Her name was Isaphil, and she was from Edmonton, Canada. To my untrained eye she was the most beautiful Cat in the bay- a Lagoon 380, all geared up and ready to sail with 7 people on board- 6 who knew little about sailing and one brave instructor Joel, whose mission was to make sailors of them.
We had arrived in St Vincent a week early to make the most of land time, do some diving, some hiking and some touristing. We were ready to start our weeklong sailing school to become bareboat skippers. Isaphil was to be our home for the next week. After we had loaded the provisions onboard, we headed to our berths to stow our luggage. Our stuff appeared excessive in the small confines of the portside bow cabin. We had packed judiciously having sailed before and knowing the tight confines of the space available in a Catamaran this size. It still looked like a lot of stuff to stow in the tiny lockers.
We put away our provisions and were soon ready to cast off. School was in session!! Its hard to put into words the excitement of raising the main sail or unfurling the head sail and watch it catch the wind. The boat responds almost immediately -edging forward, first slowly and then with increasing power, as the sails happily sing in the breeze. The next few days are filled with unending instructions on points of sail, raising- lowering -reefing the sails, anchoring, mooring, docking and undocking. We learn to navigate using charts, we take tests for our ASA certifications, but above all we have fun.
Our first destination is Port Elizabeth and Admiralty Bay in Bequia Island, a nice little town that is popular with tourists and Cruise Ships. In the morning we take the dinghy ashore and stop at a marine hardware store to buy some parts for a broken jibcar. I am amazed at all the available parts and hardware on display- a lot of stuff that could go wrong in a boat! I try to put away that uncomfortable thought.
The next few days we travel to places that can only be reached by boat- harbors and bays in the distant Grenadines, like Salt Whistle Bay in Mayreau and magical Tobago Cays with its abundant reefs and turtles. As we approach each bay, we are often greeted by local folks in their speed boats selling baguettes and croissants or sometimes fish. Dinner at Tobago Cays is at Mandy Man’s Table on the beach. He picks us up and takes us to Petit Bateau where there is a beach party in progress. It’s tradition to eat a family style lobster/fish dinner with many delicious sides and dessert. I am not sure what it is like every day, but today crew from every yacht anchored in the Cay seem to fill each table. The food arrives and is devoured almost instantaneously- grilled lobster, mackerel, ribs, sweet plaintain fry, rice and vegetables.
Dinner on the beach at Mandy Man’s Table (B)
A stop at Clifton on Union Island to fill our water tanks and buy some food provisions means that I can stretch my legs with a quick walk. It’s a quiet little town with shops catering to sail boats, a bank, several small groceries (they call them supermarkets), and a surprising boutique store called Salty Girl with swimwear and tee shirts among other things. But before that I have docking drills to go through. It’s a busy docking area and its windy-3 failed attempts later, I give up and Joel docks the boat.
We sail on to anchor at Chatham Bay for the night. Anchor Down followed by a quick soap up and dive in for a swim or snorkel is refreshing after a long day on the boat. Dinner on the boat is saucy pasta with a side of bread. Even simple food on board after a full day of sailing, swimming and splashing tastes like a gourmet dinner. Local beer and rum make it that much better.
We are learning to sail quickly as Joel designates a skipper on each leg. We learn to take charge and make decisions on our own with his occasional guidance. We are sometimes navigating, or on the helm, or helping with raising and trimming sails. There are occasional sailing gaffes that are quickly corrected.
The next destination is a new superyacht marina in Canouan’s Glossy Bay. We dock a deliberate distance from some huge superyachts and the dock helper looks on nervously as I bring the boat in to our slip with many corrections from Joel. I can hear some snickering in the crew at my rookie efforts. Well it will be their turn soon!
Morning Croissant Run (B)
The marina is new and pristinely maintained. We head up to the beach bar and to cool off with a swim. And then luxury of all luxuries, we can shower off at a real fancy shower in the guest showers building! Ocean life means a lot of salt water and I am sure I can get used to it- but today I enjoy this respite from it. Dinner is pizza delivered from a local pizzeria. The next day we watch private jets land and take off from the airstrip next to the marina and enjoy flaky croissants from the marina bakery.
Our last stop is Bequia again and we take our final two tests that will qualify us for our ASA 104/114 Bareboat Skipper certification with our Catamaran endorsement. We eat at De Reef’s a local restaurant on the beach to celebrate. This is our last night of sailing, and soon we will be back in St Vincent. There are many discussions on the merits of various catamarans as some on the team are seriously thinking of taking the next step to purchasing one. We talk of other sailing destinations, but I think back to all the places I have only half visited over the last few days and the other Grenadine Islands we did not visit at all. I have made new friends on this trip and thanks to a wonderful instructor, I have a lot more confidence in my sailing skills. See you again soon SVG.
Sailing Jajabor 