Your cruise
After departure from the Marin marina (south Martinique), Alain will take you to discover the Grenadines, and you won’t have to lift a finger! In the south of Martinique, first there is the bay of La Soufrière, then onto Sainte Lucie, dominated by the Pitons, then Cumberland, nestled on the west coast of Saint Vincent. Then, you’ll sail onto the Grenadines, Bequia la Belle, the Tobago Cays, and Mayreau, each a paradise haven on Earth, where you can swim with turtles in the transparent water, and where you can savour freshly caught braised crayfish from the local fishermen.
Your possible stops during this cruise
Alain will first sail you across the Saint Lucia channel, where often dolphins play, a delightful journey of several hours in brisk trade winds. Next you will stop over in Sainte Lucie, mooring beside the bay of La Soufrière, at the foot of the two Pitons, world heritage sites.
The following day, he will sail you towards the Saint Vincent channel to Bequia, before arriving in Admiralty Bay in the middle of the afternoon. In Port Elisabeth, you can rent a scooter to visit the island.
From Bequia, Alain will take you to visit the Grenadines in short stages, as the islands are relatively close to each other. You will also have time to enjoy these extraordinary islands, the famous Tobago Cays, a nature reserve, where you can dive with multicoloured fish, or swim with the turtles or eat crayfish.
Then there is Mayreau and its crystal clear waters, Union, a lagoon with turquoise waters, and finally Palm Island and Petit Saint Vincent with their white sandy beaches.
For the return journey, Alain suggests you stopover in Cumberland on the island of Saint Vincent, a deep bay surrounded by a dense forest. You will then return to Martinique Saint Lucia, this time in Rodnay Bay.
The skipper sleeps in a double cabin, the others are available for passengers
The skipper cooks, you have nothing to do!
- Places of embarkation:Le Marin Port
- Boarding time:8h00
- Time of landing:17h30
From London, take a flight to Martinique. (British Airwair, Air Caraïbes or AirFrance). From the airport, take a taxi to the port.
Very beautiful destination which corresponded to our expectations, favourites such as Bequay where the stopover was unfortunately too short, Mayreau ,beautiful beach, lobster restaurants and Rasta atmosphere. Then the Tobago Cays....paradise on earth. Postcard and images in your eyes.
Fortunately, the atmosphere between our 2 couples was beautiful and Alain, who had no empathy or respect for his clients, gave the impression that he was working in this profession only for food. Avoid at all costs that you are novices or experienced browsers
The end of the cruise was eagerly awaited as the atmosphere on board was so heavy........................................................................... a big one when we put our feet on the pontoon to close this episode. Alain is a dream breaker......
Unfortunately, everything is said in Claudia's commentary. An "old sea wolf" would even be more attentive to the well-being of his crew on holiday. Benevolence is not a word known in the lexical field of our browser. His skills, at sea or for manoeuvres, in which it is a little possible to participate (but with unpleasant remarks...), the miles covered around the globe are not called into question. The boat would need to be renovated, but it is safe (the same cannot be said for the annex that takes on water). But the basic safety rules have not been discussed very much, I still wonder where the life jackets were.... The pompom, really for a sailor, would be the ounce of comparison, daring on her personal but dishonest website, to a great chef of our gastronomy who died last year.... No comment. Too bad and disappointing when you associate it with the paradisiacal landscapes of the Grenadines and the reassuring and top-notch teammates. A huge thank you to them!
Also to be known: the Caribbean Sea is not the flat calm you could imagine, especially with the February trade winds! We often had wind force 6-7 and a good 4-metre swell. So plan for seasickness!
Alain is past the age of pleasing people, he seems jaded to do the job of skipper, he does not communicate with his hosts at all except to reprimand them... No explanation on the safety rules, on what should be his passion... sailing, on the discovery of the islands and its inhabitants... He has absolutely no desire to make his passengers happy and does not bother to choose the nice or typical anchorages, he does not go to meet the locals or his hosts, he has never wanted to fish or buy fresh fish from the fishermen in the area that we meet every day....all his cooking is made in leader price, you have to cry to have a good coffee in the morning or a piece of bread neither mouldy nor dry..... while every day we stop in small ports...
Thanks to Thibault for his efficiency during my booking... too bad we ran into Alain but my teammates were really adorable and we took full advantage of it without our skipper...
Were 4 friends on board the sailboat for our very first sailing experience, did not expect to be shaken so hard between the islands and 2 long journeys during the day (1 time 9h15 to do Soufrière-Bequia and a 2nd time 8h Union-St Vincent) with an important gite! Alain's sailboat at an age, even if the wood dominates in the saloon and cabins and give a certain charm! We appreciated the charm of the stopovers with islands where there is no mass tourism and still a certain authenticity. novices in sailing and rather left-handed, we helped the skipper very little for the manoeuvres, but we did help with the tasks of preparing meals and washing up
We had a very good contact with Alain the skipper from the arrival, owner of his boat for many years, an old sea wolf, a little lonely but who knows the Caribbean islands perfectly, he could be a little more communicative. When we arrived he should have shown us on a map the itinerary we were going to do and asked if we had a particular desire for islands to visit! Especially since we were new to this kind of trip, planes mentioned Mosquito but he replied that the buoy was too expensive and we wouldn't stay there! 2 nights on Union Island, but it was too much, one would have been enough and could have seen another island on the way back!
Our 11-day cruise with our skippers Alain B. was a moment of happiness every day renewed by the diversity of small stops in places that are sometimes paradisiacal. It started at the port of Le Marin to Petit St Vincent in the Grenadines and returned to Petit St Vincent in the Grenadines through small ports or anchorages that are always different, life on board flows slowly with the participation in life on board. We have always been busy participating in the sailboat walk, a well organized walk by our skipper and swimming, a short dive in the middle of schools of fish. We even saw small lobsters.... Even without being great sportsmen we enjoyed life in these beautiful warm and clear waters.
Alain B. our skipper was close and attentive during these 11 days, between the kitchen where our chef deserves a chef's hat, and his role as captain with always a little bit of humour, this stay was a great moment that we will not forget
I'll send you a story later