Though not as developed as Bequia, Clifton Harbor has stores, water, ice, etc. It's also the last chance to clear customs and immigration when heading south from the St. Vincent territory to Carriacou which is part of Grenada. The dock isn't much. It's easier using the dinghy or water taxi from the anchorage unless you have to take on water. The customs and Immigration offices are at the airport, which is a short walk from the harbor. One of the best secrets of Union Island is Chatham Bay around the other side from Clifton. It's back to nature there with far fewer visitors than the Tobago Cays. There's only one water taxi called "Shark Attack". James, the operator also makes carvings out of local wood there. The snorkeling was excellent despite an algae bloom. There were eagle rays, a nurse shark trying to hide in the algae and an 18 inch fish called a flying gurnard that shuffles along the sand and spreads it's huge pectoral fins like wings when startled. We were more startled than the fish to see the display. The next stop was Canouan Island but not before putting Paul in charge of the passage and having him also do his man overboard drills. Bareboat Charter students are required to demonstrate two different return methods to complete the standard. Paul did three a quick stop, a gybe and a figure eight. The Moorings is now operating at the Tamarind Resort in Charlestown Bay. I ran into Michael Schantz, the CFO of The Moorings who told me about plans to develop a marina with a breakwater to make boarding the boats there easier than it is with the pier now in use. Canouan is in a nice location in the middle of The Grenadines and can be reached on an American Eagle flight from San Juan. We had dinner at one of the Tamarind Resort restaurants, which has a wood fired pizza oven. The pizza and calzone were great. It was a close hauled sail from Canaoun back to Bequia to position ourselves for a morning return the next day to Sunsail. There was a fresh breeze of at least 20 knots so we double reefed. It would have been perfect except that I neglected to check the hatch over my forepeak cabin. I had earlier dogged the hatch in the upper position to let in some air so everything in the cabin became very wet by the time we discovered the situation in Bequia. Fortunately, it was a sunny afternoon so we were able to get the cushions dried out. Also, Daffodil was there to take our wet linens and laundry to wash, dry and bring back before dinnertime. It was a bargain at $10 U.S. for each 10 pounds of laundry weighed dry, not the way we gave it to them. The final passage was a relatively short beat of 8 miles back to Blue Lagoon in St. Vincent. We left early in order to get the boats back in time to check in, have lunch and make a 2:10 p.m. flight back to Barbados, the connection point for St. Vincent instead of San Juan. Sunsail was very efficient in helping us get checked in and there was plenty of time to spare. We spent the night in Barbados at a beautiful beach hotel. Then, the flight in the morning got us into San Francisco by 5:00 p.m. via a Miami connection. All in all it was an excellent trip with everybody agreeing that it would have been nice if we'd had a few more days. That's the way I like it to go. Of course, I'll be doing another trip in just a few months. Our Tahiti trip is in September. That's why my job is the best job in the world. |
