Firstly, and importantly, WJ3 Cap’n & both Crew are safe and sound in St Lucia. We are nested in a web of mooring lines, secured to a very solid concrete marina berth, and surrounded by mangroves (and the odd water-front housing estate!). Rodney Bay Marina is also on the far north of the island. As luck would have it for us at least, Beryl wobbled south a bit leaving us to manage with just a few intense gusts and some rain. Not so lucky for those islands south of us!
So,
why are we here? With June too soon and
July stand by ringing in our ears, we set off for a cruise of the southern Windwards. All in aid of a dive on Tobago Cays, a chance
to visit more remote islands in the chain and some sunny, clean, calm
anchorages. Our rule of thumb however, was not to be
further than 2 sailing days away from Trinidad.
That made Martinique, at a stretch, our northernmost limit.
Having
left Trinidad, we set course for Grenada, arriving after a brisk sail at the
moorings off St Georges Harbour. A vast
marina, set up with visions of attracting flotillas of super yachts, now
occupies a section of the harbour called the Frying Pan (due to its shape). Still, the outer mooring area was fine and we
were still able, without risking life or limb, to access a small supermarket deep
in the Pan, to replenish supplies.
From
Grenada, we moved on to Carriacou, anchoring in the protection of Tyrell
Bay. Here, we became aware of a couple
of tropical waves (atmospheric depressions) moving across the Atlantic from
Africa. There was potential for them to
develop into tropical storms so we decided to go further north, moving on to
Bequia. Bequia must be the quintessential
Caribbean harbour. Beautiful clear turquoise
water, white sandy beaches, friendly locals and a neat, tidy town. Except the two storms were growing larger! So, the next morning we hot-footed it to St
Lucia. Yet another rocky ride in our
progression north through the Windwards!
At
this point (28 June), it became apparent that we now had a sizeable hurricane
on our heels. Also, best advice was that
Miss Beryl could wobble further south given conditions in the Caribbean. An escape back to Trinidad therefore seemed
unrealistic, so we decided to take our chances in St Lucia. With canvas and sails stripped down, everything
strapped securely to the boat, provisioning complete and water tanks filled, here
we are on Monday (1 Jul) crossing everything humanly possible and
waiting our fate.
At
its closest, Beryl was about 112 miles (181 km) from us. But she did wobble south. The eye, with predicted maximum sustained
winds near 130 mph (215 km/h) made a direct hit over Carriacou and tiny Petite Martinique
wreaking havoc. Barbados to the east, Grenada
on its south flank and Bequia to its north, all fell into the line of fire too. Our thoughts are with those whose lives have
been so dramatically changed as a consequence.
Beryl
is certainly a gal braking records! She’s
the earliest recorded in the season, quickly gained strength, intensified from
a tropical depression to a Category 3 hurricane in 42 hours then became a
Category 4 hurricane in 48 hours. Now she’s
heading for Jamaica as a Category 5!
(Back
in 2010, Hurricane Earl met us up in Maine. We were only 90 miles away then!)
