We sailed out of Soufriere in St. Lucia last night on our way south to the nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Sunrise was at approximately 6:20 a.m. and the weather was a balmy 78 degrees Fahrenheit at 8 a.m. At 9:30 Tom Heffernan gave a talk on the religion of the Rastafarians. After Tom’s talk we hosted engine tours of the Sea Cloud and saw the very modern engines and some of the wonderful brass hardware from the original engine room of 1931. We had a good wind for much of the morning and sailing was superb.
Lunch was on the lido deck, and after lunch we prepared for our visit to Chatham Bay on Union Island. Few places today can be called pristine tropical paradises but Union Island can legitimately be called that. The island is one-mile-by-three and has two villages, Clifton and Ashton. The total population of the island is 3,000 and almost everyone lives in the two villages. Our Captain expertly anchored us in Chatham Bay and we boarded Zodiacs to take us for the short ride to the beautiful gleaming half-moon beach of Chatham Bay. Palm trees, tropical almond, and sea grape gently moved in the breeze. On arrival on the beach those of us who wished to snorkel followed Pati and Max and the swimmers remained with Tom Heffernan.
The beach at Chatham Bay has a few classic and famous, or should I say “infamous” “Rum Shacks,” run by their respective proprietors Shark Attack and Baldy. The snorkeling was fabulous and the sea was inviting and warm. Brown boobies and pelicans were continually diving in the bay for fish. The sea was like a great luxurious balm, calming and captivating. After swimming we lay on the beach and after an appropriate amount of sunning we gravitated to the “Rum Shacks.” The hills of Union Island rose up before us green and lush and the tropical sea was aquamarine. The last Zodiacs to leave the island were full at 6 p.m. and I suspect few wanted to leave as the sun began to set in the west!
Dinner this evening was on the lido deck in the wonderful tropical air at anchor off Chatham Bay. The evening was spent on the lido with the Milky Way shining down. This evening we cast off to sail to the magical isle of Bequia.
