We started out our day on Thursday by taking a dinghy ride out
to the far northern point of Canouan’s Charlestown Bay to do
some snorkeling. It looked like a pretty spot, but there was
too much swell on one side to land the dinghy, and on a
neighboring beach the water was all churned up with sand. We
returned to the boat for a little swim before weighing anchor
and setting out for new sights. We tried to get into the pretty
palm tree lined harbor in Mayreau, but it was chock full of
boats and we couldn’t even consider staying there. We decided
that Chatham Bay in Union would be a good spot to go as it is
protected from the north where swells were expected. We had a
great sail there – and everyone was thrilled with the place. It
is a beautiful quiet harbour facing some very high green lush
looking hills and lined with a white sand beach. There is a guy
there whose boat “Shark Attack” is something of a legend among
boaters. He prepares terrific beach barbecues for a reasonable
price – with as many people there as he can sign on from the
visiting boats. We signed on for dinner, although his helper
warned us that there were no langostine available that night.
Just an hour or so before we left the boat to go to shore to
eat, a boat came by with two local fisherman selling langostine.
As they held up a huge one, Brock motioned him over and asked
if he could buy one, have the guy deliver it to Shark Attack,
and have Shark Attack include it in the barbecue. It seemed as
if the guy was not thrilled about working with Shark Attack, but
he was thrilled to have Brock’s money, so they arranged for two
large langostine to be purchased and delivered in time for the
dinner. We went to shore and wandered along the beautiful beach
for a while before dinner – watching the full moon rise. There
were about 20 other people eating when we did, although no-one
seemed particularly interested in getting to know us. One group
had brought a huge picnic cooler filled with wines and drinks
and who knows what else. We had our one little bottle of wine
with us. The “restaurant” was on the beach – three wooden picnic
tables overhung with simple tarps and a gas lantern on each
table. Shark Attack and his two assistants were working in the
dark at a couple of huge grills. We had our own table and
feasted on langostine, fresh tuna, barbecued chicken, roasted
potatoes and cole-slaw and rice. Afterwards a local guy with a
guitar and pretty much the worst voice I have ever heard
seranaded us. We made a polite exit as soon as we could get
away from him and took another quick walk down the beach to see
what was happening at the other two restaurants that were open.
We felt so sad for the other proprieters as both of their
places were completed devoid of visitors. They looked longingly
at us and invited us to visit their places, but we were full and
slightly drunk already, so we had to say no and dinghied back
to the boat under a bright moon and clear skies.
Today, Friday we spent the morning on the beach. It turned out
to be an incredible place to snorkel- millions of silvery fish
darting around the rocks that lined the shore. It looked like a
scene in a Disney movie – just a solid wall of fish glittering
in the water. Mom came in to snorkel at least
three times, really loving the water and the fish. After a
few hours, we had to leave the beach because we wanted to get
back to the other side of Union to make sure we found a good
anchorage for the night in Clifton Harbour. Lucky we left when
we did. We arrived in Clifton at about 3:30, and by 5:00 the
weather changed and we found ourselves bracing up against an
incredibly long stretch of storms. The anchorage was so full
when we arrived that we ended up anchoring much closer to
another boat than we would have liked. The owner of the other
boat was standing on his deck glaring at us ( for good reason),
until he finally called out to Mark that he would like him to
let out more chain. I went up on deck when it calmed a little
bit and we dropped some more chain. Although we ended up with a
pretty good distance between us I have a feeling it may be a
night where Mark or I gets up at least once to have a peek
around. It was too stormy to go to town for dinner, so we
managed to put together a nice pasta and chicken dinner.
Tomorrow morning Cathy, Brock and Shirl will all leave and Mark
and I will prepare for our big sail to Bonaire…..
L.