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Full Text of this section from the 11th (05-06) edition. 

CUMBERLAND BAY

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This deep and enchanting bay is part of an estate in the heart of St. Vincent’s wildest and richest land. A forest of coconut trees and bananas flows down the valley to the beach. At dusk cattle egrets roost together in nearby trees, and at night the tree frogs set up a rich throaty chorus. Sometimes the bay becomes a boiling mass of jumping tuna and fishermen can often be seen with their seine nets waiting patiently. Cumberland is unspoiled by tourism. There are many here happy to take you on a tour or feed you, but it is all so unsophisticated that it still has the charm of an untouched settlement. For the cruising sailor, there is a river to do a freshwater clothes wash. Enter toward the north of the bay to avoid the large rocky shoal that extends from the southwestern part of the bay. Cumberland is very deep and you will need to anchor bow or stern to a palm tree. There will be many eager to help. Do not tow anyone into the bay; wait till you get right in and choose one of the people inside the bay itself.

Regulations

There is no customs at Cumberland Bay, but you can clear in or out at Wallilabou near by.

Ashore

 Although many of the locals look like bad guys in a spaghetti western, for the most part they couldn’t be nicer and more helpful.

 You can buy vegetables from Maxwell, fish from Joseph and crayfish from his brother, Uncle Sam. Carlos sells attractive calabash ornaments that he handpaints himself. Other locals you will meet include Dande, Zaquie and Sydney. Sydney guides people on walks and Kiki sells jewelry. New people are turning up on the waterfront. You will have to be their judge. Under no circumstances should you do business with anyone you find aggressive or objectionable in any way.

The old hands are good about not overwhelming yachtspeople when they arrive, and they generally keep an eye on the bay, but very occasionally, in the wee hours after they have gone home, dinghies have been known to go missing and once or twice the lines tied to the palm trees have been stolen. There have also been a few armed robberies along this coast. It is therefore advisable to keep the outboard on deck, the dinghy locked to the boat, use an older piece of line across the beach, and try to visit when other yachts are in the bay. 

Restaurants

Bennett [$D] has the bar/Restaurant in the middle of the beach. He will cook you a good inexpensive meal, and it is an amusing place to hangout. Bennett also has a van and he does tours, including the volcano, Vermont Nature Trails, Trinity Falls or straight into the rainforest up the water pipe road. Ask him for prices; they sounded inexpensive to me.

The bar at the south end of the bay belongs to Steve and Jane from Wallilabou. It is called Captain Cumberland and is mainly a bar, though there are plans to do meals also.

Stephens Hideaway is right on the beach. As we went to press it was in flux, but check it out for yourself.

Maxwell and Joseph have shacks from which they do beach barbecues; just ask in advance.  This is a very local experience.

 You should definitely take a walk here. An easy one is up the hill to the north, which rewards you with a great view of the anchorage. Walk back to the road, turn left and keep going. (Unless you land at the north side of the bay, you must ford a small river, but that is part of the fun.) There is a rum shop in the village just at the point when you are dying for a drink.

 

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