7 Day Charter - Grenada to St. Vincent & back... - Can it be done comfortably?

[ozdigennaro]

I've sailed those places. Wonderful, wonderful! Many great stops. But you are planning to do it too fast. Do not underestimate the weather and currents. When they say "a wave to the East" listen carefully. That means a low pressure wave and can be high winds. I had my most exciting day on a sailboat on one of those crossings.
Custom clearing can be an adventure. But also fun.

[DudeBud]

WOW!!!!!!

I never thought I would get such response so quickly!
This looks like to be quite an awesome cruiser forum.

Alright, so I've picked up the very strong opinion (11 out of 15 posts)...that I'm trying to do too much too quickly. Thank you. I will totally tone it down.

Now to answer a few specific questions;

travellerw
East winds, isn’t that a bit early yet?
So I’ll be reaching up and down the whole time? That's awesome! boat speed advantage us!
Are you in the windwards right now?

ffelker
10 people too much? *shruggs*

Backstory... So this is going to be a "young boat". I'm 31 and I will probably be the oldest person on the boat. My sisters and I are racers, and we have another sailor with us (4 people), and everyone of us worked as sailing instructors at about a dozen yacht clubs in Canada. Your right its the other 6 i worry about (average age 25), as I want them to have a good time and enjoy. Everyone is doing this sail as an adventure. Two people have never been to the Caribbean - ever. Two people never learned how to swim, but really want to come try something new. And the last 2 are a couple of easy-going blonde chicks that just want to suntan and drink.

We are all students/young business people/interns and broke. Hence why there are 10 people as we all pooled our resources to do this charter. - It cost us $4700USD for the week in off season on a 2016 Bali 4.0 - i thought that was a good deal... then we did the currency conversion to Canadian... :S
Each person is paying approximately $1400 for a week in the Windwards, a totally doable expense for us broke-assed kids. (charter + return airfare)


CHRIS V CLEMENT
We thought about a one-way (I REALLY wanted to do one from St. Vincent) but it was a little cost prohibitive. We would have needed a LIAT to fly into SVG and that's another 250USD per person, plus the charter company wanted to charge us another $1500USD for delivery. That would have pushed our costs over 2k each per person.

shawndear
I do like St. Vincent... but again that's probably because I lived there for a year. I do know the fun clubs there like "mango tree bar" and I lost count of how many times i was smashed at "Float" after exams.
Sadly, I think you are right. - I'll probably end up skipping St. Vincent as we do not have enough time and think I'll only be only going as far north now as Admiralty Bay in Bequia, as I know my party people will have fun there too.

MamaKube
My crew has heard about "Happy Island" and are dying to visit it.
I too am slightly worried about the inexperienced crew getting sick north of Grenada. - I plan on packing seasickness drugs until they find their sea-legs.


-------------
NEW PLAN - revised itinerary after much input
-------------

Saturday June 3rd we all fly in to Grenada at 1:30pm, check in with the boat and FULLY provision the boat for the week. I'm sure we will find something fun to do in the evening.

(Sunday) Day1 - Sail to Carriacou
This will gauge how well my crew can handle the sailing passages.

Day2 - Lazily check out of Grenada and sail to Union, then do the SVG customs dance.

Day3/4 - Play around the Tobago Cays (2 hour sail from Union)

Day5 - Bequia

Day6 - Long sail day?
Maybe all the way back to Union to clear out of customs, or we can bail and tuck into Canouan if the crew becomes restless.
Or if we feel really ambitious can we clear out in Bequia and sail straight to Carricou??

Day7 last full day - Spend the day in Carricou again? Or should we spend the day before we need to head out sailing back to Grenada?

Day 8 - check out at noon "how strict are they on checking out?"
If we leave Carricou early, like say first light, can we make it all the way back to St Georges for a noon checkout?

Flights are at 4:30pm

------

Feedback is always welcome, as are fun places you think we should hit up.

I REALLY appreciate everyone's feedback, you have no idea how helpful this has been. - My crew is looking to me to make sure they have a good time and I want to make sure I can deliver.


Cheers!

[ozdigennaro]

Do that checkout! Do it!

[sck5]

yes you can check out in Bequia. Actually more reliable than in Union where they are often at the airport or perhaps somewhere else.

and remember that their rules give you 24hrs. to leave. you can check out at the end of the day and leave at dawn if you want

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by DudeBud

travellerw
East winds, isn’t that a bit early yet?
So I’ll be reaching up and down the whole time? That's awesome! boat speed advantage us!
Are you in the windwards right now?

Every year is slightly different. Last year it didn't really go south until July. This year we already have a bunch of south an a TON of east. Its been blowing mostly straight east for a week. In the last 3 weeks we have had very little north.

We are in Antigua right now, however we have many friends and buddy boats making thier way to Grenada (trying for June 1).

Now on your itinerary.. I still think its WAY to much if you are just looking to relax and enjoy beauty. While I liked Bequia I personally wouldn't burn days to get there. There is so much around Carricou, Union and the Tobago Cays. Hell we spent 3 weeks just in that area.

Keep in mind that even if you just stay in that area, you are going to pretty much burn 2 full days sailing (one up, one back). Behind Grenada you will have almost no wind. You will then need to detour around Kick-em Jenny. All this makes that run about a day (35 miles, plan at 5nm/h with a loaded boat).


Personally, I suggest you head up to Carricou, Union and Tobago Cays, then plan from there. Let the weather and the crew decide if they want to relax and enjoy or sail on!

One final thought.. I hope you budgeted for diesel. With that many people on that particular cat, you WILL be burning diesel. I'm guessing about $200usd at least (maybe more if you have a generator).

[capnmatt]

I've been keeping an eye on this thread as my family of five hopes to sail the Grenadines next Februaryish. I've gleaned some good advice here in terms of where to go and what to skip. Hope you don't mind me tagging onto this thread - I am just wondering how many days we should budget to do a one-way charter from either St. Lucia or St. Vincent to Grenada? We don't want to be rushed, but more than ten days would be pushing it. Would a ten day charter be enough to experience the islands or would we just be on the move all the time?

Thanks,

Matt

[DudeBud]

CapnMatt,
If I was doing this trip next year Feb, I would totally do a one-way from St.Vincent.
The new big international airport will be officially open by then, and I know Air Canada will be flying their direct.
IMO provisioning is the cheapest on St. Vincent.
Your winds in Feb will be a constant NE and it will be an easy broad reach all the way to Grenada.

However, that's peak season when charter boats are the most expensive. - hence why I'm going next week.

[Invictus69]

Originally Posted by DudeBud

WOW!!!!!!


-------------
NEW PLAN - revised itinerary after much input
-------------

Saturday June 3rd we all fly in to Grenada at 1:30pm, check in with the boat and FULLY provision the boat for the week. I'm sure we will find something fun to do in the evening.

(Sunday) Day1 - Sail to Carriacou
This will gauge how well my crew can handle the sailing passages.

Day2 - Lazily check out of Grenada and sail to Union, then do the SVG customs dance.

Day3/4 - Play around the Tobago Cays (2 hour sail from Union)

Day5 - Bequia

Day6 - Long sail day?
Maybe all the way back to Union to clear out of customs, or we can bail and tuck into Canouan if the crew becomes restless.
Or if we feel really ambitious can we clear out in Bequia and sail straight to Carricou??

Day7 last full day - Spend the day in Carricou again? Or should we spend the day before we need to head out sailing back to Grenada?

Day 8 - check out at noon "how strict are they on checking out?"
If we leave Carricou early, like say first light, can we make it all the way back to St Georges for a noon checkout?

Flights are at 4:30pm

------

Feedback is always welcome, as are fun places you think we should hit up.


Cheers!

Hi DudeBud
I am curious how did your trip go and if you could share some experiences, do's and don'ts. Heading there end of May.

Is Bequia worth the push at the expense of some other locations on the south? We just have 7 days unfortunately.

Also, any tips on the provisioning? Any good spots to restock along the way?

Some people are recommending stocking up at St.George's as limited provisioning elsewhere.

Got in touch with some of the supermarkets but none of them take advance orders or deliver to the marina so I guess we have to do it there.

Will appreciate any heads up.

Cheers!

[inchcailloch]

Bequia? Arguably my most favourite island in the Caribbean. Yes, stock up in Granada but there is a quite well stocked supermarket there though higher priced than Granada. Brilliant cafes and bars on the front. A popular place for other sailors so very sociable. Only problem is you throw your anchor over and never want to lift it.

[freebird22]

Would also be interested in hearing about the trip, as we have something similar planned. We are also going to put 10 people on a Bali 4.0, so very interested in how manageable that was.

[sunshineslacker]

Hi, I have done that trip to bequia and back to Grenada, you will have at least one full day sailing unless you do a night sail, weather depending. Saying that I'm looking for some information on chartering from St. Vincent. I would like to hear if anyone has had experience good, bad or other with any of the companies there. I will be sailing in the grenadines, are there any must sees other then Bequia and Tobago cayes? Thanks for any info provided, cheers.

[TriggerHappy]

Maybe 10 people, provisions, etc was too much weight after all and he sunk?....

Hey guys, First post. I have given up on my old forum (traveltalkonline) for non-BVI related bareboat/cruising information.

I am planning a bareboat cruise in Grenada, Grenadines and St. Vincent next May and after I read through all the related threads I will be posting some questions, itineraries, etc and hoping you can help out!

Cheers

[jcarr]

We sailed from Port Louis Grenada to Bequia and back in 7 days in November on a Leopard 48. We had good weather and no problem making the trip. Be sure and plan your customs stops for maximum efficiency. We checked in at Union Island then sailed around Union to Chatham Bay and had dinner at Secki & Vanessa's. It ended up being a one of the highlights of the trip. I gave the crew, all new, a choice to sail more or less. They picked sail more and it all went great.

Night 1 Tyrell Bay check out
Night 2 Chatham Bay on Union- After check in on Union Clifton
Night 3. Salt Whistile Bay
Night 4 Bequia
Night 5 Tobago Keys
Night 6 check out Union, then to Tyrell Bay check in spend night
Night 7 True Blue bay Grenada, Doggy dock for dinner
Day 8 return the boat at noon Port Louis, fly home at 4:00