St Vincent and the Grenadines(SVG) is an island state of 32 islands, located between Grenada and St Lucia. Some of the islands are inhabited, while others are either completely uninhabited or part of the Tobago Cays Marine Park.
We had heard really good things about the islands and in particular Tobago Cays, which is a protected Marine Park that is home to hundreds of sea turtles. Unfortunately there have also been recent reports of thefts and robberies on boats in SVG and St Lucia. It was therefore with a somewhat mixed feeling that we arrived in SVG.
First stop in SVG was Union Island at December 19th, the day after Martins birthday.
On Union Island we realized for the first time how much competition there is between the locals. When you arrive at an anchorage, there is usually someone in a wooden boat approaching, who wants to sell you a buoy to make a little money from the tourist boats. This time we declined and found an anchorage. The next day, another guy in a wooden boat came to sell us beach barbecue on Tobago Cays, which is actually uninhabited, but the Marine Park Authority lets locals do beach barbecues for tourists. It was a bit pricey, but we said ok, because we were going there anyway after Union Island. We were then told that there are several locals who run restaurants on the same beach, and since he had come to our boat first, we were his customers and shouldn’t say yes to someone else because there was stiff competition. During the two days we were anchored, we were asked by several of his colleagues about the beach barbecues.
Our problems with the dinghy losing air and taking in water had worsened and it became a bit difficult to use the dinghy to get ashore. It sat very low in the water at the end.
The few times we did come ashore to shop, it was to a pleasant atmosphere with a shopping street with restaurants and a large vegetable market near the harbour. Prices here were even higher than in Grenada. As we passed the vegetable market, we were approached by a lady from a stall closest to the road. She had a good selection and we agreed with her that we would come back after we had shopped in the supermarket. A little further down the road we were passed by someone from another stall in the vegetable market. He and his mother’s stall were in the third row from the road, and he was tired of the lady closest to the road taking all the customers as they passed on the road. So he walked up and down the road to find customers for his stall. He had eggs that we had not been able to find in the supermarket, so we followed him. When we told him we were from Denmark, he said with a look of surprise, “Hold da kæft, mand. For helvede. Hvad laver I her?” It turned out he had been on holiday in Denmark in 2015. After an evening out with a bit too much to drink, he went to see the Queen, and decided to kiss her. He was stopped by the guards and taken to the police station, where he was asked why he tried to kiss the Queen, to which he replied “Why not?”
After shopping a bit at his stall, we felt compelled to buy a bit from the lady closest to the road as well. Among other things, she had okra, which is also eaten in Pakistan. Since Elliott has taken a liking to okra, we got just that and made Pakistani food for dinner.
A couple of days later we moved on to Tobago Cays, which is a Marine park consisting of a number of small Islands including a turtle sanctuary with hundreds of sea turtles. You could see large sea turtles swimming right next to the boat. We snorkeled and saw a lot of beautiful fish. I saw a stingray just about a meter away from me. There was a strong current in the water and at one point Anton got caught in the reef. Suddenly there were a lot of sea urchins on a coral very close to his stomach. Luckily a big wave came and washed him away from there. It just reminded us to remember to take a walk around the coral reefs to find a safe route. Here is a turtle and some fish, that Martin caught on camera.
We had the barbecue with Lobsters on the beach. The restaurant, which was just a covered area with some stoves, was shared between the various competitors. There was no electricity. The restaurateurs brought in everything from the main Island in their wooden boats. We had some delicious lobsters and had a good evening. Then we went got a ride back to the boat and went to bed.
During the night Martin got severe pain in the left side of his stomach and back. When I got up in the morning, he had gotten worse. We were afraid it might be appendicitis. We got help from rangers in the marine park, who helped get us to a doctor in Union Island and sailed us in a wooden boat with powerful engines on it, across big ocean waves to get there. When we arrived at the dock on Union Island, 6-7 people from the hospital were standing by with the doctor to recieve us and drive us to the local hospital. The doctor was surprised that we were worried about appendicitis. It was his left side he had pain. But but.. we didn’t have internet coverage on the uninhabited Island and couldn’t look it up. Martin was given some strong painkillers, and after a while he felt better. The doctor and nurse observed him for some hours. The doctor diagnosed most likely cause to be either an infection in the stomach or kidney stones, which cause excruciating pain. He gave us prescription for both. We later found out that kidney stones are more likely if you lack electrolytes. Since we left Gibraltar, we have been drinking demineralized water, which lacks the minerals and salts that occur naturally in Danish tap water. Because of the warm weather, we’ve been living in for seven months now, Martin has been sweating a lot and has not been able to replace the electrolytes he lost through sweating, and thus ended up with a kidney stone. After the stone had passed his ureter, he felt better, and the next day he was back on his feet, cleaning the boat and swimming with turtles. This experience gave us all a scare. It suddenly became very clear to us how vulnerable you become when you are out, where there’s is a long way to medical help.
After Tobago Cays we sailed to Salt Whistle Bay in Mayreau, which is nearby. Since we didn’t have a functioning dinghy, we only got ashore a few times by paddling. We spent christmas eve at anchor at Mayreau. Although there was no opportunity to have a real Christmas, the kids made Christmas decorations and we had a Christmas dinner of chicken, brown potatoes and rice porridge for supper.
Christmas Day, the 25th, we sailed on to Bequia, and anchored at Port Elizabeth with a large bay where hundreds of boats are anchored and buoyed. A little further from shore we could see cruise ships anchored, sailing people in and out of the Island with lifeboats all day long.
Martin was still tired from all the medication he had to take. We weren’t in a hurry of anything, and decided to just take it easy. Instead of the dinghy, we could take water taxis in to shore and get in to buy groceries etc. We just stayed there for a couple of weeks and enjoyed the Island with it’s colorful shops and beautiful scenery.
New years eve, we saw the traditional new years speach from the danish queen and later we saw “Dinner for One” and hence kept the same procedure as every year… At danish time. We didn’t even have to stay up late.
The kids were up and see fireworks at land while I slept deep after the champagne we drank way too early.
With plenty of time, we also caught up on some homeschooling and got started on sanding the woodwork on the boat. To begin with the door from the cockpit to the saloon, but a lot of other places needs to be re-varnished. There is enough sanding and oil/varnish work for the whole trip.
Moving on from Bequia, we made short stop in
St Vincent. We anchored in a little cove called Wallilabou, which has been used for filming Pirates of The Caribbean. The old sets were left slightly dilapidated. One wooden hut had pictures and film rolls from the movie. We bought avocados from a guy who plays a fisherman in the first movie, and tuna from a local guy who came and filleted it on the boat.
We were anchored quite close to shore. Behind the boat was a little reef where you could snorkel right off the boat. We quickly got the snorkel gear out and saw the finest fish right by our boat.
Although it was a quick stop, it was quite good.
