The first night on an unfamiliar boat can be a bit restless. You listen to the creaks and groans of the boat, the waves lapping onto the hull, the temperature seems not quite right, you drift in and out.

Sleep should have come easily on our first night aboard Skyelark 2 in Marigot Bay, St Lucia, after a memorable fish dinner with a few glasses of good Rioja. But disturbed by frequent squeaking, I eventually sat up around 0300 to drink a glass of water when something alive got entangled in my hair. Drowsily I started hitting at it, and whatever it was flew out of the open cabin door, which I slammed shut and went back to sleep.

Walking into the saloon the next morning I asked skippers Dan and Emily Bower: ‘What was that last night, a moth or a bat?’

Looking away from their stunned faces, I saw the stains on the saloon cushions. A small bat had flown into the cabin, eaten some fruit, tried an escape via my hair and then disappeared. The mess was phenomenal. This was very rare, apparently, and I was just glad the bat hadn’t bitten me.

We had joined Dan and Emily aboard Skyelark 2 for a family charter over the new year in 2023-4. We were happily retracing our steps from over a decade earlier when we had spent two seasons in the Caribbean, after crossing the Atlantic with the ARC rally, with the kids still small.

It was one of the highlights of our sailing life, and we wanted to revisit our favourite spots with the young adults. I also was super keen to snorkel with turtles again.

We didn’t need to see more of St Lucia, where we had arrived after the ARC that time. So from Marigot Bay we took a long leg to Bequia on our first sailing day.

The Oyster 62 was extremely comfortable with a furling main and jib for easy sail handling. The big cockpit had room for the four of us for reading and chilling. We were very relaxed, apart from the occasional stint steering and we enjoyed watching the diving boobies.

Sailing in the Caribbean: A calming presence

In Port Elizabeth’s Admiralty Bay, I saw the first turtle. It was coming up for air next to our boat as we sat calmly at anchor. I love turtles. They look wise and gentle, calm and at peace with themselves.

Coming across a turtle is a different underwater experience as is meeting tropical fish or swimming with sharks. Turtles are also an important indicator of the health of the world’s marine ecosystems.

In Bequia, all those years ago, we had visited the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary. The second morning of our current trip, we sped back there along the coast in one of those fun open taxis. The turtle basins in a shed on the water seemed a lot emptier than last time.

Proprietor Orton King greeted us himself and told the story of how his family came to start the sanctuary. The turtle basins this time showed turtles of different sizes but on a much smaller scale than in 2012. Orton had green and hawksbill turtles in his basins.

I looked up some turtle facts. The green sea turtle lives in tropical and subtropical seas around the world. Green turtles, which can live to the age of 90, are endangered due to hunting, environmental factors and a decrease in available nesting beaches thanks to property development. Adult green turtles mainly eat algae, seaweed and grass while juveniles are carnivores and also eat crab, jellyfish and sponges.

The hawksbill turtle is even more critically endangered. Its food is primarily sponges but it also eats algae and seagrass as well as shrimp, jellyfish and sea anemone. A prime specimen was putting its head onto the basin’s rim here at the sanctuary – we kept our fingers away from the sharp beak.

A 2020 report about Caribbean sea turtles estimates that green turtle populations in the wider Caribbean region have declined by over 97% since precolonial times.

‘More contemporary threats, such as fisheries bycatch, marine pollution, and coastal development, have had a major impact on the turtles of the Caribbean,’ the report said.

‘Yet despite it all, some populations have exhibited impressive recoveries. Today, a devoted network of conservation initiatives are working to restore Caribbean sea turtles to their historic abundance.’

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in particular have made significant progress in sea turtle conservation by legally protecting all species of sea turtles in national waters.

Bequia’s turtle sanctuary, while smaller than 10 years ago, at least raises awareness of the ancient creatures’ fate. We certainly saw many more turtles on this trip than in 2012-13. John and Lizzie were thrilled to be able to hold a turtle, and we all enjoyed having close contact with these beautiful animals.

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Time for Tobago

We knew better than to stop for VIP watching in Mustique. At this time of year, the likes of Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney have the island basically cordoned off, and you can’t move away from the marina.

Our next stop, the magical Tobago Cays, as hoped, offered the best turtle experience. Without hesitation Dan anchored Skyelark 2 just off Baradal Island outside the roped-off turtle sanctuary so we could swim back and forth.

This time of the year it was no surprise to see masses of boats anchored here, lots of charter catamarans, some classic yachts and a few monumental superyachts.

The 1,400-acre Tobago Cays Marine Park here consists of the five cays, the inhabited island of Mayreau and the 4km Horseshoe Reef. From the iconic sandspit looking over turquoise water you can see the island where historically Captain Jack Sparrow was marooned.

Our first wildlife experience here was coming across a biggish iguana on the little hill on Baradal Island which disappeared into the shrub. Soon we were snorkelling looking for turtles off the spit.

The turtles are used to humans here, and, unperturbed by snorkelling boaties, keep on grazing the seagrass meadows. We got several turtle encounters during our stay, and saw them coming up for air next to the boat all the time. Although very endangered, seeing so many here in the southern end of the Caribbean made us hope that conservation efforts are starting to work.

Lobster at Big Mama’s on Petit Bateau was a wildlife experience of another kind. Although a stingray near the shore distracted us, we saw the locals bring live lobsters ashore in plastic bags, halved them on the beach and put them onto Big Mama’s grill, no fuss! With plantain, rice and salad the crustaceans were delicious and the ambience colourful and fun.

Next stop: Clifton, Union Island. On landing, we enjoyed cocktail hour at the Happy Island bar which is hopping with young and old. During our last visit here, the wildlife we were fighting with were the kids’ nits – what a relief that phase is over.

The main Clifton shoreside restaurant with live sharks in its pool had closed down since our last stay, but Union Island New Year’s Eve celebrations were perfect for our young and old crew. Locals with their kids, young sailors and tourists were out on the main street drinking cocktails and bobbing to the music. There were even fireworks.

Next morning, we just motored around to Chatham Bay. During our last visit here, we had spent one night at anchor on watch as bullets of wind howled off the hills, while behind us a catamaran had been smashed on the rocks.

This time the seas were calm, and we tried the boat’s new dive buoy with long air hoses, snorkeling with tropical fish among the coral. The sunset from a beach restaurant with frigate birds circling above and pelicans starting and landing was still worth a few photos. But we were spoiled by now, and our turtle time remained the unbeaten highlight.

Sailing in the Caribbean: Cruising Notes

Best time to visit:

December to May.

Chartering:

Charter companies in Rodney Bay, St Lucia, offer a variety of catamarans and multihulls, bareboat or skippered charters. On a one-way charter from St Lucia to Grenada you will be beam reaching in the trade winds every day.

Guides:

Windward Islands by Chris Doyle is still the bible

Favourite anchorage:

The unbelievably beautiful Tobago Cays: anchor close to the turtle sanctuary near Baradel so you can swim to the sandspit and turtles, climb Baradel’s Hill and look for iguanas, snorkel at Horseshoe Reef.

Favourite island:

Bequia, pick up a mooring or anchor in Admiralty Bay, buy fresh bread at the bakery or visit Doris’ grocery store in the charming town of Port Elizabeth, take a taxi to the Bequia Beach Hotel for lunch.

Favourite marina:

Port Louis Marina, Grenada with all the amenities. Organise a minibus tour around the island, visit a rum distillery and chocolate factory, drive down the runway of the old airport – a blast!

Favourite meal:

Fresh grilled lobster on Petit Bateau island, Tobago Cays.

Place to miss:

Mustique, over Christmas most of the island is cordoned off for celebrities. Be wary of unserviced moorings, always dive on a mooring.

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