happy Island, a tiny circular island, actually just the Happy Island Bar with a few palm trees, surrounded by a small reef. We take the dinghies and have our sundowner under a palm tree. Back on board, fresh mahi mahi is waiting for us, dolphinfish…
A shorter sailing leg takes us to our next highlight, the Tobago Cays, a small group of five islets protected from the open sea by the Horseshoe Reef. The CHRONOS anchors in the marine park, the water around us is almost unreal turquoise, while swimming and snorkeling we encounter large turtles, boxfish, pufferfish and even stingrays, on the white beaches a hammock under palm trees beckons…. We sail on to Bequia with a nice trade wind. The small island was once a whaling center. The anchor drops in Admirality Bay off Port Elizabeth, the capital, actually just a road along the bay, a small market, hotels in the pretty Gingerbread style with their carved and bright pink, purple, blue or green painted wooden facades. A turtle breeding station takes care of the endangered Caribbean hawksbill turtles – more than 900 specimens have already been raised here and released back into the sea.
The CHRONOS sets off for St. Vincent before breakfast and after about 3 hours of beautiful trade wind sailing along the lush green hilly coast, we reach Wallilabou Bay. Alex, a local guide, picks us up there for a short walk, past the many film sets (part of the movie ‘The Curse of Caribbean’ was filmed here), surrounded by papayas, mangoes, breadfruit, bananas, cocoa, nutmeg and cashew nut trees, tamarinds, taro plants, goats, chickens, cows and egrets, to a waterfall in a small botanical garden. In the evening, we look forward to fresh fish and lobster tails on board… We sail further north in a long stroke, through the St. Vincent Passage, until the Pitons appear in front of us – the two almost 800m high volcanic cones on the west coast are the landmark of St. Lucia. After breakfast, Gaetan picks us up in his minibus for a day tour of the island…
Further south, Marigot Bay awaits us, now one of the most popular anchorages for sailors. With little wind, we continue to Soufrière and are lucky to be able to anchor right at the foot of the Pitons. Swimming with a view of the sun sinking into the sea. In the evening, we switch off the top light of the masts at
and enjoy a magnificent starry sky with Orion, Sirius… It looks as if a curtain printed with stars is hanging almost to the ground directly behind the Gros Piton…
On the way back to St. Vincent, a large school of common dolphins suddenly appears right next to the CHRONOS, small and large animals play in the bow wave. The heads of hawksbill turtles can also be seen again and again,
when they briefly come to the surface for a breath of air. Contrasting program: We sail to Mustique – the island has been synonymous with a celebrity island since the 1960s. A private management company runs the island and its almost 100 private villas. Foreign ships are allowed to anchor in Britannia Bay. We stroll along the small street, past the fish market, two picture-book gingerbread houses, pink and purple, with a bakery and a boutique, everything is immaculately maintained. In the evening, we have reserved a table in the famous Basil’s Bar…
Today, one of the most spectacular places in the Grenadines awaits us once again: we sail past Canouan back to the Tobago Cays. We sail south along the west coast of Grenada and make one last stop in the small fishing village of Gouyave. A nutmeg factory here demonstrates all stages of processing the island’s national spice. In the bay off St. George’s, we bid farewell to the CHRONOS with the Captain’s Dinner…
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