Bareboat in St. Lucia ?

[sigmasailor]

I admit of being guilty of chartering the occasional RV charter boat. I can't say that i'm too disappointed about the Beneteau monohulls (we've tried 31, 33, 39, 42 and 47 feet). From a strict sailing point of view my (sold) trusty old Sigma 33 OOD was a better boat but lacked all comfort (you know blah blah about the admiral). All Beneteaus held their own and were quite fun to sail between some of the Caribbean islands.

We'll be chartering a lagoon 380 in a couple of weeks; would this 'survive' the trip from St Lucia to Bequia via the leeward side? or is too much an RV. It will be our first cat trip so any info (good or bad) will be useful. Weather permitting we are going for the West side. With winds coming from the NE or even straight from the east I just cannot believe this can be any harder than between the islands themselves; SE might be an other story but we do not expect this in March.

We've experience the north of St. Vincent going up and down and found it interesting; it's really amazing what happens right after you clear the point, good fun that lasted for half an hour and was easy sailing after that.

[krafthaus]

Lot of suggestions here not to go too far in too short a time. For the benefit of others planning a charter from St. Lucia, we recently chartered a Lagoon 420 for 10 days and logged 300 nautical miles to Grenada and back. Our group likes to sail lots and fit lots in.

We considered a one way, but with the cost of air fares and the return fee, plus travel hassles, it just didn't make sense for us. Glad we did the two way.

Our itinerary by day # was:

1 - Rodney Bay Marina to Soufriere for the night. Half day shake down.

2 - Soufriere to Chatham Bay, Union Island. Got up at first light and made our way. Motor sailed some especially while in the lee of St. Vincent. Set the anchor just after the sun went down. (Some of the crew learned that scopolamine is good stuff!)

3 - Chatham Bay to St. Georges, Grenada. Great broad reach up to 12 knots in 20-25 knots true wind. We were tied up at the Camper & Nicholson marina by 2PM. It was Sailing Week in Grenada, so lots of activity around the area.

4 - Toured around the island. Get your driver to stop off somewhere for Rotis for lunch. Better if you are local and not on the tourist track. Swam under Concord Falls.

5 - Set sail for Frigate Island, Union Island, stopped off and snorkeled along the way. Leisurely day and were on the hook by 5PM.

6 - Went to Tobago Cays for the day - not to be missed! Spent the night anchored in Saline Bay, Mayreau Island. Had a nice supper out with the gang at a restaurant up the hill.

7 - Saline Bay to Bequia. Everything was going well until the snap shackle broke at the swivel on the motor end of the dink. Had a little stop and the crew rigged up a new shackle from the spare parts box and all was well. Dinner out at Jack's - recommended for any others stopping at Bequia.

8 - Bequia to Wallilabou Bay, St. Vincent. Based on the cruisers guide we planned to give St. Vincent a pass for safety & security reasons. But in the end we made this stop mostly to avoid a long day 9 back to St. Lucia. One of the boat boys had us tied up stern to by 3PM. A number of other boats piled in the bay and were a bit close for our liking but it all worked out. As soon as we were tied up there were 5 guys at the boat to sell their stuff. The gals enjoyed seeing what they had for sale. I'd have to say they were polite and not overly pushy and no fuss once you said you didn't want anything. These people need to make a living too, so in the end their visit was enjoyable. Same goes for the boat boys and others selling fruits/vegetables and the like. Lowlight - The catamaran full of German guys that anchored beside us, mostly not wearing any clothes!!! No ladies....hmmm. Highlight - "Pirate Night" on our boat in the bay where they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean. Tons of laughs.

9 - Wallilabou to Soufriere. Tied up on a mooring at the Bat Cave by around 2PM. Went into town to clear in and do some shopping and looking around. Had a good "local" feel to it which we liked.

10 - Soufriere to Rodney Bay. Nice motor up the west side of St. Lucia. Did a little run into Marigot Bay for a look around - very pretty & quaint. Spend some time anchored in Rodney Bay swimming and diving and were successful in NOT getting run over by a Sea-Doo. Pulled anchor around 3PM, filled with Diesel and back at the dock on Rodney Bay Marina by 4:30PM. Had a nice dinner out at a marina restaurant to end our charter.

Next up - St. Lucia charter for 13 days north to Martinique, Dominica, Iles des Saintes, Guadaloupe & potentially Antigua. Anyone have any suggestions for must sees, anchorages, stop offs for this trip?

[SaltyTanned]

Sorry I disagree. St vincent is one of the prettiest islands to see from the sea. Sailing to windward you need to be several miles away. Sailing to leeward you cans touch the cliff and your depth meter will indicate over 50 meters.

If this is not a race and if you are not trying to prove anything, go slow, motor if you need to, and visit the prettiest areas.

Moustique I do not care for. Very rolly, an expensive mooring is forced on you and the setting is blah. But the rich and famous own homes there...

Bequia is cute, very commercial, there have been many night boardings and dinghy thefts recently. See WINDWARDISLANDS
Not all problems are reported as a fair percentage of bareboaters (from Martinique) do not speak English.

Plan on provisioning in Rodney Bay, St Lucia. Elsewhere prices are very high and selection limited.

And yes you need at least ten days, two weeks being more reasonable for this navigation.