Adventure Club - Sailing St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Caribbean

We will depart Newark airport on Friday for St. Vincent and board our luxurious yachts. Early Saturday morning we will do our final provisioning at the nearby grocery store. We then have an easy two hour sail south to Bequia which has a variety of shops and services while keeping a relaxed Caribbean charm. We will spend the next day on Bequia a beautiful island that is fun to explore with snorkeling and wind surfing also on the agenda. Monday we will have a leisurely sail 10 miles south to Mustique. There is plenty to do ashore including jeep rentals, hiking, and exploring the local arts and crafts shops. Wednesday we will sail to the Tobago Cays for an afternoon of spectacular snorkeling (a favorite) and then continue to our evening anchorage in Mayreau. The snorkeling here is the best in the eastern Caribbean. Friday we will sail to Grenada and on Saturday the one-week sailors will return home and some new crew members will join. On Sunday morning we will do our final provisioning at the nearby grocery store and spend the afternoon touring the island by jeep. The next day we will continue to explore Grenada by jeep as it is a very big island with lots to do. On Tuesday, we will sail to Union Island, clear customs and continue to the Grenadines where we will spend the next day. Thursday we will sail to St. Vincent and spend the night in the lagoon by Petit Byhut. Friday we will hike the volcano on the northern part of the island. On Saturday we will make a leisurely sail back to the charter base and on Sunday we will return home.

Highlights

Passports are required and visas are not for Americans and most other nationals.

Weather is sunny and warm all year in the tropics. The prevailing wind is from the northeast at 10 to 25 knots and it usually rains for a few minutes every day. Temperatures are 78º to 85ºF year around.

Activities include beach combing, snorkeling, jeeping, gourmet dining, scuba diving, wind surfing, horse back riding, shopping, all with numerous photo opportunities.

Currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar in the other Windward Islands. ATM machines available.

Language spoken is mostly English and French (St. Vincent) though all can speak fluent English.

Islands Visited

We will depart from St. Vincent on our sailing adventure south to Grenada. The first-week sailors will return home from Grenada and the second-week sailors will join the two-week sailors for the return trip. The first-week sailors will spend more time in the Grenadines while the second-week sailors will spend more time in Grenada and St. Vincent.

St. Vincent is an island of towering mountains, craggy peaks and dramatic precipices. The awe inspiring terrain is covered in a tangle of dense green forest. It has a reputation for thieves, con-men, and extortionists. Our experience is that most of the natives are very friendly and the reputation that the island bears is due to a few scalawags. The interior of the island is totally wild with an excellent climb into the bowl of a giant volcano and a boat trip to the Falls of Baleine. The Montreal Gardens in the Mesopotamia Valley is perched on the very threshold of the mountains at the end of a road. There are organized tours to the Botanical Gardens and Fort Charlotte. The Botanical Gardens are the oldest in the western hemisphere. A fun place is Wallilabou where you will find a superb restaurant and a exquisite batik shop that sells brightly colored batik depicting local scenes and nature. There is a small local bar, Ashton Hideout, that often has a steel band and good food. My favorite is an early morning hike up the steep, winding road for some excellent photo opportunities. Our favorite anchorage is in the lagoon by Petit Byhut which is one of the most beautiful in the Windwards. The restaurant there is the best on the island and the proprietor offers an organized hike up the volcano in the northern part of the island. A taxi ride will take us to the northeast part of the island. The hike takes all day and heads up the volcano high above the clouds. You may have an opportunity to descend into the crater of the volcano. The hike crosses the island from east to west and we will be picked up by boat and returned to our yachts in the late afternoon. That evening, we will enjoy a most excellent dinner ashore.

Mustique is privately owned with some large estates, including those of Princes Margaret, Mic Jagger, David Bowie, and Raquel Welch. Parts of the island are wild while other areas are manicured. The last remains of the wrecked cruise ship "Antilles" (1971) lies just north of the island. Ashore is a small general store, boutiques, restaurants, and bars. The island is worth a tour on foot, taxi, jeep, motor bike, or horseback. The Picadilli is a most excellent restaurant. Scuba diving can be arranged with Lesley Dunning at Mustique Water Sports.

Bequia is isolated enough to remain relatively unspoiled yet lively enough to be stimulating and entertaining. It is a favorite hangout for many yachtsmen. Bequia's main harbor is Admiralty Bay - a huge well protected bay - with Port Elizabeth at its head. Small hotels, bars, restaurants and shops spread from town along the southern shore, strung together by a tiny path that threads its way along the seashore. Ashore we will find homemade bread at Daphne's, Mac's Pizzeria, Kingfisher Cafe, and the Harpoon Saloon. Solanas and Melinda's have good collections of hand painted T-shirts. Bequia has great hikes to Mount Pleasant and Friendship Bay. A hike to Hope where a lovely remote beach with rather shallow water sets up long lines of breakers often suitable for body surfing (watch the undertow). After dinner we will visit Pat Mitchell's Gingerbread for a drink and enjoy a tune from De Real Ting string band. Scuba diving in Bequia is awesome with two dive shops - Dive Bequia and Sun Sports. They will arrange to pick divers up from yachts and dive at Devil's Table, Moonhole, Anse Chemin, or Pigeon Island. The reefs are between 10 and 40 feet.

Tobago Cays, a national park, are a group of small deserted islands protected from the sea by Horseshoe Reef, a kaleidoscope of Caribbean colors. There are remote sand beaches with excellent snorkeling. Scuba diving can be arranged with Dive Anchorage and Grenadine Divers. At nearby Mayreau, a one road island with pristine beaches, there is a fabulous view of the Tobago Cays from the top of the hill. There are paths leading to the many pristine beaches surrounding the island. Ashore is a resort, beach bar, restaurant, and a small village.

Union Island, with its dramatic mountainous outline, is a bit cosmopolitan including several supermarkets, boutiques, and tourist things. Union is where we will check through customs enroute to the British islands. Nearby, Palm Island is a pleasant anchorage with a beautiful beach and not much else. Petite Martinique is the last outpost of Grenada - small but well inhabited. There is a lot of boat building with no obvious tourist attractions. The island is very photogenic and a lovely place to walk. We may stop here for lunch enroute to Union Island.

Grenada

Grenada is the most beautiful island In the Windwards and perhaps the entire Caribbean. The island is endowed with lush green mountains, crystal waterfalls, golden beaches and fragrant spice trees. It offers many beautiful anchorages and the people are warm and hospitable, especially in the interior away from the tourist’s path. The forest has several wonderful hikes that lead past towering waterfalls where you can swim. The island is excellent for a day of jeeping and exploring the beaches, villages, and shops. The interior of the island is picturesque with beautiful waterfalls that are great fun for an afternoon swim. The forest at Grand Etang have excellent hiking trails that go half way across the island.

St. George’s is the capital of Grenada and is worth spending a little time. Some say that it is the prettiest town in the Windwards. The view from nearby Fort Frederick is spectacular. The town is sprawling with markets, souvenir shops, and restaurants. It is an excellent place to provision as well as buy gifts. Dinner at Mamma’s is a real experience. The cuisine consists of local fish, meat, and vegetables prepared in traditional style. Although most of the courses are excellent, there are a few that are unique only to this island, to say the least. The scuba diving is pretty okay with on exceptional dive - the Bianca C, a 300 foot cruise ship that sits in 75-200 feet of water.

Grand Anse is a postcard perfect two-mile beautiful beach with an excellent anchorage. There are several good restaurants and excellent nightlife a short walk away. Prickly Bay is another favorite spot with good food at reasonable prices. There are many other bays and anchorages that are fun to explore.

Good Ideas

This Bare Boat Charter Trip Includes

Round Trip Flight
Refrigeration
Bimini Top
AM/FM Cassette System
Fully Equipped Galley
Snorkeling Gear

Fully Equipped Yacht
Housekeeping Supplies
Linens and Towels
Barbecue Grill
Cruising Guides and Charts
First Aid Kit

Basic Sailing Checklist

Clothes	Sailing Equipment	Personal Gear
Bandanna Bathing Suit Belt Boat Shoes Cotton Pants Long-sleeved Shirts Shorts Skirt/Simple Dress Socks Sweater Tee-shirts Underwear	Brimmed Hat Flashlight Foul Weather Gear Sailing Book Sailing Gloves Scopolamine Other Equipment Cassette Tapes (6) Charts Large Beach Towel Mask, Fins, Snorkel Sewing Kit Wet Suit Booties Zip Lock Bags	Book Camera & Film Comb Contacts & Solution Drivers License Eye Glass Repair Kit Insect Repellent Journal and Pen Lip Balm Money ($300) Passport Personal Medications Spare Glasses Sun Glasses Sun Screen Swiss Army Knife Toothbrush and Paste

To sign up, complete the secure form or contact 908-512-9039. The total cost covers the boat, skipper, and flight from Newark, NJ (cost will be adjusted for other departure points). Food is very reasonably priced as we eat aboard about half of the time. There are a few really cool restaurants though some of the anchorages are secluded with no restaurants.