Carriacou: cleared in!  15/07/2021

Had an easy trip south from St Lucia. A fairly long day last Saturday, setting out at 0630, stopping to refuel, and then sailing until 1830. Made 63 nautical miles, passing St Vincent and mooring for the night in Admiralty Bay, Bequia (the largest of St Vincent’s Grenadines). From there it was only 41 nautical miles down to Carriacou. So pretty easy, although conditions were rough, wind was strong at times and there were regular downpours of rain. There was cloud over the La Soufriere volcano at the north end of St Vincent – the one that erupted in April – it was hard to tell whether this was normal cloud or volcanic smoke. Probably a combination of both – for a while, given that I was passing on the leeward side, there was a smell of sulphur. 

Arriving Sunday afternoon in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou it was simply a matter of anchoring. There is a demarcated quarantine zone in the north of the bay. I anchored just outside the marine reserve that runs along the top of the bay – which turned out to be a great place to snorkel: very varied multitude of fish and plentiful coral. 

Monday afternoon I saw the health people, who only operate between 1 and 3pm, in a tent in the marina. Apart from the PCR test which I had got before leaving St Lucia, was given another test. Because I’m double-vaccinated I was told not to move from the quarantine area for just 48 hours. This was easy, I was in a pleasant location and could swim and snorkel around the quarantine area. 

When it came to Wednesday afternoon we had a misunderstanding: I understood that my PCR test result would come from the health people by email; meanwhile the port authorities were trying to radio me with the result so I could come and clear customs and immigration. Not knowing this, I did not have the radio on… Was finally resolved when they came over to me by boat. By this time it was too late to do the formalities. So 0830 Thursday morning found me at Customs & Immigration. No one there, although their hours are 0800-1600. At 0910 the Immigration guy showed up, but he said Customs weren’t going to be around today. I made clear that I was going to leave the quarantine area. He hummed and harred, finally deciding that I could. This all took 50 minutes, with me promising to come back tomorrow morning to see Customs. I managed to keep things light and cheerful anyway: when he asked if I had any weapons on board, I said “No, because I’m not American!” and we both burst out laughing. 

Dealing with erratic authorities is clearly part of the fun of the Caribbean. I did not leave St Lucia legally. Their customs and immigration was supposed to be open until 1800 on Friday. Customs wasn’t a problem, but immigration, in a small office attached to the police station, was. It was about 2pm and the guy had disappeared. So I went into the police station and asked. The policewoman was very friendly and said I think he’s not coming back. I said well, he’s supposed to be working till 6pm and she and a colleague thought this was very amusing. I went outside and a policeman called to me from upstairs, saying that I must come back at 8 in the morning. I said I was sailing at 0630 so not possible. He then said well, you will have to go to Rodney Bay. I said that’s 20 miles north and I’m going south! No way am I doing that. Left it at that, and in the morning I simply sailed off (I had the customs clearance form, which is the only thing that is asked for in the next port). I suppose that one day they will discover that I’m still officially in St Lucia. Probably in ten years’ time…