Trip St Lucia to Granada

[Out2Sea]

We are planning a 10 day (one way) charter from St Lucia to Granada. I have read the Chris Doyle cruising guide and searching the web. We would love to hear some first hand knowledge of your favorite thing or what to avoid.

Thanks,
Out2Sea

[zenwood]

Originally Posted by Out2Sea

We are planning a 10 day (one way) charter from St Lucia to Granada. I have read the Chris Doyle cruising guide and searching the web. We would love to hear some first hand knowledge of your favorite thing or what to avoid.

Thanks,
Out2Sea

Great area, been chartering for 12 years from Barefoot out of St Vincent.
Side trip to volcano on St Vincent and down into via cables very worth it
Make time for Bequia and Maxes pizza.
mustique, Macaronia beach and Basals bar, and money, money, money.
Tobago Cays
Back side of Union island, Chatham bay, see if a gent that goes by the name Shark Attach is still there and he will cook barbecue for you.
Petit St Vincent , try their Sunday brunch, Beef Wellington @ 11am!
Skip Union for refuel and or water, real pain.

[SV Liberty]

On the way south from St. Lucia, steer well west of the north end of St. Vincent. Doyle says the winds there can be much stronger than gradient winds, and I've spoken with several cruisers who did encounter quite strong winds there. When we sailed from Martinique straight to Grenada, we were about 12 nm west of both St. Lucia and St. Vincent, and the winds and seas between St. Lucia and St. Vincent picked up even though we were not close to St. Vincent. This assumes, of course, that you are not planning to visit the north end of St. Vincent.

Good, cheap diesel can be had at PM. We're cruisers, so we can't comment on the beef wellington at PSV, although it sounds delicious.

Tobago cays, of course, are a nice stop. You can take the big boat around the south end and anchor at Petit Tabac and get the Jack Sparrow/Elizabeth experience there.

Sandy Island at Carriacou is a nice stop. Take a mooring ball, its not legal anymore to anchor there (although we saw boats do it) - national marine park. Respect it.

If tropical weather threatens, go in the mangrove lagoon at Tyrell Bay. Amazing protection. If you're in a cat (width) or mono (draft deeper than 4'6"), check it out first by dinghy if you want to go in farther than the first little bay.

Stop at Ronde island north of Grenada. Tuck in close at the north end of the west side. The Doyle guide says day stop only, but we spent 2 or 3 nights there after talking with the capt of a 100+ sailing yacht who we saw anchored there (saw his AIS and later bumped into him in immigration where we chatted). Ronde is if you want to be anchored out alone, very few lights, bright stars, privacy. Decent snorkeling also.

Have fun.

[JanetGroene]

Make sure you know the difference between Granada, Spain (GrenAH-da) and Grenada, West Indies (pronounced Gren-AY-da). I second the motion about the stop in Carriacou. Delightful.

[Out2Sea]

I did notice the typo after I sent the post. I don't think my crew would like a 3 week passage from the West Indies to Spain :-) Thank you for your input.

[gcousins]

Last February did a round trip from St Lucia to the South and heartily second the notion of staying to the west between St Lucia and St Vincent. The waves come all the way from Africa and meet some current off the north tip of St V. We had 15 footers on the quarter going south. A week later, we went through the same area going north because of some squalls and it was still sloppy.

[Play Actor]

All the spots mentioned so far are great. We've spent the last 8 years cruising that stretch for a few months each year; never get tired of it. Don't overlook the anchorage off the old whaling station at Petit Nevis on the south side of Bequia. It's a beautiful spot, seldom crowded, with good snorkeling, and you can swim ashore to check out the tryworks at the whaling station. Petit Nevis is a nice little island, uninhabited. Save a day or two for Grenada proper. It's our favorite island; beautiful, great people. Take an island tour to get a taste of it, and you'll want to stay longer next time.

Check the blog below; I know I've done posts on Bequia and Grenada, possibly some other spots that may interest you.

Enjoy your trip; you picked a great stretch of cruising ground.