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Chartering sailing in St Lucia & Grenadines

5K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  donahuj 
#1 · (Edited)
I am taking a trip in October with some friends to the Grenadines. This will be my second bareboat charter trip to that area. My last charter was out of St. Vincent with Barefoot Yachts and of course Moorings and Sunsail also charter in that area. As I was doing my research for this trip, I came across Destination St Lucia Yachting (DSL Yachting). This outfit is owned by a very friendly couple in Rodney Bay, St Lucia, and they have a good selection of charter boats, both monohull and catamaran. They are sailing enthusiasts who have been in business well over a decade, and they have a good reputation. While St Lucia is a little further north than some of the other charter locations, Sandra has been very accommodating and has had some good suggestions for us to optimize our trip. Also, St Lucia is known to be an extremely friendly island, and also has some great scuba diving. I will be chartering a 46' Bahia catamaran from DSL, and the boat has a number of features that Moorings doesn't provide, such as a water-maker for desalinization. Their prices are very reasonable relative to Moorings and Sunsail, their boats are generally on the newer side, and I am told that they actually maintain their boats better than the big outfits. So far Sandra (one of the two owners) has been amazingly helpful and great to deal with, so I am quite excited about the charter. I wanted to report to the forum on this because in doing my own research on the Grenadines I found that there just isn't a lot of info like there is in the BVI, and DSL Yachting seems to be a gem-in-the-rough. Perhaps I'll post again on other things I find that would be helpful after the trip.
 
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#3 ·
Thanks for your note Rick. I am planning on bypassing St Vincent all-together due to the crime on the western shore. It's a shame about the crime problem, as St Vincent is a beautiful island. We will head directly to Bequia and then, after a quick stop at Mustique, onto Canouan, then 2-3 days in Togabo Cays, maybe a day in Petit St Vincent / Mopion, and then on our way back up, with another stop in Bequia on the way up. Let me know if you have any good tips.

By the way, one other thing I've learned doing the research for this trip regards scuba diving. My last trip to the Grenadines was in 2002 and at the time I brought my own gear and rented tanks. Since then a number of the islands / reserve parks have prohibited diving without a guide. Now guided dives are required in St Lucia and the Tobago Cays at a minimum. It's possible to do un-guided dives on St Vincent and Bequia, though most of the dives on Bequia don't have mooring balls and are drift dives, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to rent your own gear. I'll report back on my experience with the different dive outfits after the trips. Prices seem to be higher than I'm accustomed to, but I guess the economy has made it tough on these operators and they don't typically have a lot of customers daily, so they need to be able to make money, of course.
 
#4 ·
A few ideas:
- Mayreau in the Grenadines is worth a stop - lovely anchorage and a nice island it walk around with a couple of nice restaurants.
- We stopped for a night at Walliabou (sp?) and it was nice. Have to take a line ashore (or let a boat boy) as it is very deep. There were about ten boats there, all close together so it was pretty safe.
- Passage from Bequia to St Vincent can be nasty - but I guess you know that
- If you are there on Sunday, there is a cruisers`gathering at the Yacht Club
at Rodney Bay. It was a nice meet.
- In Bequia, holding is not very good on the north side of the bay while it is excellent over by the beach (although it is further to town); the turtle sanctuary on the other side of the island is worth a viist, especially if you have kids with you. Could take a cab but it is a good walk too - with a decent restaurant to stop for a brew on the way back.

Have fun.
 
#5 ·
Thanks Killarney Sailor. Any recommendations on specific restaurants on Mayreau would be appreciated if you can recall. Thanks for the tip on anchorage in Bequia.

Any tips from others out there in the sailing community on any recent happenings or things to be aware of in the Grenadines would be much appreciated, and I'll continue to post as I have more recommendations as well. Grenadines is such a beautiful cruising ground, it's a shame there is less available on the Internet on the Grenadines than other more sailed locations. Of course, the Doyle cruising books are always a great help.
 
#6 ·
Not sure what "info" you are looking for - but Doyle's Cruising Guide for the Windwards has all the basic stuff & more. Available thru many sources including big on-line stores - don't get thrown by the Trini / Tobago label in link
Cruising Guide to Trinidad and Tobago

His website also has lots of info & links + updates to Guides from sailors
Doyleguides site lobby

Another source would be TTOL - So. Carib Forum - more than a few sailors providing trip reports & exchanging info on SVG including a few that make the leap from St. Lucia - scroll & search away
Traveltalkonline: Viewing forum: Southern Caribbean

One popular (even though a little dated) is the Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects - Destination: The Grenadines

Other than that - google away
 
#7 ·
The restaurant we liked on Mayreau was a Rastafarian seafood one (can't remember the name but it is on the main road in town).

You might also want to check Activecaptain.com for reviews of anchorages - a bit thin in the Caribbean but still useful.

I looked at your route again and noticed you plan to stop in Canouan. We spent a miserable rolly night there and it wasn't even windy or with much of a northerly swell. Moorings have taken over the corner of the harbour where you might get a bit of protection from the swell. We were not far off this and it was miserable. No reason not to go the few extra miles into Mayreau or Tobago Cays.
 
#9 ·
It is indeed Robert. The restaurant at Salt Whistle looked interesting but was a bit pricey (or a lot) for a full-time cruiser on a limited budget.
 
#10 ·
Thanks so much Chuteman and Killarney Sailor for the great info. This is really helpful and we're quite excited about the trip down this time. By the way, do either of you happen to know about mooring fees for a day stop only at Mustique? It appears that their mooring fee is 200 EC for 1-3 nights but I couldn't find anything regarding if one is to just make a few hour stop. Happy sailing!
 
#11 ·
Good Luck

d:
I'll try to restrain myself answering a question about my least favorite island in the Carib = Mustique.:gunner

You can try several tactics to "avoid" the posted rates
1) Grab (literally) a Ball (no painters '08) - avoid HM - do your quick stop & leave
2) Ask the Harbor Master - shack at the top of the Dinghy Dock ramp ('08)

Depending on the time You stop, how busy they are and how nice you ask, There's a good chance - you will be able to do it for free. If no one stops you, just keep moving. I remembering him stopping by in a dinghy but I paid at the shack on my first trip in. You can remind him or guard(s) that You will be spending some $$$ during your quick stop - might help your plea.
:cool:
 
#12 ·
Diving etc. Grenadines

I've had really excellent diving experiences with Anse Chastanet, in St Lucia. Highly recommended, do the Pinacles, Superman's flight (under the Pitons), or even the dive right in front of the resort. There were are few more, cannot remember their names. They also do a night dive I hear good things about.

Diving Bequia, we did a drift dive at near the Moon Hole, that involved some churning seas, a bit more challenging. I remember a big moray.

We brought regulators, computers, BCD's etc, but the operators have everything if you'd rather not. 60-100 foot visibility. "how will I find the wreck", answer "jump of the boat, and look down".

If they support it, one way from St Lucia to Grenada is worth the money, if you like reaching (who doesn't). You of course will do the Tobago Keys, everyone does, but it is really nice.

Have a great trip.
 
#13 ·
Just to follow up on this post, I just came back from the trip yesterday. A few notes:
1) The boat we chartered, Tallulah, from DSL Yachts, was by far the best equipped / nicest bareboat I've ever chartered, far better than what Moorings offers. It's a 46' Bahia catamaran with AC and all of the goodies. Because they're not Moorings, they charge about the price of a Moorings 4200 but it was a heck of a lot nicer. Having a watermaker on board was really nice and avoided us having to stop for water, particularly important in the very spread-out Grenadines. Though we never used it, this boat had a LCD TV / DVD player. It also had an iPod hook-up, top-of-the-line navigation equipment, and extremely nice sailing gear such as auto winches for trimming the sails without a lot of manual winching. If you're going to go to the Grenadines, consider getting Tallulah from DSL Yachts in Rodney Bay, St Lucia. The one downside of chartering from Rodney Bay is it's a far sail from the Tobago Cays (about 75 miles), whereas you can charter Moorings in Canouan (which is a ***** to get to though). We enjoyed the fun open-water sail both directions between St Lucia and St Vincent, though, which is about 30 miles if I remember with nice swells and 20 kt winds.
2) If you are a scuba diver, you will find that diving in the Grenadines is relatively expensive and it's not very practical to rent tanks and have your own gear because the Grenadines is pretty spread out and there aren't a lot of fill stations. Plus, some islands won't let you dive legally without a guide. There is a market called Seaside View on Petite Martinique, however, which rents tanks for the equivalent of about $4.50 per day which is unheard-of inexpensive for the Grenadines. It is really meant for renting tanks to local fisherman, and the guy who runs / owns it will have to get comfortable that you will not steal his tanks (he doesn't take a deposit or credit card or anything) but I found his tanks to be in very good condition and he was a nice guy. He doesn't want you to go far, though and you can only take the tanks out for the day. He opens at 9:00 and he usually wants the tanks back by 12:00 or 1:00, so you have to do local dives (e.g.: Mopion reef) and have your own gear. The Mopion dive is decent- I would give it a 5 on a 1-10 scale. We also dived in St Lucia and on Bequia, both with guides, and I enjoyed both. St Lucia was with Action Adventure Diving which was good, and Bequia was with Dive Bequia, also good.
3) If you charter in St Lucia and go to the Grenadines, you will have to clear in and out of customs four separate times (out of St Lucia, into the Grenadines, out of the Grenadines, and back into St Lucia). This is sort of a pain and takes about 1 hour each time. Also, there is some cost, but not huge (about $50 average each time). That's definitely one advantage of chartering in SVG if you're planning to sail SVG. However, St Lucia is much easier to get to from a flight perspective, with flights from American, Delta, and US Airways, so you'll probably save much more time flying in than you waste in customs & immigration.
4) Drag a fishing line / lure behind your bareboat, particularly for the open-water sails. I had done this before and not had that much luck, but we caught an 80 pound blue fin tuna on this trip and it fed us for the week (tuna sushi, tuna steaks, tuna burgers...).
5) Bring some oral antibiotics if you have extras or can get a prescription. I contracted food poisoning (my own fault- came from our cooking, not a restaurant- we left the food out) and ended up in an emergency room in St Lucia. They charged me $300 US just to see a doctor in order to get a prescription, and it took 4 hours.

Enjoy your trip- it's wonderful out there.
 
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