38 November 2017
y partner Nick and I spent two years sailing in the
Lesser Antilles on our Southerly 38, Ruby Rose,
after crossing the Atlantic in November 2015.
Entering St Lucia after three weeks at sea we had little idea
of what to expect.
Rodney Bay in St Lucia was our first taste of the
Caribbean and turned out to be the perfect introduction
to cruising this area. There was an abundance of
restaurants and bars, as well as the local village of Gros
Islet a mile away. Someone from the marina told us to
head over on a Friday night for the weekly Jump Up, so
when the time came we duly walked down the rickety jetty
towards the lights and thumping music.
The streets were thronged with people, locals and
tourists alike. There were food stalls lining the street
selling all manner of barbecued meat and fish,
interspersed with makeshift bars groaning under the
weight of jars and bottles bearing
hand-written labels. We learned
the hard way that purchasing
one of these rum punches would
ensure a headache the next
morning: they were far more
potent than the sweet, fruity
taste let on.
We were thrilled with our
introduction to the region,
thinking that we had quickly identified the ‘real’
Caribbean. However, over the following season we came to
learn that this broad term doesn’t encompass the many
nuanced differences between cultures in this part of the
world. Despite their similarities, there are no two islands
that are truly alike in the Caribbean. Even the French
islands that we visited – Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Barth
and St Martin – shared only a common language and the
same supermarkets; in many other respects they were
very different.The Windward Isles
Nick was desperate to return to the Tobago Cays, which he
recalled being utterly idyllic when he’d visited them
during his Yachtmaster course several years previously.
That had been in the low season. It transpired that theTobago Cays are a very different place in
the middle of January. I did see my very
first turtle there (it lazily swam around
the boat, then promptly darted away as I
clumsily jumped in the water for a closer
look) but the anchorage was otherwise so
overcrowded it was fairly unappealing.
We left after just one night.
Grenada, a little further south, gave us
our first insight into ‘liveaboard’ culture.
There is a permanent liveaboard
community in Grenada and we quickly
fell into a pleasant routine of listening to
the radio net in the morning, joining in
with themed happy hours each evening,
and I was even persuaded to go along to a
group yoga class. There was always
something to do and it was clear that many people made
it to Grenada and then saw little point in moving on. We,
however, had the rest of the Caribbean to explore.
Martinique proved to be a favourite. There are a variety
of anchorages along its leeward coast, the most
spectacular of which is surely at the foot of Mount Pelée, a
volcano that towers above the tiny village on the seafront,
and early last century wiped out all but two of its
inhabitants when it spectacularly erupted.
The island’s French culture is evident as soon as you
step off your dinghy ashore. Baguettes, pastries, wine and
cheese are plentiful and there are several hypermarkets
out of town for provisioning.
Nick and I spent a long and memorable morning
negotiating our way by public transport to the HyperU.
Giddy with the range of products at our fingertips, we
bought a pressure cooker, a bread machine and filled a
trolley with groceries, wine and beer, only to realise that
we had no way of transporting all our goodies to the boat.
One expensive cab journey and an overflowing dinghy
ride later, we had finally stocked Ruby Rose.
Dominica was another highlight. It is easily the most
spectacular island in the Lesser Antilles that we visited: a
jumble of forest-covered volcanoes jut into the sky,
their peaks often obscured by cloud. One Sunday
evening at sunset the local families all converged onThere have been big improvements in formalities for
clearing in and out of Caribbean islands.
The eSeaClear and SailClear advance
notifications websites make it possible to enter all
customs and immigration clearance details online.
eSeaClear applies to Antigua, while SailClear
operates for Anguilla, Antigua, Bermuda, BVI,
Cayman Island, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St
Kitts and Nevis, Turks and Caicos, St Vincent and
Grenada. Fill in details of boat and crew before you
arrive and update them as you sail between islands.
This makes the information available to the different
national border agencies.
Both clearance systems are free of charge and
optional. Skippers are legally still required to report
to Customs and Immigration when they arrive and
present identification documents, but the time
spent there should be reduced considerably.
See http://www.eseaclear.com and http://www.sailclear.com
Terysa Vanderloo reports that Martinique and
Guadeloupe were also particularly easy to clear into.
“Both had a do-it-yourself set-up at a local cafe,
where you simply used their computer to fill out a
form, printed it off, and you were cleared in!”
She adds: “Antigua strictly enforced their
Customs and Immigration rules and it could take
several hours to clear in and out. Falmouth Harbour
in Antigua seemed to be a smoother option than
Jolly Harbour, Antigua.”cusToms
Caribbean season
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M
‘NO two islands
are truly alike’
Prisma Bildagentur AG / Alamy