The Grenadines are somewhere to lose yourself in.
We have met Danish cruisers who have been here, on and off, for eleven years and Swiss who have been at anchor for two or maybe three years. Happy Hour in Chatham Bay lasts three hours and everyone you meet has time for a chat. You can spend an hour sipping your rum punch and no one hassles you with an American “You guys Ok? Shall I get your check?”.
Turtles swim around the boat, pelicans crash in to the water and in the late afternoon the fish jump. Underwater there are fish in every colour and coral in every form. The water is warm and the breeze is cool and occasionally it rains to wash Artemis down.
The sailing is easy. It is never more than a day from island to island and the wind always seems to be going roughly our way. Even upwind sailing is enjoyable.
We have visited the luxury island resorts at Palm Island and Petit St. Vincent and enjoyed their beaches and bars. On Palm Island we met a lovely English couple who seemed genuinely amazed that we sail across oceans in “that little boat”.
We anchored off Chatham Bay on Union Island. A beautiful horseshoe bay surrounded by wooded hillside. No swell to shake the boat but loads of wind to generate electricity. Neill actually needed a lot of electricity as he spent a week reprogramming a business application he accidentally killed while tidying up a server. There are worse places than Chatham Bay to program in. If it all gets too much you can swim, walk along the beach or up the hill and then enjoy a rum punch at the beach bar.
Two days ago we walked across the Island and officially ckeared out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. We then sailed the ten miles across to the Country of Grenada. Distances are short here.