DEC 27, 2012 MAYREAU GRENADINES - SAIL, BBQ & BEACH

Dec 27, 2012 MAYREAU, GRENADINES - SAIL, BBQ AND BEACH

TOBAGO CAYS GRENADINES, CARIBBEAN - HEAVEN!!

What a great day this was. It was 2 years since we were here last on the Wind Surf and we had signed up to sail on the catamaran because we had enjoyed the day so much last time. There was a squall passed through just before breakfast at the Veranda restaurant on deck 4 but by the time we ate we were sitting in the sunshine. Wearing swimsuits, hats and sunscreen we left on the first tender at 930am for the Mayreau, Grenadines dock next to a beautiful long white sandy beach and absolutely crystal clear water where you could choose to spend the day should you wish. The crew were very busy unloading half the ship to prepare for a Beach BBQ and cold drinks all day long.

The small Grenadine Islands were first settled by the Arawaks and later by the Caribs. Mayreau is the smallest inhabited island in the Grenadines at only 1.5 square miles. It is essentially a private island first purchased by Monsieur de L'Isle in 1720 who grew huge amounts of cotton on the island with 6 Europeans and 66 African slaves shown in the 1773 records. Today Mayreau is still mostly privately owned, with the exception of 22 acres owned by a Canadian, and 21 acres of the village owned by St Vincent and the Grenadines, by a descendent of a lady in waiting of Empress Josephine who acquired the island during the Napoleonic Wars. Today Mayreau has no bank, no taxis and no buses and just one short road from the pier to the village at the top of the hill overlooking Saline Bay and beach, one of the many beautiful beaches that are on the island.

BUSY SALINE BEACH!

We walked the 100 yards from the dock we landed at to the second dock where the Wind and Sea catamaran Sun Spirit was tied up waiting for us with the same crew, Captain Bruno, hostess Michele, and First Mate Kendrick, from 2 days earlier at Tobago Cays. As soon as the 32 of us had jumped onboard, the ropes were untied and away we went. We sailed around Mayreau and could see the 50+ sailboats in a couple of anchorages anchored and hiding from the wind - it was going to be a good sail. We also passed a couple of multi million dollar luxury yachts and sail boats - there appears to be no end of very expensive private yachts here in the Caribbean! On the far side of Mayreau we could see the 4 masts of the Wind Spirit towering over the top of the island. Bruno and Kendrick hoisted the two very large sails and cut the motor, and we were under wind power only and loving every minute.

CHILLING ON BOARD SUN SPIRIT

We soon saw the uninhabited island - actually a small sand bar with one thatched palapa on it, and surrounded by the most brilliant aquamarine waters you could imagine - with about 4 or 5 private catamarans anchored outside the reef, where we also pulled up and anchored ourselves. Bruno and Kendrick pulled up the small grey zodiac, which had obviously done some hard work before, then pumped up the pontoons before loading us with our snorkel gear and my bag with my camera in it! They loaded 8 of us in the zodiac along with First Mate Kendrick. I think this small zodiac was probably rated for a total of 3!

As we made our way through the bumpy waves through the lagoon entrance, the water was flying at us over the front and coming in quite quickly over the back gunwhale. By the time we reached the beach (holding my camera bag protectively high in the air behind Terry's back) the water was about 8 inches deep inside the zodiac! I was not worried about ending up in the water myself but was very concerned about my camera ending up in the drink!

WIND SPIRIT FROM SUN SPIRIT

CRAB LICE ISLAND (I FORGET THE FRENCH NAME)

The island was a few square feet of perfection - crystal clear turquoise water and white talcum powder soft sand - heaven! We hung the camera bag under the palapa roof and set out to explore which took just a few minutes mostly spent looking skyward at the blue skies! Some folks went snorkelling but there wasn't very much to see and it was very bumpy due to the strong winds. Glad to say after 45 minutes or so we made it safely back to the Sun Spirit (without submerging up to our necks!) where it was lazing on the catamaran and consuming rum punch made with Very Strong Rum - that's exactly what the label on the bottle said "Very Strong Rum"!! (90% proof) We sailed all the way back to the pier with some good Marley tunes on the speakers and Capt Bruno telling us about the islands as we passed - Palm Island looks delightful, maybe that will be on our itinerary one of these days! We arrived around 1pm, so we had a great 3+ hours sailing and swimming around Mayreau.

CAPTAIN JAN?????

Back on the beach the lunch was well underway, so we enjoyed salad, burgers, and sausage - we needed to soak up that rum! We did a quick turnaround and went sailing again all afternoon - it had been just too much fun! We didn't go across to the tiny island for a swim but enjoyed lazing on the nets at the front of the catamaran. It was truly the perfect day for us and when we returned we even had an hour left before the last tender which gave us enough time to walk along Saline Beach and enjoy a relax in the warm crystal clear water off the beach. We could hardly believe that this was our last day in the Grenadines before heading North back to Barbados where we would disembark early on Dec 29th. We made the most of it - there were only half a dozen of us left just floating around in a very gentle swell rolling into the beach - this beach and bay are protected from the prevalent winds from the East.

BEAUTIFUL WIND SPIRIT

We were on the last tender going back to the Wind Spirit - enough time for a speedy change into dry clothes, then back up top for the sunset and sailaway - you guessed it - Vangelis 1492 as the sails were raised! We can never listen to Vangelis 1492 without remembering and feeling that wonderful sensation of being back aboard the Wind Surf or Wind Spirit. We have been on the 300 passenger Wind Surf twice, and this is our first time on the smaller 146 passenger Wind Spirit - we were a little concerned that it would feel too small, but absolutely not. We have found that the public areas are well laid out and are comfortable, we have never found ourselves wishing for more space. The sailing sensation is also felt a little more on the Spirit than the Surf.

WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY AT THE BEACH!

Dinner was at Candles - a romantic dining area set up around the pool each evening on Deck 4 at 7:30pm - we had reserved several days ago (dining by reservation only) and there were about 4 larger tables for 6 to 8 set up as well as our table for two. This is the same menu every night including shrimp and scallop ceviche, caesar salad, filet mignon, strawberry creme brulee. We really enjoyed the meal, Wahid from Sulawesi is an excellent waiter, top notch service but we have to admit our appetites were not huge! After a very full day in the sun, sea and sand we were ready to crash early. We had both had too much sun in spite of the 35 sunblock and were very hot! Fortunately neither of us were extremely burned, and apart from waking up in the middle of the night soaking wet from being so hot - all was cool the next morning for our last day "at sea" on the way to Barbados!




Cheers ..... Jan Umbach
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