UNION ISLAND
No one island is very far from the next, so after leaving Carriacou on Sunday afternoon it was a short sail to Union Island which is part of St Vincent & the Grenadines. On the approach to Union Island, we could spot bright turquoise water as there was a shallow reef around the southern end of the island. There were 4-5 boats anchored in the sandy bottomed bay and a herd of Kite surfers skimming across the water at great speeds.
The main town of Clifton is on the windward side of the island but there is a large shallow reef creating a great anchorage behind it. Hurricane Beryl made a direct hit on these small islands and Clifton was not spared, in fact it had more damage than most places. It was very evident, whilst walking around town, that the rebuilding process was taking time as 18 months after the Hurricane there is still a lot of repairs and rebuilding to be done.
We ended up taking a mooring ball right near the reef near the town and we then got our own show of speed and acrobatics as the Kite surfers zoomed up and back along the edge of the reef.
There were two iconic beach or perhaps reef bars would better describe them that had suffered during the Hurricane and only one was back up and running. The one we visited was built on top of the reef and reinforced with lots of concrete. You can only get to the bar via boat and the track in is very shallow water. In fact, the bar was known for the amount of Kite Surfers that would perform jumps over the walls of the bar and also high five patrons as the surfer flew by. We unfortunately didn’t get to experience that type of acrobatics from the Kite Surfers, but the bar was a bit of a trip anyway.
Clifton was where we had our introduction to “Boat Boys”. Now the name could have all sorts of connotations attached to it, but I can assure you while the idea of the term sounds perhaps exciting, the reality for us was not as exciting. We were met by a boat boy when we wanted to pick up a mooring ball in Clifton. They meet your boat and direct you to a mooring ball and then assist with attaching the ropes to the ball then they come and request their payment for helping which was 20 EC (Eastern Caribbean $ which is about 2EC$ to 1 AUS $). Then they tell you the mooring fee is $60 EC per night and give you a card to show the guy who collects your fee in his boat. Then before you get a chance to say “well this is a great place” another boat boy arrives selling bread, banana bread freshly delivered in the morning, fresh fish, lobster, can we take your rubbish away, do you need fuel for your dinghy????? Sounds great but everything is pretty expensive. When we dared to ask how much a lobster was $120EC uncooked we decided to just say no to everything because once you say yes, or ask a question about price, you feel committed to go ahead with the transaction.
Look, we know that these islands have had a hard time because of Beryl but the constant attention from the Boat Boys is pretty tiring and we do support the locals. Tony likes to support them by buying 2-3 drinks most days!
We spent two nights on a mooring ball before leaving Clifton and heading to Tobago Cays the next morning. I will talk about that later but after Tobago Cays we came back to Union Island but to a bay called Chatham Bay on the other side of the island to Clifton.
The bay was huge and surrounded by high hills dense with vegetation and parts of it looked a bit like the Kimberley’s but with more vegetation. There was a small resort on the southern end of the beach and on the northern end there were lots of beach bars which had been totally destroyed by Beryl.
We got the same treatment from the Boat Boys as we came into this bay. They would let you anchor but before you could put turn off the engines they were coming along side to tell you about their beach bar and make sure you come to mine because we have Happy Hour from 4 – 6pm every day. Then another boat stops by and introduces themselves and invites you to their Beach Bar and tell you what they offer.
When we finally did go ashore the next day we stopped at a random bar and when I say they were basic, they had literally been knocked flat and slowly rebuilt or replaced and the owners were angling for you to come back for dinner. I’m not sure what their idea of Happy Hour pricing is because we always paid $10EC for any drink, beer, juice, coke it didn’t seem to matter and then of course any cocktail was $25EC.
Don’t get me wrong, It was interesting talking to the guys and finding out how things were affected by Beryl and how they are doing what they can to get their businesses back on track. We have some idea of what motivates them to work or possibly what may impede their motivation. You notice it when they take their sunglasses off man, just something subtle man that many may miss but I think it what helps them to relax man and just take everything in their stride, man!
We were running low on cash so had to find an ATM. It is very much a cash society here so we had read that other cruisers had walked from Chatham Bay to Clifton to get to the only ATM on the island. With some helpful directions from the locals, we found the track up the hill that led to the road into Clifton. As we climbed higher up the track towards the road the view down into the bay got better. We didn’t come across any traffic except a small tortoise who hid in his shell as we walked past. The walk took us around and hour and a half and was about 7 km. We got to see the real life of the people of Union Island.
We left the next morning, but not before the super yacht parked on the outskirts of the bay flew his helicopter from the back of his boat. We have a drone; they have a helicopter. Same, same??
