Grenadines Kitesurf Safari

Olly & I boarded the 10hour flight to Grenada. ‘The Island of Spice’ Grenada is lush green with crystal waterfalls, golden beaches and incredibly friendly people.

We were picking up our 46ft Catamaran which we were sailing 40miles upwind to Union Island where our charter would begin. The Grenadines are a buster of small islands with few inhabitants but always a rum shop!

A brief intro to the yacht and a huge £800 shop to stock the boat for the next week of solid kitesurfing, adventure & foiling action.
The Sail up was slow with a head wind & some decent waves off Kickin Jenny (An underwater Volcanoe). We passed one of my favourite islands, Carriacou where the Habitants live by farming, fishing and seafaring, and must be amongst the friendliest in the Carribean. This is an island with over a hundred rum shops and only one gasoline station.

UNION ISLAND

We sailed passed frigate where Olly made his first runs over 10 years ago and dropped anchor in Clifton, just off the kite beach which is now the JT pro centre. A snorkel ashore in the dusk to find out where Morgan & Amber were living and we made a surprise visit to their shack behind the runway! By 6am the following day we have pumped the small kites & are kitesurfing with them & enjoying the morning warmth, amazing colours & incredible wind. We had until 4pm when Mark, Ray & Geoff were arriving so we sailed across to Palm Island for a kite. Not the best anchorage, however a small kite session, snorkel & walk on the beach.
We were starting to get concerned that the House batteries were not getting charged so the local mechanics, Quasy soon became known to us & the next thing is we have lost all power for lights etc. Assured that we have 4 new batteries on a ferry on route to our boat we sail to Mayreau and establish that we had again found paradise! 7mtr weather & it was perfect for strapless & twin tip action.
Salt Whistle Bay (SWB) provided shelter for mooring, decent wind for all, flat water patches, small waves plus a local beach bar. What more do kiters need? It wasn’t long before we convinced everyone that there was other islands for us to visit so we set sail for the Tobago Cays.
An anchorage straight off the turtle zone & a chance to swim with the turtles while resting form the many kite surf sessions that took up the day!
Life on board the boat is so easy & is always an excuse to play in the water. The days are long with such early starts but this is boat life at its best.
We soon needed the mechanic, Quasy back to replace the generator pump and following his departure we find the most strange situation: then boat is without water! We had been conserving water for the last days and knowing that we had a full tank left, all of us were looking forward to a shower!! We are not sure what happened (& never will) however it just proves how little we all need to wash! We all enjoyed washing the dishes in sea water at the stern of the boat & the need to shower or wash became less important as the days that passed.

The lagoon that formed inside the horseshoe reef of Tobago Cays was superb for foiling & learning to foil. A couple of sessions in the flat water with smooth wind & Ray is up & going while Mark & Geoff have regained the feeling for flying again.

Olly & I took turns on the new Levitaz foil whilst getting chased by the park ranger for going too fast!!

Some great stars to be seen & a small outing to the Worlds End Reef, it was soon time to return to SWB for drink water!

Whilst Geoff, Mark & Ray took the downwinder, Olly & I sailed the boat and found another great anchorage. With the sea state now much clearer there was hope that Olly’s drone that dived itself into the Ocean a few days ago would make a welcome appearance!!! No such luck, however at least the wind continued to blow!

Steph bumped into an old racing friend amongst the wood in Mayreau and we were soon invited to a fantastic evening dinner of fresh fish & great fun company on the beach. Sunday night was soon approaching fast & the Full Moon Party & happy Island was calling!!! It was back to Union for the action and the place was buzzing in the near daylight darkness. The small plane out Of Union arrived far too soon & the kiters boarded having had a completely new experience. Sharing the boat, kiting & cooking is a really cool thing to do and the Carribean wind, warmth & colours are never forgot. Olly & I sailed the boat South passed Sandy Island & down onto Grenada while enjoying the last of the boat provisions and some decent foiling on route. For us there has been so many happy memories in the Grenadines and it was superb to share these with our friends, Mark, Ray & Geoff. Thankyou for making it all happen & being such superb company