Caribbean - Windward islands
Our anchorages in The Windward Islands, including Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago

BARBADOS

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Barbados is actually not a part of the Windward Islands' chain, even though it is the easternmost Caribbean island, lying 80 nautical miles to the east (towards the wind) of the Grenadines.

Because it would be a hard slog sailing to Barbados from the other Caribbean islands most visiting sailing boats arrive from Europe on their way to the West Indies.

Our only anchorage in Barbados was:

• Bridgetown

We made land fall at Bridgetown in December 2000 after a crossing of the Atlantic from La Gomera in the Canary Islands.

Barbados

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TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Like Barbados T&T is not part of the Windward Islands' chain. Tobago, the easternmost of the two islands is located 80 nautical miles SE (towards the wind) of Grenada, and more or less on the same longitude as Barbados. We visited Tobago in 2000 and Trinidad in 2013.

 Our anchorages in Trinidad & Tobago:

• Scarborough, Tobago
• Store Bay, Tobago
• Chaguaramas, Trinidad

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Trinidad & Tobago

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GRENADA

Grenada is one of our favourite islands in the Caribbean. With the smaller Grenadine islands of Carriacou and Petit Martinique, it is the southernmost country of the Windward Islands' chain. A volcanic island with lush forested hills, picturesque waterfalls and extinct volcanic craters, Grenada is traditionally renowned for its spice, cocoa and banana production. Politically, Grenada has progressed well in recent years in its process of recovery from a period of uncertainty that culminated in the US-led military intervention of October 1983. We found it most practical to explore the island of Grenada by car, keeping our yacht in one of the ort Louis Marina in St Georges.

Some of the anchorages below are mentioned also in report #94:
Cruising Down Memory Lane

• Mt. Hartman Bay on the south coast of Grenada is often called Secret Harbour after the resort and marina was operated by the Moorings when we first visited (1993). The marina was Scorpio's base for almost a year. It was well run and we left Scorpio here for longer periods when we had to return to Europe. The Capital St. Georges is not far away by taxi or bus. Today there is a reportedly well run marina, Port Louis, in St Georges so going in there would probably be nice nowadays - not so in the early 1990's. Do not miss St. Georges, either by car or boat, it is probably one of the most picturesque towns in the whole Caribbean.

• Hog Island anchorage in the bay east of Mt. Hartman bay is a popular spot for cruisers, usually there are 30-40 boats anchored here. We found it too crowded. The water is  muddy which is not appealing after you have get used to the usually clear waters. On Sundays there is often a barbacue on the shore.

• Prickly Bay is the first bay to the west from Mt. Hartman Bay. Spice Island Boatyard (and marina) used to be a charming place in the old days. See our blog-post of November 2013. Immigration and customs are still housed almost on the docks - this is a convenient place for clearence procedures.

• There are (2013) a few moorings south of Moliniere Point. The moorings looked fine, but even if they weren't, the prevailing wind would just make you drift off shore. It's too deep to anchor here, but you could anchor just a couple of cables to the south in Grand Mal Bay. Snorkelling is good and so is the protection from northerly swells. This is an excellent last night anchorage before heading north. Just a 100 metres to the north of the moorings, at the point, there are dinghy moorings that you can pick up if you like to snorkel and visit the underwater sculpture park created by Jason Decaires Taylor.

• Halifax Harbour could have been a lovely, well protected anchorage, but it isn't. There is an awful lot of flies and a constant smell of burning garbage. We later found out that there is a huge garbage pit on the south shore. When we visited in 1993 the dump wasn't visible from the sea. In 2013 we heard that the dump is still there.

• Tyrrel Bay is a large bay on the western side of the northern island of Carriacou, a good day's sail from the southern shores of the island of Grenada. Carriacou is geographically one of the Grenadian islands althoug it and neighbouring Petit Martinique belong to Grenada. The bay provids good shelter for the prevailing winds. In 2013 it was possible to clear in and out of Grenada at Tyrrel Bay.

• Sandy Island, not far north of Tyrell Bay just before the town of Hillsborough, looks exactly like one of those South Sea islands according to Disney. Pure white sand and some palm trees. But the landscape changes after every hurricane. There are a couple of other islands just like this elsewhere in the Caribbean. Usually they are called Sandy Island, Sandy Cay, Green Island etc. A beautyful sight for sure, and a popular lunch anchorage. This is a good place to do your jogging exercise - there is not much space to cover. It is usually quite safe to anchor here even over night.

• Hillsborough is the town on Carriacou island. If you didn't clear out of Grenada before, going north, this is your last chance.

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Grenada

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Our anchorages in St Vincent & The Grenadines are listed here.

Some of these anchorages are mentioned also in report #94:
Cruising Down Memory Lane

• Petit St Vincent
• Frigate Island
• Clifton, Union Island
• Chatham Bay, Union Island
• Palm Island
• Tobago Cays
• Salt Whistle Bay, Mayreau
• Riley Bay, Cannouan
• Charlestown Bay, Cannouan
• Corbay, Cannouan
• Britannia Bay, Mustique
• Admiralty Bay, Bequia
• Blue Lagoon, St Vincent

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St Vincent & The Grenadines

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Bequia was our favorite among
the Grenadine islands

Our anchorages in St Lucia:

• Jealousy Estate Marina, The Pitons
• Rodney Bay
• Rodney Bay Marina

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St Lucia

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Our anchorages in Martinique:

• Marin
• Grand Anse d'Arlet
• Anse Mitan
• St Pierre
   

France

Martinique's own flag
 is seldom seen

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