Clifton on Union Island is the southernmost port of entry for St. Vincent. It is mountainous, offering good views of the Grenadines, and has about 3500 inhabitants. It was meant to be a technical stop to replenish food stock and clear out from St Vincent on our way to Carriacou.
The anchorage is well protected as it is surrounded by land and reefs and the entrance is safe as long as you arrive in daylight and follow carefully the buoys marking the reefs to the NE. There is also a large reef in the middle of the bay, which you use as a turnaround circle. All in all, the anchorage is crowded because there are many boats secured to mooring buoys, and the depths go from 12-14m (which is too deep when you consider that there are mooring buoys and you have to let enough chain scope). The only option for anchorage is to the lee of the reefs, something you get used to gradually as it implies that winds shall not veer West.
The town is one of the largest in the Grenadines, again size is very relative, and lively with many small vendors and small cafés. After clearance and some money exchange at the bank, we found out that the small resort by the dock was attractive enough to spend the rest of the day…..table soccer, table tennis, billiard and book exchange are amenities we enjoy from time to time. Next door we had dinner at the Barracuda, which is run by an Italian couple. We all got our thirst for red meat satisfied. It was also interesting to hear the views about the place from Europeans.
The 2nd day was going to be dedicated to refill our depleted food stocks, but we were disappointed as the prices were as ridiculously high as everywhere in the St. Vincent Grenadines. We got our basics covered and hoped to find better in Carriacou. We went to visit the town and also went to check the kitesurf spot at the opposite side of the reefs. It seems easy compared to windsurfing….
Palm Island was our next stop, again, 1.5 mile from Clifton, so we opted to motor and tow our dinghy. How beautiful is this place, at least the shore. We discovered that we could not visit the rest of the island landing from nearby our anchorage, as the area is occupied by a luxury resort (see below) and visitors are not allowed. We were quite happy to spend a quiet afternoon snorkelling and planning the next stages of our trip.
Anyway, Palm Island was originally called Prune Island, after its shape, but was renamed after the transformation carried by John Caldwell together with his wife. “Coconut Johnny” and Mary were responsible for the development of the island after they arrived there in the 60s with a luggage full of sea adventure (you can read about in “Desperate Voyage” and “Family at Sea”). They leased the place from St. Vincent to develop the Palm Island Company, planting hundreds of palm trees and building their hotel which has now been passed onto new ownership. Apparently many of the palm trees in the Caribbean have been planted by the couple….