The country St Vincent and the Grenadines consists of a total of 32 island, where St Vincent is the largest one, and located furthest to the North. You really can spend months just cruising around the islands of the Grenadines. They are diverse, some of them almost deserted where you can find quiet anchorages, such as Petit St Vincent, and some of them busy with other sailors, such as Tobago Cays.
After spending about one month hopping between islands of the Grenadines, it was time for us to move further North, where we will now face larger islands that lie perfectly located for easy day sails between them.
We started with the Southern most anchorage on St. Vincent, called Young Island Cut. Through the Facebook cruiser group, we had seen several warnings about using moorings here, as some of them supposedly are badly managed. We always prefer to use our own anchor, as it is really just up to us to ensure we are safe. So, we dropped the anchor right off a very cool island with an old fort on the top, called Fort Duvernette.
It can be climbed on the 200+ stairs to reach the top, and was also a great spot for diving. We ended up staying a week at this anchorage. It was well protected from swells, but we did experience some solid currents with the changing tides.
The anchorage was just a short bus/taxi ride from the capital, Kingstown. We have come to really like the way the local bus system works on most islands. You just wait on the side of the road, and when there is a van approaching, you wave it down. It is efficient, inexpensive and a great way to get close to the locals in their daily lives. And, we really enjoyed (most) of the music they played 😎
We rented a car for two days, and explored most of the island from South to North. As the other islands in this part of the Caribbean, this is also a volcanic island, which means lots of winding and narrow roads, and driving on the wrong side… The captain did an excellent job getting us safely around!
We are now in the island where the first of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies was filmed. We visited some of the movie sets, where you still can see parts of the sets on display. And, we of course had to watch the full serie of movies again!
As most of the islands in the lesser Antilles, St Vincent has an active volcano. The Soufriere volcano’s last eruption was only two years ago. It has to be one of the most eclectic hikes we have ever made. We started out in a lush rainforest, with a well built up pathway consisting of railings and steps.
About halfway through the hike, the trees started to thin out, it was almost like hiking in Norway, when you get to the tree line. The trees were substantially shorter, and further apart. We could see signs from the eruption on both the vegetation as well as the ground. Streams of lava had made new creases in the soil, and the path was now no longer a proper pathway. We walked on a granular soil, where it was easy to slide, and the markings were sticks to keep us going in the right direction.
We also experienced a weather change, it was cool and misty as we approached the summit, and we quickly got engulfed by clouds. It is such on most peaks here, they are surrounded by clouds on most days, and you just have to wait it out to get a break from them and a glimpse of the views.
We were very lucky that as we reached the top, there was a small crack in the clouds, where we could see the crater and also the views all the way to the sea. The crater was humongous, and steam rose from it. The layers of rock from several eruptions were clearly visible.
You can actually go into the crater, which would take you another couple of hours. We met a team of geologists, who had spent the night camping inside the crater, collecting samples. The volcano is being monitored closely, and the hike is not officially opened after the last eruption, so you walk at your own risk.
Lots of boats skip sailing to St Vincent, due to some security issues around burglary in some of the bays. As we had discovered most of the island by car, we only made one stop in a bay as we made our way North. After much web research and contemplation, we decided to anchor in a very quiet bay, with just a couple of restaurants onshore, called Cumberland Bay.
That meant our first experience tying a rope from the stern of the boat to shore. The captain maneuvered excellently, and with some help of the local boat boys, we were safely anchored for the night. This was in fact the quietest anchorage we have ever experienced. No currents, no swells, no winds. We even got to use our SUPs, finally!!! And, we also had a lovely dinner onshore, just 30 meters from our boat 😃
Next stop, St Lucia!