Sunday, April 20, 2025

Tyrell Bay - Ronde Island

A rarity in the forecast, a couple of days of calm! So to capitalise on that, we decided to sail over to the uninhabited Ronde Island. The anchorage is not particularly well protected, but with the calms, it should offer could snorkeling.

And so, after some Easter video calls, we hoisted anchor and set sail south.

What followed was a slow but pleasant sail on a beam reach. Full sails up, another rarity in these waters. With the light winds and strong current, most of the trip went on a “crab walk”, pointing some 30° off our target.

Now we’re anchored off Ronde Island with a couple of other sailboats. Suski already went snorkeling, and I’m also due for a swim soon. The day is hot!

• Distance today: 11.5NM
• Lunch: Spanish omelette
• Engine hours: 0.6

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Frigate Island - Tyrell Bay

We cleared out already on Tuesday, so today we just needed to pack the dinghy and hoist anchor and sails. We opted for main in first reef and genoa partially rolled in. The sail was fast and smooth. The reefs were protecting us from the swell the whole way.

As we turned to Tyrell Bay we got smacked with a gust of 33 knots, we opened the main a bit to smoothen the heel and proceeded to drop sails after the gust was gone. Now checking in to Grenada and ‘anlegers’ of Carib, kippis Kari!

• Distance today: 9.5NM
• Dinner: prawn pasta
• Engine hours: 0.7

Saturday, April 12, 2025

Saline Bay - Frigate Island

After morning coffee and preparing a sourdough, we hoisted anchor and set sail to the next island over. We will eventually need to clear out of St Vincent and the Grenadines here.

The sail was short, but a pleasant one at beam reach with full sail up. We arrived to the lee of the small Frigate Island and the ruins of the superyacht marina just as sky turned grey. Anchor was set and boat made ready before the first squall hit us. Oh well, maybe we’ll wait a bit before deploying the dinghy.

• Distance today: 5.6NM
• Lunch: stovetop pizza
• Engine hours: 0.4

Monday, April 7, 2025

Salt Whistle Bay - Saline Bay

After coffee it was up with the anchor. In Salt Whistle Bay all the good spots are taken by mooring balls, so we went looking for a bit more comfortable anchorage. We motored the 1.2NM to Saline Bay. Here we have more space, less swell but the wind is howling through without obstructions.

It has been pretty windy recently, so we haven’t been able to use our flinsails, which means that we are a bit low on power. A kindom for a wind generator that fits in a ‘spitsgatter’.

• Distance today: 1.4NM
• Lunch: bibimbap
• Engine hours: 0.5

Sunday, April 6, 2025

Lower Bay - Salt Whistle Bay

This morning it was finally time to pack the dinghy and head south. Forecast promised a bit lighter conditions for the next couple of days.

Leaving Bequia, we still got some 28kn gusts at the acceleration zone. But otherwise the sail was quite nice broad reach. We made some water, and enjoyed looking at the islands on the way.

In the afternoon we arrived at Mayreau. Salt Whistle Bay is quite packed with charter catamarans, but we managed to find a place to anchor. It is quite rolly, so depending if we get a better spot tomorrow morning, we might move to the other end of the island. Here the distances are short.

It should be noted that we left our home port of S.C. Gothia in Berlin exactly a year ago. The European part of this adventure, from Norwegian fjords to the Scottish islands and the Spanish Rías feels quite far away.

• Distance today: 25.1NM
• Lunch: lasagne
• Engine hours: 0.3

Saturday, April 5, 2025

Port Elizabeth - Lower Bay

The week on the mooring ball came to its end. As we didn’t get the boat quite as ready as we wanted on Friday we moved to anchor. But the reason for the slight delay in preparations was the best. We finally spent time with the crew of Belafonte, who we met for the first time way back in Stavanger.

We tried anchoring in Princess Margaret Bay, but it was too congested. So we ventured even further out to Lower Bay. Here the swell is bigger, but there is plenty of space to swing around in the 25kn gusts.

• Distance today: 1.1NM
• Engine hours: 0.9

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Princess Margaret Bay - Port Elizabeth

After morning coffee we assembled the dinghy. Always a bit sporty in the high winds! Then the refreshing 0.7NM upwind row to the customs dock.

Once we were cleared in I sought out the “boat boy” we had dealt with last time when we were here. She was able to offer a good deal on a mooring for the week, and so we hoisted anchor. We’re again moored right in front of the Whaleboners dinghy dock. This place is far more sheltered than the anchorage, and we have a very short row to town. Now we can enjoy some island time and do some boat projects over the very windy week to come.

• Distance today: 0.5NM
• Lunch: spinach pancakes
• Engine hours: 0.3

Friday, March 28, 2025

Soufriere - Princess Margaret Bay

We left well before dawn in the hopes we would arrive before the immigration closes. We knew we were in for a bit of motoring but we were not prepared for the winds ranging between 0 and 32 knots and somehow we had forgotten how much the current running against us is. So we left with what we soon realized to be too late to arrive for immigration or even in daylight.

We kept changing from first to second reef, from staysail to genoa and to motor on and off. The squalls could propel us fast forward, the conservative sail plan made us slower, the motor can only give 5kn of speed through water (I don’t like to make the poor thing scream), so slowly but surely our estimated arrival time kept slipping away.

As the darkness fell, we were 1 hour way from the anchorage, we slowly motored in checking for a empty looking spot. It helps a ton that we have already been here twice, so even in the darkness we could find our bearings. Now we are very far away from everything, but this we can easily fix tomorrow when we can actually see something. Today’s mission was to arrive and anchor safely, tomorrow well deal with getting us a shorter distance to row.

• Distance today: 55.8NM
• Lunch: lentil coconut curry
• Engine hours: 6.8

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Marigot Bay - Soufriere

After a quiet night in the protection of the mangroves, we went ashore to enjoy another pleasant marina shower. Then we left the mooring ball and headed out.

Conditions were again quite blustery, with winds ranging from 1kt to 32kt, sometimes in seconds. Yet we managed to sail most of the way, until wind died completely just before the Soufriere Bay entrance.

We motored the rest of the way. This is a marine reserve, and anchoring is forbidden in the most of it. The depths would also make that complicated. And so we’re on a mooring ball right in front of the town, with a great view towards the Petit Piton behind us.

• Distance today: 9.3NM
• Lunch: feta salad with croutons
• Engine hours: 1

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Rodney Bay - Marigot Bay

Today’s big mission was to fill up the diesel tank. We hoisted anchor and motored through the small canal to the harbour basin. The fuel dock was an easy approach with plenty of space to manouver. We filled up 50 liters, which means that since Lanzarote we have used 50 liters of diesel. Not bad for 5 months of cruising!

After filling up, we hoisted the main in first reef and shot out of Rodney Bay with 20 knots of wind behind the beam. After turning the cape we rolled a sliver of genoa out. The wind gusted to 30kn at times but the conservative sail plan made the sail enjoyable. After only bit under two hours, we were at our destination, Marigot bay. We decided to bite the bullet and take one of the mooring balls on the inside lagoon. There is some magic in this tiny hurricane hole!

• Distance today: 10.1NM
• Lunch: spaghetti with avocado sauce
• Engine hours: 1