Commodore
February 6, 2021

Seeking out a bit of shelter in Chatham Bay, on Union Island

We decided to leave our spot in the Cays, even though it was a stunning location because it is windy, last night winds got up to 30 knots, so the sea is churned up. El Gaucho our French friends on the identical Catamaran were coming back here and tried to persuade us to stay, but we thought we would go and explore and come back when the wind dies down. It was a wiggle getting through the reefs on the south side heading for Union Island, it was a short motor across to Chatham bay which looked very protected, we had heard there were a lot of boats sheltering there, especially as there were a few restaurants open. Our only mishap was that a gust whipped up and swirled into the cockpit and took the cover for our BBQ overboard. We turned and searched in vain but could not see it after such a short time, not very reassuring for man over board practice, but I suppose it was dark grey and would have sunk quickly! Very annoying as the sea water will corrode the BBQ in no time.

Union island from the sea has an amazingly jagged and pointed skyline, it must be full of volcanoes, craters and many pointy cores. We arrived in Chatham Bay and were amazed at how picturesque it is, with a gorgeous unspoilt beach, and thick dense wild bush covering the mountain slopes. There are no big developments, the only access to the beach is via an extreme 4×4 track.

We were greeted by a man in his boat who owns a restaurant, so we gave him our rubbish and promised to go for supper. There are 20 boats in the bay, like someone said these boats would normally be at the Tobago Cays if it wasn’t for the wind. We had been warned that the wind whips over the mountain and rushes down into the bay in big gusts. This happened just as we were anchoring which was a bit tricky, but we finally settled down after I managed to drop the bridle for the anchor into the water. Rowan managed to jump in the water and get it back on, by then the wind calmed and we settled into our spot.

We went and had a snorkel at the headland which had loads of little fish and some nice coral, but the current and the waves made it a bit swirly so we did not stay out too long.

Union Island skyline

Rounding the headland into Chatham Bay

Chatham Bay

The local community

One of 3 restaurants

Boutique Italian hotel , constructed very sympathetically with only 4 cottages, and an incredible backdrop of dramatic cliffs and dense vegetation

Colour of the water is unbelievable

We anchored next to this Nautitech Cat that is bigger than us and was quarantining in St Vincents at the same time as us. Rowan had asked if he could look at their boat as it is on his mind to get a bit more space! They invited us over for a drink and a look around, they are a French couple who crossed the Atlantic end of last year with their 4 kids, 12, 9, 6 and 4 in age. Quite something, they planning to circumnavigate in under 4 years and do all their own home schooling. It was so reassuring to get on a boat that was not immaculate! They were a great family, the kids were gorgeous, all such water babies. It was very interesting to see how much more space they had and everything just more substantial…proper oven, decent fridge and freezer drawers etc. There boat is younger than ours and has also had a lot of problems, and they are waiting to go to Martinique and have the problems all sorted at the same place as us, They sailed across to French Guyana in 12 days from Cape Verde (well that is what we understood her to say) which is very good going, then they had an interesting sail up here. I admire them hugely, not something I could have done with 4 young kids!

We had a very good supper at the Sunset Cove restaurant, they are incredibly friendly, and one of their guys was straight out to help us lift Jeldi Jeldi up the beach. We had ribs as the only fresh thing on the menu was lobster and we have gone off the idea of eating it. There were a couple of tables taken, but not as many as you would think judging from the amount of boats in the bay.