The Tobago Cays are a series of small islands set amongst beautiful sandy reefs and quiet water with a view to the breaking rollers coming from the Atlantic. The setting is very beautiful and we tacked up the narrow entrance channel between coral reefs, but due to the fading light we regrettably sailed on to Bequia. We would like to return to the Grenadines some day just to go back to the beautiful cays.

We reached Bequia in the dark but still managed to find a good anchorage spot. Port Elizabeth is a wide bay with palm trees on the beach and small two storey buildings behind. I would think if a Sunami were to hit the town it would all be washed away. We stayed there a few days since it was so idyllic. We went for our first real scuba dive there and saw a reef shark as well as seahorses and lots of beautiful reef fish. The azure vase sponges are exactly as the name suggests and spectacular to look at.

The cliffs of Bequia are rugged and there is a hotel set into the cliffs, called moonholes, which has no windows and originated in the limestone caves. Some of the guests told us it was very comfortable.

We fuelled up whilst still at anchor from a waterborne bowser. The tanks for water and diesel are on a yellow and blue motorised catamaran and they came alongside to dispense it. The fuel was about the same cost as in Scotland but of course we have to pay for water here as well since it mostly comes from desalination plants.

We left Bequia early in the morning for the long sail north to St Lucia and Soufriere where we hoped to clear customs before they started to charge overtime for their services. It really is the most stupid idea to charge overtime and actually deters some yachtsmen from properly booking into the separate islands. The red tape certainly discourages easy island hopping.

Our anchorage at Soufriere was under a cliff just north of the town. The ‘bat’ cave was about ten metres from our stern and the snorkeling reef was just under our bow. We had picked up a mooring laid by the marine parks authority and very useful it was. Black and yellow Sergeant Major reef fish were visible through the gin clear water from the deck.

Here we experimented taking pictures underwater with our camera in a waterproof case but I don’t think we were entirely successful. Our mooring was along from where most yachts anchor just off the beach and tied to a palm tree by the stern. This gives employment to some of the local youth, who tie the boats to the palm trees and then climb the tree to get a fresh coconut for the crew. They also surround you to sell bananas from their surfboards or suggest you need a water taxi. They are mostly polite and pleasant people.

We saw a hummingbird and met some friendly Canadians and Americans at the resort café, they were cruising the islands in the Caribbean Princess. It is an enormous ship giving somewhat more comfort, but less flexibility for cruising than our own!

Up the coast of St. Lucia there is a lagoon called Marigot Bay. It has been used in a number of films and has the honour to have hidden a British fleet from the pursuing French by hiding behind the sandbar, which grows palm trees, and also by tying palm fronds to the top of the masts. His ruse worked and he escaped to fight the French again. St. Lucia changed hands fourteen times between the French and the British. No wonder they left almost all the names in French! It saved changing them when the new owners took over! The island is now independent although in the commonwealth. The paper money, (in common with a number of Caribbean islands which were part of Britain until the seventies), has the young Queen Elizabeth’s head proudly displayed, as well as hummingbirds and palm trees! We are presently using one pound to five EC (Eastern Caribbean) dollars, although it is possibly just a bit less and two US dollars to the pound for ease of reckoning.

Rodney Bay Marina where the ARC ends is a delightful marina at the north end of St Lucia and is named after Admiral Rodney, who decisively beat the French at the Battle of the Saints during the Napoleonic wars. The British Navy even commissioned a rock on the south end of Martinique to help with the blockade of the French. They hauled canons to the top of the rocky island called H.M.S Diamond. They lasted for eighteen months before Villeneuve captured them. The rock is over 150ft high and used to be infested with snakes.

We liked St. Lucia and were made very welcome at the yacht club, which has the same problems as the clubs back in Britain, although in a much nicer climate! We would like to return there as well! We made some new friends on ‘Pendulum’, ‘Pink Lady’, ‘Mr Blue’ and ‘Itchy Feet’, all of whom had come across with the ARC. Two enjoyable parties were had.

Having bypassed Martinique and Dominica, regrettably we cannot tell you whether Martinique is chique or not. Probably not, judging by our experiences in Guadeloupe. The wind blew North Westerly during our voyage north, which is almost unheard of at this time of year and prevented us stopping in Dominica, which seems to have no suitable anchorages on the west side when a north westerly is blowing. We nearly hit a marker for a fish cage up the coast of Dominica however, which was a branch with two red rags tied to it! Fortunately we missed it. Most markers are empty fruit punch bottles, two tied together, much easier to see than a branch!

Our next anchorage was in Isles des Saintes (The Saints) where Admiral Rodney demolished the French fleet under De Grasse in 1782. On the way to the islands we were excited to see a humpback whale. The islands are delightful and reminded us of the area around Oban and Lismore, but out at sea! It was a shame we didn’t have time to stop, since we wanted to see our friends Chantal and Reto from Sterenne, who we first met at La Corunna many miles ago. They had just arrived in Pointe A Pitre in Guadeloupe having taken 21 days to cross from the Cape Verde islands. They seem to be having a lot of problems with their Beneteau, but they are now over here despite the problems. We met their friend Bertrand and his dog Zeph, who had sailed from the Cape Verde islands as well, but whose engine had packed up. BOAT is an acronym for BREAK OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND. How true.

We weren’t impressed with Pointe A Pitre but possibly because we had to walk through the red light district to get to the town from the marina. The town was closed and deserted on the Tuesday afternoon of our visit.. Everybody except the beggars and the pickpockets were asleep and preparing to party all night for the last night of Carnival. We were most impressed by the national park and botanic gardens, which we saw the next day. The gardens are really peaceful, and the orchids and the other flowers are stunning. We made friends with some parakeets who perched on our heads!

We are now in Antigua, famous for its sailing race week at the end of April where they have about 250 participants. The people are absolutely charming and there is a lack of pestering, which we noted in the islands north of Grenada. The weather leaves something to be desired, since it has rained almost everyday since we arrived in Jolly Harbour last week. We think Jolly Harbour is Jolly good! It has been delightful to host Zandra and Lachlan MacPherson for the last week. It seems to have been party time everyday, since Harry Nobbs and Hilary Forbes are also based here whilst they do up their new Moody ready for the crossing back to Scotland. So far we have toured the island by car, in the rain, and sailed round the lovely reefs and islands to the north of Antigua where the snorkeling is fascinating. We have seen turtles and Seahorses.

Zandra and Lachlan were also excited by the sight of dolphins off the coast here (So were we)! There are egrets and pelicans here, as well as the magnificent frigate birds. The other day we saw an Osprey, just the same as in Scotland. Not the same as Scotland was the mongoose we saw on land the other day and it was doing an excellent job of keeping the snakes down! At least we haven’t seen any snakes yet.

We enclose some of Susan’s snaps. We think they are rather good! We hope you do too.

Love from Atlantia