Windward Island Hell: It’s no longer a safe place to sail.

[Nicholson58]

We have been in the Caribbean between St John and Trinidad for two seasons. We never stay at St Vincent or St Lucia. I lost track of how many dinghys were stolen at Rodney Bay. The reputation of these two islands is pretty low and has been for a long time. This makes for planning and overnight passage to skip them both. Check Noonsite before you make plans to stay there.

Two seasons ago our anchorage neighbor’s dinghy was stolen from the dinghy dock in Marina Royal, St Martin. Whitnesses watched the thief saw through the cable and did nothing. This is the only incident in our travels. It’s been mostly fun in the sun.

We lock our dinghy ashore and at night. At night, we lift it out of the water. We lock the motor to the dinghy, the gas can as well. Our lock is high strength galvanized steel chain. The motor is 2002 Mercury with a personalized paint job.

Go BLUE

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by Fluer de Mer

*$200US to ‘watch’ our anchored boat. St. Lucia
*Man wearing Moorings shirt and claiming to be a representative demanding $150US as fee and using threats to boat and crew when we said no. St. Lucia
*Uninvited trespasser walking on deck at night. St. Lucia (anchored near the Pitons)
*Smash and grab theft and vandalization of long distance blue water cruisers in broad daylight: Salt Whistle Bay, Mayreau
*Uninvited trespasser walking on deck at night. Sandy Island, Carriacou (note that a Discovery monohull moored next to us experience the same thing)
*2 boats pursuing us in open ocean (they changed course to follow after every tack). Miles off Ronde and Caille Islands.

These were all reported.

Hhhmmm.. I'm sorry that happened to you...

We spent over 40 nights in St. Lucia this year, and YES it has some very serious crime issues that the government is failing to deal with. There were tons of dinghy thefts, but also other smaller issues as well. We will most likely skip St. Lucia next season as we don't like supporting countries that don't deal with crimes.

As to Salt Whistle Bay. We spent 10 nights there this year and had zero problems. Between us and our friends we have probably spent 60 nights there with none of us having an issue, or even a pushy boat boy. However, we have heard that there were a couple of incidents against charter boats. I'm completely unaware of a smash and grab against a long distance cruiser and it appears it was never reported to CSSN. If you have any contact with those people, please encourage them to report it.

The only other comment I will make is about your being pursued.. They were most likely trying to sell you fish. We sail past that spot all the time, as do our buddy boats (probably 5 times a week). There has NEVER been an incident that I have heard of there. However, that spot is a big fishing shelf and its not uncommon for fishing boats to approach sailboats in hopes of selling fish. Charter boats are prefered as the fisherman know they are more likely to buy fish and less likely to be fishing themselves.

Again, I'm sorry all that happened to you.

[sailor65]

I just returned from a bareboat, St Lucia to Grenada. We encountered many "boat boys" but had no problems with any of them. We were very security conscious however, locked the boat up when ashore or sleeping at night. Also secured the dingy/ motor with a cable and lock.

[DMCantor]

This is complete crap. We have cruised the windwards for 10 years, and have always had a very positive experience. If you are having problems with "boat boys," maybe its because you don't see them as "marine professionals." These guys work very hard, and the vast majority will give you exactly as much respect as you give them.

We have established very warm relationships with many, many of these folks. It just take a little empathy.

[scallowayuk]

hi, there are some places like that, soufriere is one of them, which i suspect is where you were. the boat boys are agressive ,and not much better ashore, st vincent can be the same. but dont judge all the indies by that, ive done 4 trips to the caribbean and have been mugged a few times, but overall i think london is more dangerous

[coastalexplorer]

Having never visited any of the places mentioned, and after reading these responses. I am left wondering IF those who wrote "being nice to 'boat boys' means that they paid their asking price?


Do these local's victimize those who decline to pay?



I am also curious to know do Charter vessels have the companies advertising
brazened on them like rental RV's traveling the road of north America?


If not how do they know which yachts are charters?

[akprb]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

I think attitude goes a very, very long way when you're traveling, but of course, bad things can happen to anyone, so I don't know.

However, someone posted this on here a while ago and I love it:

The Two Travelers and the Farmer
A traveler came upon an old farmer hoeing in his field beside the road. Eager to rest his feet, the wanderer hailed the countryman, who seemed happy enough to straighten his back and talk for a moment. "What sort of people live in the next town?" asked the stranger.

"What were the people like where you've come from?" replied the farmer, answering the question with another question.

"They were a bad lot. Troublemakers all, and lazy too. The most selfish people in the world, and not a one of them to be trusted. I'm happy to be leaving the scoundrels."
"Is that so?" replied the old farmer. "Well, I'm afraid that you'll find the same sort in the next town.

Disappointed, the traveler trudged on his way, and the farmer returned to his work.
Some time later another stranger, coming from the same direction, hailed the farmer, and they stopped to talk. "What sort of people live in the next town?" he asked.

"What were the people like where you've come from?" replied the farmer once again.
"They were the best people in the world. Hard working, honest, and friendly. I'm sorry to be leaving them."

"Fear not," said the farmer. "You'll find the same sort in the next town."

From: https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/traveltales.html

Oh man!!!!!!! Ya beat me to it!!!!!!

This has been our experience as well. You get what you look for.

Best parable ever.

[amiller]

We just spent a year cruising from Grenada to the Bahamas. There are a lot of boat boys around, but they were all pleasant. We did tip $5 when mooring by the Pitons but otherwise didn't pay anyone for anything.

Just spending some time and chatting with people for 10 minutes seemed to keep the peace just about everywhere.

Oh, and I tried to Google for that Washington Post article but I couldn't find anything about pirates in St. Lucia or Grenada. There wasn't a link either provided by the OP either, so?

[DEAN2140]

I would like to see the link to that Post article.

[tarian]

Originally Posted by akprb

Oh man!!!!!!! Ya beat me to it!!!!!!

This has been our experience as well. You get what you look for.

Best parable ever.

I'm sure the cruisers that have been shot dead by boarders were not looking for it , this is a silly statement very outdated
your assuming the OP on a nice trip with friends went out looking for trouble !!
and for people to question them on attitude and not actually being there and not seeing for themselves what is happening is ridiculous (pure speculation and gossip )
Yes it can be down to just simply attitude , being friendly will always get you a smile back. but this was the OPS experience and they are saying it how it was for them , also if you have had an intruder on your deck twice and had an unfortunate talk with the local population , hell I would be paranoid that someone was following me on a boat , those who are never scared are telling PORKY PIES if you did not experience the same issues good it shows its not all doom and gloom and these are isolated incidents.

[amiller]

Oh, I found the pirate article. It's actually about Venezuela, so not really relevant.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...=.0399d060f138

Maybe the OP wants to scare people away? Mayreau is getting crowded with happy charter boats lately....

[LeaseOnLife]

Originally Posted by DEAN2140

I would like to see the link to that Post article.

The WAPO article is more about Venezuela, but references to another article with more info:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...?noredirect=on


Piracy And Armed Robbery Against Ships In Latin America And The Caribbean 2017

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by coastalexplorer

Having never visited any of the places mentioned, and after reading these responses. I am left wondering IF those who wrote "being nice to 'boat boys' means that they paid their asking price?


Do these local's victimize those who decline to pay?



I am also curious to know do Charter vessels have the companies advertising
brazened on them like rental RV's traveling the road of north America?


If not how do they know which yachts are charters?

We very rarely pay boat boys. On rare occasions we will pay them to take our garbage.

However, we do spend time chatting with them and getting to know them. We let them know right up front we won't be using their services though. Sometimes we invite them aboard for a beer (sometimes, we just give them a cold beer to enjoy in thier boat). We get to know their names and call them by name when we see them. Generally, they are fantastic people, just out trying to earn a living.

[tarian]

Originally Posted by amiller

Oh, I found the pirate article. It's actually about Venezuela, so not really relevant.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...=.0399d060f138

Maybe the OP wants to scare people away? Mayreau is getting crowded with happy charter boats lately....

Bloody ridiculous how people do not read items and they cannot digest the item before writing its called putting brain . in gear before hitting send button !!
the article is littered with Caribbean phrases and talks about many countries although venuzela is prominent in the article
I quote one sentence that the whole article is already written like !!

'There have been reports of piracy over the past 18 months near Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti and St. Lucia'

Lets not let good journalism die with poor readers editing it

[Capt. Ray]

I cruised for well over 6 months during the time of the original post and lived in Rodney Bay at anchor for 5 months, never heard of nor encountered anything like what is described, certainly nothing out of the ordinary for the entire Caribbean.

Anecdotes do not a trend make.