Elsie's January

It’s been more than a month now since we dropped anchor in Carlisle Bay after our epic Atlantic crossing and I think we have both recovered. Since we are starting to talk about moving onwards and upwards instead of heading home we must have! I’m still not sure about tackling the Pacific but never say never….

Sea cave, Barnbados

First impressions of the Caribbean are all positive. We read all the books and listened to everyone else's opinion before we came. Some were positive, some negative and a few very negative. We have found the area fantastic, almost everything you would ever want for a sailing environment. The prices could be cheaper, but that is really down to us. We must learn to eat what the locals eat. All European style food has to be imported so it is very expensive. The fruit and vegetables vary so much from place to place and it is difficult to keep them fresh so you either buy what you need for that day which is no hardship as the markets are great fun and the sellers get to know you and there is always some banter. Or you buy produce that is not quite ripe or ready to eat which we have found can be hit or miss. How long does it take a pineapple to ripen? Breadfruit is a fantastic vegetable. We try to buy it ready roasted as it saves time and money. Leave it in the fridge and slice off what you need for whatever you are cooking. Sliced, fried and covered in soy sauce makes a good sundowner snack. Plantain is another versatile vegetable/fruit, not sure which one it is. Plantain chips have become a firm favourite on this boat.

Friday Fish fry, Oistins

The local food is mostly fish and rice with lots of peas and pulses thrown in. All the sauces are hot hot hot but delicious and herbs and spices are used extensively. I thought about trying to buy a cook book with local cuisine but they make the recipes very complicated. The best way is to ask a stall holder at the market how they would cook something, there are always a few variations from others but you will get the gist of it and always remember to go back and compliment them on their recipe, it’s only human nature to enjoy being thanked. In Bequia there is a particular lady who makes the best banana bread (without walnuts) I have tasted in a long time. I went back to pay a compliment to her and the smile I received lit up my day.

Rodney Bay anchorage

Each island we have visited has been the same in some respects but entirely different in others. After trying to work out why we have come to the conclusion it is the people. Every island has given has a friendly welcome and most people will go out of their way to help with any directions or queries but it is the way they do it.

The Bajans are always laughing, they can be having a huge argument and they still smile. They are wonderful laid back happy people. Nothing is done in a hurry and they like to talk first and do later. “Island time”. How many times have we heard that in Barbados? As long as you go with the flow you get things done at a leisurely pace with a happy smile. Everyone likes to chat and not necessarily about what you have asked. Barbados is the best introduction a person could have to this area. We were told by a guide at the Washington House that the reason for these happy people is when the slave ships made it over the Atlantic, Barbados was the first landfall and the plantation owners got the pick of the captives. They chose the placid, docile ones and that still shows in the Bajans today. They can still make a rumpus and definitely know how to party but it’s their sunny dispositions that leave the lasting memory. I loved Barbados, maybe it was the joy of eventually reaching land and realising that the world hadn’t ended in those 13 days we were at sea!!! No, it was the people. They were happy with their lot, full of life and fantastic fun. If it doesn’t get done today tomorrow will do. There is a lot of people could learn something from their attitude.

Our introduction to St Lucia was maybe the reason I started calling it “Little England” which was rather unfair. Once the tourist bit of the island is left behind it is a beautiful place with good people. Rodney Bay is definitely built as an extension of The Empire. It is a huge anchorage, marina and a beautiful lagoon with mooring buoys so it caters to all purses. The mooring lagoon is surrounded by new colonial type houses with manicured lawns and a slip at the bottom of the garden where the owner can park their boat or boats. It gives the impression of sahibs and memsahibs dressed in white, sipping cold gin cocktails on their terraces, meeting for a game of croquet or bridge in the afternoons. There are more southern English accents here than in the south of England. Jealous, I here you cry, na, not me. Yes, some of their yachts were nice to look at and their houses looked wonderful but I don’t think me blasting out Dark Side of the Moon at midnight would have fitted in. The surrounding area caters for this clientele. The upside of this is the supermarkets have fresh meat and English branded food, Waitrose to name one. The down side was it was very expensive to buy anything. The locals were friendly but I got the impression there is a lot of resentment about what they have and what the incomers have so sometimes help was given grudgingly, although an American who tried to help us off the fuel/water dock was lucky to escape with his life when he let go a line which he was specifically told to leave alone. Poor man. It does take a lot to rile the Captain but when he gets his dander up look out!! I think instructions were lost in translation.

Pitons, St Lucia

As I said before once outside the main tourist drag St Lucia changed into a wonderful, wild island. Rain forests, waterfalls, The Pitons and many many walking tracks. Our excursion down to the south of the island was eye opening. It changed my perception of a tropical island, the place is so lush and green and very very picturesque. We stopped for a meal in Vieux Fort, right down on the south coast. Wandering along the back streets, which was very adventurous according to some of our acquaintances, we saw a restaurant advertising rotis. The only way to describe a roti is a Cornish pasty with filo pastry and the filling is somewhat hotter and spicier, yummy. We hadn’t tried them yet so in we went. Random choices sometimes come up trumps and this one was a hidden gem. We ended up with a three course lunch for the price of a roti. The owner did the cooking and the rest of the family, that wasn’t living in Florida, helped. Lovely people who would do anything for you. We got their life story then caused a family disagreement by asking what was the “must see” on St Lucia. Even the locals can’t agree what is the islands best natural asset.

Even when the captain tried to report his lost phone to the police we were met with a laughing policeman. He thought it was hilarious that we assumed anyone who found an iPhone, no matter how old and knackered it was, would hand it into the police station. He was correct. Looking around us we saw happy people living from hand to mouth with an entrepreneurially spirit which dictates seize the chance and if that means finders keepers so be it. Every article and everyone warns about boat boys and their aggressive, sometimes threatening, behaviour. Yes, the boat boys are there and they do try to sell you things or help you moor or anchor but a firm “no thank you” worked for us. We were polite and had many a conversation with them but they always took our answer on board and left us politely. These lads and lasses are trying to make a living. We found that the food we did buy was inferior and far more expensive than in a market but it saves you the sometimes inconvenient journey to said market and it also shows willing to contribute some EC$s to their economy and some of the conversations we have had with them have been down right hilarious. Yes, St Lucia is a wonderful, picturesque place. Most of the people are good but I could sense a resentment in some of them. They would take the money quite happily but I personally think they didn’t like being lorded over by “rich”, as they seemed to perceive boaties, Europeans. Maybe a lesson to be learnt, always remember you are a guest and should be thankful for the hospitality offered by your hosts.

Baby coconut tree, St Vincent.

Now we move onto St Vincent and The Grenadines. We thought long and hard about going to St Vincent. We listened carefully to the advice given, weighed the pros and cons then held our noses and jumped. The deciding factor was meeting up with Dana de Mer again or Dana International as we like to call her. We first saw them while we were racing from Majorca to Ibiza. They are a catamaran so go faster down wind than us until we put up the cruising chute, that shut them up. They have never let us forget how we “cheated”.We first met in La Linea and have met up now and again throughout the past year. It’s amazing how many boats you keep meeting up with again and again on your travels. The world is indeed a small place. It was time for a social evening or two. Going with everyone’s advice we headed for Blue Lagoon in the south of St Vincent but we ended up moored on a buoy in Young Island, a wonderful scenic place. If you ever want to stay on a tropical desert island but can’t be bothered with the inconvenience try Young Island resort. It will cost an arm and a leg though but desert islands don’t come cheap these days. The social interaction was very agreeable and we got news of one or two others that were mutual friends. The Captain has a lunch date with a very beautiful young Canadian, whom we met with Dana de Mar in The Canaries, on his next trip to ARI. As I said the world is a very small place.

Young Island resort, St Vincent

St Vincent has a reputation of a lot of crime against boaties so everything has to be locked away, hatches locked and our solar powered security lights were used in earnest. The dingy has to be locked by substantial chain and padlock to the dock when going ashore and nothing left in it. We followed all the advice and had no losses. However the night after we left Young Island a yacht was boarded when the crew was ashore for a meal and electronic equipment was stolen so maybe someone was looking after us this time. St Vincent gave me the impression of a working island with only a few concessions for tourists. In fact, a passenger off one of the many cruise liners which dock in Kingstown told me it was “the pits”. I wouldn’t go that far. The Captain and I have decided we want T shirts made up that read “No, we didn’t come off that almighty cruise ship, so give us that for the local price please” That about sums up Kingstown. Dirty, noisy full of bustling people trying to make a living. Some are better at it than others. If you want to see the real Caribbean, go there. I am glad we went to St Vincent but I won’t hurry back.

Bar, Mayrou

Now we come to The Grenadines. I do not know where to start describing these beautiful gems so I won’t. Come and see it for yourself. Tiny islands with hills and valleys and hidden deserted beaches. Some are pristine, Mustique and Palm Island others are more natural, Bequia and Mareau and then to crown it all Tobago Cays. I am sitting in the middle of The Cays right this moment writing. It is very windy and rain clouds are blown in every few hours but even then I still have to go up on deck to cruisers alike. Food is more expensive than on the mainland, that’s what they call St Vincent, but to have this back drop as you are eating lunch makes it well worth it. The cost to anchor here is EC$10 per person per day, that’s about £3. They have made this marvel at the scenery. Yes, it’s still all there. It is probably the most beautiful place I have ever visited…….so far. The people have learnt that the tourist dollar makes a difference to their quality of life so it’s service with a smile. They accept us, maybe don’t like the intrusion on their paradise but see the value of charter boats and area into a National Park and there are many rules and regulations which as far as I can see no one takes any notice of. Swimming is a dangerous sport out here. The speed limit is 6 knots. I have never seen a kite or wind surfer do 6 knots and they think nothing of coming through the anchorage at far greater speeds. Good game, good game. But everyone just accepts each other and their sports. The kite surfers have great fun avoiding the sailing boats and the wind surfers struggle to avoid both the yachts and the kite surfers and we all live happily together exchanging elaborate and exaggerated stories with the sundowners each evening.

Admiralty Bay, Bequia

We have reached paradise and may never move from here again…….