We had a great sail down to Canouan where we had decided to stop off rather than Mayreau as we needed to get some cash and there are no banks on Mayreau. We had a steady 5-6 knots under one reef and a reefed jib to keep us at a nice speed for fishing, the rods going in the water as soon as we had the boat on the right bearing. I thought that was some mistake on the setting up of the rods because literally seconds after Kevin had put the rod over the side the now familiar buzzzzz of the line running out started however the quick dash across the boat from Kevin and the bend in the rod, I soon twigged we had a bite. Kevin worked on reeling it in whereas I did my jobs of fetching the camera, the medical alcohol, gaff hook and bucket and watching the helm. Kevin soon had another tuna in the bucket, slightly bigger than our last, which was dinner today and tomorrow sorted again! We could see Mayreau, Tobago Cays and Union Island in the distance as we rounded the headland into Canouan. At that point we heard the buzzzzz again and Kevin started to pull in our second catch of a large barracuda, however after photos we decided to let him go, being a little bony for our taste, especially with fresh tuna already available.
The usual super yachts were moored just in the lee of the coast and we proceeded in through the gap in the reef to the inner anchorage. We picked a good spot and laid our anchor with plenty of chain because there was a big swell running and breaking on the shore. The dingy dock was right in the middle of where it was breaking and we decided to let Kevin drop me off there to get to the bank and get in some fresh supplies rather than leave ours lurching again the dock in the swell. I jumped off the dingy quickly up the ladder which is at the shore end of the jetty. Kevin kept going and just managed to turn the dingy into the next wave before he was swept on the beach.
I wondered down the road past the posh new Moorings Yachting base and then into the local’s area a football ground with corrugated iron fencing and down the main street with baby goats and chicken wandering around. I found the bank straight away (there is only one main street) and went into the little kiosk, put in my PIN, pressed Enter as directed on screen, it didn’t do anything then eventually asked me if I need more time? After about 4 attempts and worried about having my card swallowed on a Sunday I decided to go to the supermarket (well minimarket in UK terms) and see if I could pay by visa there. No, luck there either, so I decided one last try at the ATM, on this attempt I finally saw the sign that told you to press the Clear button after entering your PIN! Ah well, back to the supermarket though I didn’t go mad as the prices were not exactly cheap (3 tomatoes = £1.25, all wine £11+ per bottle etc).
Canouan definitely had an undeveloped feel to it, Charlestown has a few restaurants but they are more like modified houses and definitely has a locals feel to the place. However, this is only part of the story because the entire northern half of the island has been sold to developers and now houses a Raffles resort and Donald Trump golf course. The entrance is apparently gated and open only to residents, closing off half the island. I gather it has brought some prosperity to Charlestown as the local houses are a good size, but the ongoing income clearly doesn’t extend far beyond the walls.
Back to the dock, I called Kevin on the handheld VHF to pick me up, I could see the swell was even worse now splash up through the dock and the ladders were clearly no longer an option. Kevin told me he’d pick me up at the end and I’d need to be quick. He swooped round and I eased myself to the edge and then dropped in as he came below. However, somehow I managed to leave my right arm behind me, trying to slow my descent, ending up with my weight resting on my underarm before I dropped into the tender. Ouch! I told Kevin to keep going as I grabbed my arm and we got back on Invincible. It turned out to be just badly bruised though swelled up like a golf ball. Kevin got me some ice in a towel to get the swelling down and I spent the afternoon with my feet up reading Patrick O’Brien. Writing this now three days later I am nearly back to normal though have a quite impressive bruise, which I am hoping will be gone before our wedding day in only 6 weeks time!
Our impression of Canouan didn’t really improve overnight as the wind howls down the hillside permanently into the anchorage providing about 25 knots all night when it’s only about 15 knots outside. This is barely mentioned in our pilot book, which we have detected is concerned more with not upsetting the advertisers than informing yachtsmen. Anyway, we still had a lovely evening with our fresh tuna fillets and we were joined by a number of other yachts.
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