Clifton Harbour and Chatham Bay
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Spectacular Sunset |
We arrived in Clifton harbour, on Union Island, at around 4pm and dropped anchor. The harbour is surrounded by reefs, so we had to be careful where we anchored. We were worried that we were in the middle of the bay as we had read that although one can anchor anywhere one has to keep clear of the ferry’s turning circle. We watched as a few boats came in and out.
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Happy crew |
Just as Andrew was settling down to his second anchor beer a huge red ferry came into the harbour. It swung very close to our dinghy hanging off the back of the boat and started to drop two anchors as it reversed up to a quay. Not sure what it was going to do in the night, we upped anchor and moved to a newly vacated spot, away from the turning circle of the ferry. We experienced the most beautiful sunset we have seen so far.
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Ferry - will it hit us? |
At 6 the following morning, Thursday 2 June, the ferry announced very loudly that it was taking on passengers. It was a beautiful morning so I got up and people watched. The ferry left, after a few more toots, at 6:40.
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Clifton Harbour |
There are boat boys here, something we have not experienced yet. They race around in their water taxis meeting boats at the entrance of the mooring field or sometimes even further out and offer to help you with a mooring ball. If you accept their help they expect you to pay them and then you still need to pay for the mooring as well. We dropped the anchor so avoided both boat boy fees as well as mooring ball fees. We needed to go ashore to check in and were hoping we would be able to avoid dropping the dinghy, so we tried to hail a water taxi. Eventually a guy stopped at our boat. He wasn't a proper water taxi guy, I think he was going fishing, but he still offered to take us ashore. However, he wanted to charge us 10EC per person each way to shore and back. Considering it would be 60EC for us, we decided to not be lazy and drop the dinghy, pick up Dave and Sandy, and motor ashore.
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Dinghy dock |
The dinghy dock is through the archway which you have to manoeuvre your dinghy through.
We found Customs and Immigration without too much trouble, but we were told that we had to see Health and Safety first. The nurse was at the airport and although we were told she would be there within 15 minutes, it was more like island time - closer to an hour. She checked our passports, vaccination certificates, and covid tests which we had done in Carriacou before we left, stamped and signed our paperwork and then she told us that we should have had an agent to do our paperwork and because we didn't we had to pay her. We were a bit shocked about this as we had not heard about it from anyone. So although it sounded and felt very much like a bribe, we parted ways with 100EC. 600 in Rand terms, more than half our daily budget!
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View from Customs offices |
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Nursies office |
The rigmarole at Customs was even worse. Andrew went into the building while Laura and I waited outside and I could hear Andrew get more and more uptight with each passing minute. We eventually got everything sorted and our passports stamped. We were officially in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
We went for a walk up Main Street, which looked quite derelict. There were two shops that looked like proper supermarkets, the rest looked like people had just opened up a room in their house, put up a few shelves and imported some goods. Andrew had not bought beer before leaving Grenada and he had a case of empty Stag bottles that he wanted to get a deposit for and replace with a full case. We found a supermarket that said they could do that, but what we did not realize was Stag is Grenadian beer, Hairoun is the beer made in St Vincent. Andrew insisted that he wanted Stag and ended up buying a case of cans for 120EC. This is outrageously expensive and made Andrew furious. He hates being ripped off and this was number two in a very short space of time.

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Main road |
Abandoning all ideas of having breakfast ashore we went back to the boat with our very expensive case of beers. After a quick breakfast of toast and tea, we were ready to leave.
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Happy Island |
Happy Island is made totally out of conch shells. It is privately owned and seemed to be the place to party.
Just as we were about to pull up the anchor a couple came to our boat on their dingy. Jamie and Lucy Telfer recognised Calypso and knew the previous owners Paul and Maureen very well as they had sailed with them before Paul and Maureen had returned to South Africa. They were heading back to Grenada on their boat, Bamboozle 2, for hurricane season. I hope we will meet up with them again.
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My happy place |
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Prizes for the best caption for this picture! |
After a fairly quick motor around the corner and two attempts at dropping the anchor, the first time on rocks and the second into the sand where it held, we admired our surroundings. Even though it is only about an hour away from Clifton Harbour, Chatham Bay has a completely different feel to it. It is a beautiful quiet bay, big enough to accommodate the 10 boats anchored there without being on top of one another. There are a few restaurant shacks that line the beach and Tenuta Chatham Bay, a luxury guest house complete with a pool, wifi and air conditioned rooms. The owners of two of the restaurants came out in their little boats to tell us about their eateries. One place has a beach braai, which sounds fantastic but they ask around 85 EC per person. We told them we would braai on the boat and it would be cheaper!
One thing to note about this bay is the wind that comes powering over the hills and blasts through the anchorage. One minute it is calm and quiet and the next there is 25 knots whistling past the boats. We also had quite a lot of rain while anchored at Chatham. But it doesn't last long and things dry out quickly when the hot sun comes out.
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I'm off |
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Daily exercise |
One morning we went ashore for a walk and a swim. While there we were accosted by a local, Alex who wanted to give us an historical guided tour of the area. Although we declined, he spent about half an hour talking to us. He was not very complimentary of the local government, saying that prices were not regulated and anybody could open a shop in their house. That is exactly what we thought of all the little shops in Clifton Harbour.
He went off on a kayak to tell other boaters about what he does. He returned while we were swimming and asked if we could do him a favour; business was slow and could we give him 20EC. That’s R120 for us and considering we went over budget yesterday on bribes and paying for visas and sailing visas, well it’s a bit tight. We told him our exchange rate and I think he was a bit shocked. We had been eyeing out one of the restaurants, thinking we could have a beer there, but after declining his request, we felt like we could no longer spend 10EC on drinks. We left him chatting up an American couple. Maybe they paid him something for nothing!
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Vehicle beached |
Dave messaged us early on Saturday morning asking if we wanted to go for a snorkel. He dropped Sandy at the beach and came to fetch us. We had a lovely dive in two different places.
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Supper on Calypso with Dave and Sandy |
The next day, Sunday, Laura, Andrew and I went ashore, put on takkies and went for a hike. It was quite a hike up a very steep hill and then along a gravel road. We saw lots of goats and some cows. The view from the top was spectacular. We watched as a number of boats motored into the anchorage, making it 21 sailing vessels. We rested for a bit then walked down again. After a lovely swim we went back to the boat.
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Laura and Siobhan at the top |
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Andrew and Laura ready to go downhill again |
Later that afternoon there was a bit of fun in the anchorage. It started to rain and the wind changed pushing all the boats in different directions. The cats that had anchored near the cliffs found they were too close. There was a mad scramble to move. By this stage the boats had all changed direction so it was difficult to tell where the anchor chains were going. Lots of shouting, arms waving and cursing later by a lot of the monohull skippers, the cats finally found places to drop their anchors. Just as everybody was getting settled a Moorings boat came screaming though the boats, all the way to the front, tried to drop anchor on the rocks and then came to the back and dropped anchor next to us.
A bit of a downpour |
The heavens opened and it poured. What do we do when it rains on a boat? We get into cozzies and clean the deck and then jump in the water to swim.
Dinghy cleaning |
Looking for fish |
We discovered we have ripped part of the anchor locker. It must have happened when one of the massive wind gusts came through or perhaps on a mooring ball at Sandy Island. Andrew will be able to fix it when we are back in Prickly Bay.
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Cracked deck |
A massive party cat come into the anchorage blasting reggae music. It dropped anchor near the beach and stayed for ages. A massive black cloud loomed and the party boat left in a hurry!
Time to head to the next anchorage.
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