It is a shame we could not visit St. Vincent, but until "issues" with crime and security are resolved it has been labeled "an unsafe island for yachters". It is an island of towering mountains, craggy peaks and dramatic precipices. Everything is dressed in a tangle of dense green forest. The northern end of the island is dominated by Soufriere, a 3000 foot volcano. It last erupted on Friday the 13th (which was also Good Friday) 1979. The tallest mountain is 3800 feet.

Our first glimpse of St. Lucia was of the towering twin Pitons, they are a sight to be seen. We anchored in between the two last year on our way south. The anchorage is a bit rolly so we have decided to motor a little further north to Marigot Bay which we have not been to before. More pics later from our St. Lucia island tour.

Marigot Bay is another of the Caribbean's spectacularly beautiful anchorages, completely sheltered and a perfect backdrop for those sunset pictures we all like to take. Novelist James Michener described it as"the most beautiful bay in the Caribbean". We cleared in to St. Lucia and I might add, with the friendliest customs people we have encountered this trip. The original Dr. Doolittle, 1967, was filmed here and there is a restaurant "Doolittles" on the site. A brand new resort, Discovery at Marigot Bay is nearly complete with a Marina, the Marina Village (shops, bakery & marine services) and a hotel. There are also villas and apartments for sale and rent. We decided to pick up a mooring ball thru the marina, included in the fee was use of the hotel swimming pool. OOH LA LA!

One of the many restaurants at Discovery Marigot Bay, the pool, the reception area and the villas. Lovely!

This is the main pool, but each villa has there own small private pool.

The gardens around the resort were spectacular
Doolittles Restaurant and the Marigot Beach Resort

Doolittles Restaurant

Broulee moored in Marigot Bay

Boats this size (160ft) are everywhere - how do you get that kind of money? It had a crew of 6-8 people on board - incredible.

Time to move north so on the 25th of January we headed to Bequia to clear out of the Grenadines prior to heading to St. Lucia. We are skipping St. Vincent because of negative feedback regarding secuirty issues and violence. Admirality Bay in Bequia is a favorite of boaters so we are prepared for a crowded anchorage. As we approached the Bay the stone/rock houses on the hillside caught our attention and after further investigation found out they are called Moonhole - a rather isolated community, founded by the late American Architect Tom Johnston. The original was built under a natural arch known as "Moonhole". It was abandoned when a huge boulder fell from the ceiling and crushed the empty bed. The other houses grow out of the rocks without straight lines or right angles. They have huge arches, fantastic views and lovely patios. There is seldom glass in the windows and there is no electricity. Most of them looked abandoned, but some had vacationers.

As predicted the anochorage at Admirality Bay was crowded - but found out later this is the weekend of the infamous Blues Festival. We had elected to not do Mustique for the same reason. Mustique is a private island that has been developed as an area of holiday homes for the wealthy. Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Rachel Welch and the late Princess Margaret to name a few. You are required to pick up a mooring ball and during the blues festival in Mustique you better be on the who's who list to get one. Mick has been known to show up and perform. Anyway we were only staying a day in Bequia (to clear out) so we squeezed into the anchorage (note mostly sailboats) and went ashore.

The beach was loaded with restuarants and resorts - also had an internet cafe to catch up on e-mail and grab some lunch.

We tried the Mexican Cantina - not too bad.

More fun colorful beach restaurants

I am practicing this - hopefully perfected by the time we get back to Minnesota.

We moved to the west side of the island for more protection from another blow coming. Charlestown Bay is the main anchorage and the Moorings has a charter operation there and is also home to the Tamarind Hotel and Restaurant. We chose to anchor a little north of there in Rameau Bay, but took a dinghy trip over to Charlestown to visit. While here the boat boys brought us a lobster (at least 5 lbs) for $20.00 - now that's more like it!

We enjoyed watching this guy catch fish, although his presence was a little bit intimidating to Fred - he didn't know they made birds this big.

Fred is getting quite an education on this trip. This lobster was bigger than Fred.

Tamarind Beach Hotel - what can I say - another gorgeous resort.

These are kids of the employees at the Resort. They clown for the camera so you will take a picture of them. I thought they wanted money, but they just wanted to see the digital picture. They helped us find the store - we always seem to be in search of fresh vegetables.

This pretty much sums up Charlestown, Canouan!

Definitely not as much money on this side of the island as there is on Trump's side.

Well no fresh veggies - it's definitely a timing thing, but the guys got their ice cream fix.

This ones for you Doug, the mast was so high it had a red light on top for airplanes to see it at night.

Canouan is an island in transition. A decade ago it was a sleepy island that time forgot. Then Italian developers bought over half the island (the northern part), and a new era of big development began. The vast injection of new money has rapidly transformed the island with many beautiful new homes built by locals. A big, fancy hotel and golf course opened with Trump running the Casino (on top of the hill) and offering luxury apartments and Raffles running the resort end. There are spectacular beaches, great views and lovely walks almost anywhere. Picture of Broulee looking for a spot to anchor. We found this island to be more arid then what we have seen. Lots of cactus and rock.


This was the clearest, cleanest water we have found yet. We were in the water within minutes of anchoring.

Being the jetsetters that we are, we decided to visit "The Donald" at his fabulous golf course and Raffles Resort (we forgot to bring money so can't even tell you how much a drink was).

One of the many pools and bars.

Oh, yeah this is the life!

The Golf Course and Wedding Chapel. The infinity pool overlooking the bay. Thanks Trumpster for allowing us to see how the other half live.

After spending almost a week at Frigate Island, Union Island the Grenadines we decided to pull up anchor and move to either Mayreu (Salt Whistle Bay or Saline Bay) or go straight to the Tobago Cays. (Both areas have instituted a Park Fee of $10EC per person per night - I'll do the math for you - that would be $3.75 per person per night US.) This indecisiveness when leaving one anchorage for another is typical due to direction of swells, amount of boats and if a cruise ship is in port. So every time we make a plan - it's pretty much made in Jello.

Ok, we are moving - where will we end up?

At Mayreau , Salt Whistle Bay was crowded with boats and rolly. Saline Bay had a cruise ship - we are keeping our fingers crossed for better luck at Tobago Cays.

Before I reveal our final destination, Fred requested some Blog time. This picture is Fred relaxing enroute when seas are 2 ft or less.

Fred in hibernation mode, wedged under the table for any seas over 2 ft. - he's a trooper. However, if you pan to the other side of the salon for seas over 5 ft., Deb's also in the fetal postion (no pictures allowed). What we put up with for the one we love.

And the winner is. . . . . .the Tobago Cays. There were alot of boats but, lots of room. The water was beautiful, crystal clear and a warm 80 degrees. We were immediately welcomed by a friendly turtle, (and of course the boat boys). Snorkeling on the reef was good - a little bit churned up by the pounding surf.

The Tobago Cays are a group of small deserted islands protected from the sea by Horseshoe Reef. The water and reef colors are a kaleidoscope of gold, brown, blue, turquoise and green. There are small sand beaches and clear water. As I mentioned before this is a national park.

Complete with your own helicpoter - now that's my kind of boating.