As soon as one sails past the Pitons, the currents and winds begin to make the waters turbulent. The St Vincent passage between St Lucia and St Vincent is about 20 miles and winds are usually between 18-25 knots...in gusts, more. We have therefore taken the habit of sailing these between islands passage with a third reef in our so very large mainsail...plus the storm jib and the furler, which we can easily adjust, depending on seas and winds.

We find that the sun gets hotter as spring arrives and it is nice to have a strong breeze! The skies were very hazy that day, as usual, and we caught the first glimpse of St Vincent when we were about 6 miles away...

As we sailed past the island, the wind dropped...and we had to motorsail, which enabled us to admire the coastline. St Vincent, although very beautiful and rugged, is not so popular among cruisers because of recent "pirates" attacks on cruisers.

We mean, real pirates, not those of the movies, although it is here, in Wallilabou that the some shots of Pirates of the Caribbean have been made!

In reality, most of the attacks have taken plce in one anchorage of Chateau Belair, which is close to an area with large marijuana plantations. The island is so rugged and wild that controlling drug trafficking must be a challenge....and corruption is probably also a factor..as St Vincent is not very affluent. Anyhow, we passed the island, admired the landscapes, caught a glimpse of the boat yard where we will probably put the boat during the hurricane season and sailed right through to the northernmost island of the Grenadines, Bequia.

One just wonders about the landscapes with tall palms nested in the mountains...