Updates

Windward Islands

SPECIAL UPDATE 

The Caribbean Caricom countries have signed onto a protocol called API. It seems likely we have now escaped the consequences of this bureaucratic nightmare for this year. But keep current here

Click to post your own updates or read others

Corrections to the 13th edition. (2007-2008) 

(Sorry, I jumped the gun a bit taking off the updates to the last version, but the new ones will be available by December 20th 2006)

You can download the waypoints given in this guide from our GPS page. The names of the waypoints are given in the new guide on the sketch charts.

CORRECTIONS TO GUIDE (not updates)

Page 39 - Mileage Chart

On the lower tier, Castries, Marigot, Pitons, Vieux Fort, have been repeated and the lower set should be replaced in the same order with: Kingstown, Young Island, Admiralty Bay, Friendship Bay. I f you would like to print out the graphic again, I have posted two version below. The first should print out from any internet cafe, but I am not sure what quality you will get. The second is higher resolution if you have a program so you can make it print out at the correct size (the correct size is about 5 inches by 8 inches

mileage chart - any internet cafe

mileage chart better res

Page 350. Sketch chart error - there is a waypoint error in our sketch chart of Grand mal to Beausejour Bay. The waypoint for Grand Mal reads 12° 04.4'N
61° 45.07'W and should read: 12° 04.4'N
61° 45.70'W. 

Page 261 Auberge des Grenadines Ad. web page is:

www.caribrestaurant.com not as spelt in the guide.

Dive Grenada

I was working with Phil at Dive Grenada in the positioning of buoys for the new marine park on Grenada's west coast. He pointed out to me later that I did not mention his dive company. My fault - so here it is.

Dive Grenada offers a friendly, flexible and personal service to all our divers. Located on the famous Grand Anse Beach at the Flamboyant Hotel, we are strategically based to reach the majority of dive sites in only 10 minutes with our custom built dive boat.

We are offering ‘Tax Free’ diving and a 10% discount to all ‘Cruisers’ that use us over the next 12 months (offer closes August 2007), this discount is applicable to both Diving and PADI Training Courses. If you are moored or alongside in St Georges our Dive Boat can pick you up on the way to the Dive Centre. For more information look at www.divegrenada.com or contact Phil Saye at info@divegrenada.com

navigational notes

The Beacon marking Montezuma Shoal off Mustique missing. This is a dangerous shoal, both a cruise ship and several yachts have come to grief here. The marker has gone and it is unknown when and if it will be replaced. In the meantime the Mustique Company has put out a small privately maintained black and red buoy. It would be hard to see before you were too close. They do try to put a flashing strobe on the buoy at night, but cannot get out to do so if the swells are bad.

Wreck in Bequia

The yacht "Tail Wagger" has sunk in Bequia on the Hamilton side. I am awaiting GPS coordinates. In the meantime, the port are planning to put a green marker on it. Take care (From Sally at Caribbean Compass)

MY UPDATES TO THE GUIDE

ST. VINCEN T AND THE GRENADINES

A change in the customs fees - you now pay $35 EC per person per month, the charter fee yacht license is now $5 EC per foot per month, occasional charter license is $125 EC. There is now a penalty of $20,000 for not clearing in.

The Tobago Cays National Park is up and running. The charges are $10EC per person per day. It is a big improvement. The islands are clean and pleasant again. They have put in a big restricted area for viewing turtles and the water taxis are obeying the speed limit which is 6 knots for ALL craft including dinghies.

A lot of building is going on in Buccament Bay in the area to the east and south we show as an anchorage. Harbor walls have been built. I saw this by air, and have not been in. I would advise anchoring on the other side of the bay for the time being.

UNION ISLAND

A Union island cruisers net now covers the southern Grenadines. It is on VHF: 68 Monday to Friday at 0900

GRENADA

The West Coast Grenada Marine Park outlined in the latest guide seems to be on hold.

Much building is also going on in Port Louis (the old GYS) in Grenada. Yachts can at the moment anchor in the lagoon, but have to fit in around the workboats. Remember there is a good anchorage outside the harbor off Ross Point.

Henry Safari Tours tells me they are now in a position to offer their yacht services in Carriacou and PM as well as Grenada. I am also happy hear that Henry has won the 2006 Yachting Award from the board of tourism. He certainly deserves it.

MARIGOT BAY, ST. LUCIA

Bob Hathaway is now running the marina and moorings in Marigot Bay. 20 moorings have been installed. Price is $25 US per night, most goes to maintenance, surplus goes to the local marine park. You get free wifi.

Three friendly monohulls of around 40 feet or less can raft up if that helps.  If you can find room to anchor out of the way,  no one will stop you.

Hurricane chain has also been installed for the hurricane season and to protect the mangroves.

A pump-out station will soon be installed. The channel is now marked with  red and green marker buoys.

Contact: 1-758-451-4275/285-4515, marina@marigotbay.com, VHF:16

MARTINIQUE

Customs in Marin and St. Pierre are now do-it-yourself on a provided computer. You print the form and have to get is stamped. The system is simple. We need a downloadable program so you can do it on your own computer and take it in on USB. As the system is there is no way to save it so you will be reneterng much of the same data every time.

ANOTHER ROBBERY IN CHATEAUBELAIR

"Just after midnight I was woken by the radio.  ‘Mayday, Mayday, Mayday.  This is yacht Chakita, yacht Chakita’  came a English female voice.  She was very clear - so not too far away.  I waited to see if MRCC or coastguard would pick them up, but when she repeated her call, I responded.  It seems Chakita was one of the two yachts parked off Chateaubelair that we’d seen the lights of as we passed by.  She was less than 2 miles from where we were, and underway. 

They reported they'd been boarded, attacked, threatened and finally robbed by three guys with machetes, one also waving a gun.

We took all details to relay should MRCC come on, but in the meantime suggested they come to us in Wallilabou.  As they made thier way here, we used our recently purchased Carib mobile to get hold of the police.

Chakita is a chartered Dufour 385.  The young husband and wife crew – Steve and Katherine Jones from Yorkshire, UK – were half way through a two week charter, and sailing back north to their charter base on Martinique. 

They’d stopped in Chateaubelair to dive, snorkel, and spend the night, and were asleep in their forecabin when they were boarded around midnight.  Steve challenged the guys from below, who threatened to shoot unless the hatch was unlocked.  When Steve went on deck he bravely tackled the boarders, and suffered a couple of deep cuts to his head and some cuts to his naked body before being overcome. 

The police arrived within 30 minutes in a old but fast rib, with lights flashing.  They tied up on our other side.  After listening again to the attack details, and checking out what little evidence was left around, they took Steve and Katherine off on their boat to see a doctor, and promised to return them later in the morning. " (REPORT FROM ONLINE LOG 23 DEC 07)

This is just one of about 4 recent reports of such incidents in Chateaubelair. This seems to be the only anchorage affected. Extreme caution is advised if using this anchorage overnight  (no day time problems so far). If you go,  note  the following numbers;

Police emergency 911 / 999

Coast Guard Operations: Tel: 457 4578 / 457 4554

Chateaubelair police: 458-2229

VISA INFORMATION

Do you need a visa for St. Lucia? 

St. Lucia has just downgraded their list so fewer countries need visas. However,  Australia, and New Zealand do. Check out their list:

Visas for St. Lucia?

Happily the visa exemption list for Grenada is much longer 

Check here: http://www.grenadaconsulate.com/VISA_EXEMPT.htm

And those that Do need a visa for St. Vincent are so few they fit on one line: Immigration visas are required from nationals of the following countries: Dominican Republic, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The People's  Republic of China, Iraq, Iran and Nigeria.   

And the list is here for Martinique or other French Islands

CRIME NOTE

Update April 11 08. Things have been pretty quiet in the Windwards this year with the exception of Chateuabelair. Of course there have been the occasional thefts, on this front I would like to report one bit of good news. Shalimardue's dinghy was left chained to the dock at Gros Islet for karaoke night. The chain was cut and the dinghy missing. Within two days constables Auguste, Clarke Hyppolite and corporal Emmanual, found the dinghy and returned it immediately. Well done. 

Update 10 Dec 2007. Since the crime notes below the last year has been unexceptional. The occasional thefts but I have not heard of anything out of the ordinairy.

Update 20 Dec 2006. St Lucia now has a hotline for yachties direct to the marine police. Dial HELP on a St. Lucia B-mobile or any land phone. It does not yet work on digicel but will soon.  In the meantime many coastal police stations now have VHF radios. Kudos to all concerned including  Miasl.

Update 28 march 07.  

In winter 06 we had an unusually heavy spate of nasty crime. These included: four armed robberies in the Grenadines and St. Vincent in one night, three by the same man with a pump action pistol grip shotgun, A multiple rape of two young women and the beating of their mother while hiking Soufriere in St. Vincent, a rape aboard a yacht in Gros Ilets St. Lucia, an an attack and beating and stabbing (non-fatal) on board a yacht in Dominica.

The police have worked fast and well and made arrests in the cases in St. Vincent and St. Lucia. The accused are being held without bail.

Things now seem to be pretty normal - this does not mean crime free - there is occasional theft and dinghies disappear, but nothing exceptional. 

The two places where the crimes were not solved were Chateaubelair where there had been a series of crimes and the one in Portsmouth Dominica. In the case of Chateaubelair I advise caution for the time being (lock yourself in at night). In the case of Portsmouth, a group of local Indian river guides are running patrols at night and since then everything has been fine,  through  you should anchor somewhere around the Purple Turtle, not way off on the south side of the bay where the incident occurred.

It also has to be said this volume of violent crime was way above our normal levels, and even so it affects just a tiny proportion of our total visitor population. 

But if you want to take personal  precautions against such crime there are some easy things to do. For example,  install a Radio Shack chime alarm (about $26) that will wake you when someone comes in the cockpit. This should be backed up by a very loud siren or air horn that you can manually set off if the chime should sound. A big bright light would also help. 

Link to alarm if you are interested

More inconvenient is to consider locking yourself in at night.  Some cruisers already do this, but you need to make some kind of hatch that lets though air and repels armed and dangerous criminals. stainless steel bars is one way to go. Your entrance is also your escape exit so you have to design anything you do so you can get out fast.  

YOUR COMMENTS

BEQUIA

The email  for Simpson Engineering (aka Fixman) has changed to: dee.williams@hotmail.co.uk

ST. LUCIA

They have just completed a new dinghy dock for access to the Super J Mall in Rodney Bay Lagoon, St. Lucia. The best part is that there is now a paved and lighted walkway from the dinghy dock to the street. We were delighted to find that this also provides easy access to the variety of restaurants, bars and nightclubs in Rodney Bay Village. The entire area is well lit and active at night. This is a major improvement over the previous dilapidated and unlighted dinghy dock. We now feel very comfortable visiting this area at night.

Best Regards,

Chuck & Fran Poel
S/Y Andiamo

GRENADA 
Interesting new restaurant in Grenada 
we are a new Caribbean restaurant which has just opened along the Carnenage, called BB's. BB himself is Grenadian who trained in the UK, has won the Afro Caribbean Masterchef and has made several TV appearances. I
enclose our website address www.bbscrabback.com 
regards Anna Benjamin 
Dear Chris Doyle: Those of us on the s/v Que Barbara, and nearly every
other cruiser we've met in the past 2 years sailing, rely heavily on your
Cruising Guide series of books for nautical advice, helpful hints ashore,
and suggestions for interesting local entertainment.

In Grenada, new in the past few years, is a local venture offering jeep
tours, mountain bike outings and river tubing adventures. We have
participated in the river tubing and would like to assure you that the
operation of Adventure Grenada is first-rate. Their reception is warm and
very hospitable, the lifevest, helmet and inner tube equipment is sound and
well-maintained, the enthusiasm of the guides is as high as their skills,
and the fun factor of tubing down the river is outstanding. Our hour of
river rapids and guide antics costs $120 EC per person (=$45 US) and
included a rum punch at the conclusion.

We personally met the Managing Director, Randal Robinson, of Tourism
Services Ltd who operates Adventure Grenada. An extremely personable man,
we're sure he would be delighted to answer any questions you might have. He
can be reached
by post: P.O. Box 857, LB# 53, St George's, Grenada, W.I.
by email: randal_robinson@hotmail.com and also adventure@spiceisle.com
by phone:473-444-5337 office and reservations 473-535-1379 cell and FAX
509-695-4567

Henry's Taxi also are aware of this operation and were the transport
service we used to the river, arranged separately. With 6 passengers the
round trip from Clark's Court Bay cost $27 EC per person (=$10 US). Henry
also can do pick ups from other south coast bays and from St George's.

We hope you will add this information to your next edition of Sailors Guide
to the Windward Islands. We are certain other cruisers will find these
adventures as much fun as we do, once they become aware of them.

Sincerely,

Barbara Fleming and Bob Peyser
s/v Que Barbara at anchor off Hog Island, Grenada
July 4, 2006 

St. Vincent
Hello Mr. Doyle, 

Recently,my family and I spent 2 weeks sailing from Martinique down through Canouan on a lovely catamaran. I had ordered your guide before the trip from amazon.com but came to find that the charter company (dream yacht charters) had also supplied our captain one in advance. First, let me say thank you so much for writing such a helpful and up-to-date guide to assist first-timers, like our group, navigate these islands! Your guide was the most useful reference we had and we treated it like the bible during the entire trip! 

You mention somewhere that you welcome any suggestions or new information, etc. and it just so happens that while we were in St. Vincent, docked at the Sunsail marina in Blue Lagoon Bay, we were put in contact with the most courteous, friendly, and invaluable man that you just MUST include in your guide for future travelers!! His name is Desmond Samuel and he operates Samuel Taxi Service (Tel: 593-2188). We originally found him when we asked for a taxi at the Sunsail reception desk and, immediately after meeting him, we were so impressed. He drove us wherever we needed to go for very reasonable rates and he was always early, he managed to get us moved instantly to the front of the customs line which looked like it would've taken 5 hours to get through, he set us up with a tour guide for the botanical gardens and waited for us right outside the whole time, he recommended 2 absolutely fantastic restaurants that we fell in love with, and by the time we sailed back to St. Vincent at the end of our 2 weeks, he was there, waiting for us to take us again to dinner! He truly made our time in St. Vincent the most enjoyable of all the islands and i really, really hope you'll consider including his info in the next edition of your guide. 

Thanks so much, 
Erika Schreiber 

Bequia

Dear Chris

Just a quick note to recommend Sam Saville of Knock Refrigeration & AC  Services in Bequia.  We recently suffered a dead fridge and on  arriving in Bequia we were pointed in the direction of Sam who came  out the same day and worked until 6pm to repair the fridge.

He is very competent, neat, tidy and professional and fair with his  prices - we would like to see him mentioned in your guide as he offers  such a good service to visiting yachtsmen.

Sam is located two doors up from GYE Chandlery and his cell phone  number is + 529 1682.  I hope that we will see him in your next edition.

Best regards
Dave and Dawn
Yacht Matuta (UK)


Carriacou
Hi Chris, I must tell you and others about the new place to go in Hillsborough, Carriacou - Patty's Deli. This is run by Christine and is a joy to behold - clean and welcoming with a good selection of deli meats and cheeses, frozen steaks, pork tenderloin, ground beef, shrimps and other fish. Bagels and wraps are also available. There is a chiller cabinet with yoghurts, goats cheese, parmesan cut from the wheel. Christine also makes home made cakes, quiches and offers salad combo lunches for those looking for a light lunch. The deli also operates an 'entertainment' service where you can order whole cakes, quiches, meat or cheese platters. When I was there I tried the picnic box service which was just perfect for a day out in the cays. Christine mentioned she was thinking about opening up a cafe in her back garden which by the way is really beautiful overlooking Hillsborough Bay with a deck and gazebo for open-air dining. I think it opened in June this year so maybe too late for this years edition of the Windward island guide but it really needs to be added into the guide in 2008 and needs a proper review, although I suspect by that time all the yatchies who visit Carriacou will already know about it - good news travels fast. Let me know what you think if you ever visit it. Cheers, Karen
St. Lucia 

We have appreciated and used your guides extensively as we have cruised the Eastern Caribbean over the last several winter seasons. I thought you would be interested in the following.

They have just completed a new dinghy dock for access to the Super J Mall in Rodney Bay Lagoon, St. Lucia. The best part is that there is now a paved and lighted walkway from the dinghy dock to the street. We were delighted to find that this also provides easy access to the variety of restaurants, bars and nightclubs in Rodney Bay Village. The entire area is well lit and active at night. This is a major improvement over the previous dilapidated and unlighted dinghy dock. We now feel very comfortable visiting this area at night.

Best Regards,

Chuck & Fran Poel
S/Y Andiamo 


Martinique 

LE SUD RESTAURANT, Marin TWO emails 
This is one I know nothing about well done! 
We are Marsha and Bob Perry on Crusader, a 48 foot ketch. A great little restaurant in St. Ann has a new owner her name is Maryse. She speaks very good English. 

Marsha and Bob Perry 


Hello Chris-


Barbara and I have been using your guides for over 25 years, and have found them very useful. Thanks for doing a good job!
We are presently in Ste. Anne, Martinique for the winter. Last night we went to Le Sud for dinner and were tremendously impressed with the "new" owner's establishment. The food was exquisite. It will now be classed as our favorite place for dinner in Martinique. Truly excellent French cuisine.
Maryse Malleret has owned Le Sud now for a little over a year. She has a 29 year old chef who is excellent and also enthusiastic. Maryse has turned the street level room into a lounge for cocktails and the 2nd floor room is now the dining room. It is all very tastefully and comfortably done. She speaks fluent english and is a very pleasant person.
I thought of you and the Guides during dinner, and on leaving Maryse said other Americans and Canadians have commented Le Sud should be in your Guide. I told her I would write you!


Steve Woycke, IRIS (CT-54)

Yes I checked out Le Sud, it is a lovely restaurant and Maryse is warm and welcoming, just the kind of place cruisers appreciate. She is now doing an inexpensive crepes menu in addition to the normal one. Unfortunately things are VERY quiet in Marin right now. I hope she manages to hold on....

visitors since Aug 03