You say "May-roo" I say "My-row"

We left Chatham Bay on Union Island bound for Mayreau. We learned from a couple of other cruisers that there was a hotel and restaurant in Troisant Bay that offered free mooring balls as long as you had a drink or meal at the restaurant. We motored the 4.5 NM into the bay and when we arrived there were only two other boats in the bay.

We have a certain rule about cruising. We don’t want to be the only boat anchored or moored in a bay, but we also don’t want it too crowded. A little bit like Goldilocks. Not sure why there were so few boats in the bay. Oh well, we gave it a try.

Grabbing and hooking the mooring ball was quite the adventure. The pennant that you are supposed to grab with your boat hook and pull up to run your mooring lines through was extremely thick. It wouldn’t pull through the boat hook. The hook got stuck on the pennant and flew into the water. Oh boy! (Editor's Note: That's not what he said. It was a stronger expletive.) We are not only not moored, but our only means of grabbing the pennant is floating in the water. Time for rescue mode. I had to back the boat up so Margie could hang off the back of the boat and retrieve the hook with her feet.

Thank you, instructor Captain Chris Simpson, for making us practice backing the boat so much. After we retrieved the boat hook, a Canadian couple took pity on us and came over and helped us get hooked to the mooring ball. We let them know we would see them in the bar later on and buy them a drink.

Finally moored, we ventured to the restaurant and hotel. The hotel and restaurant is call Mayreau Beach Club. We learned the hotel is a Tradewinds land based operation called "Terra." We were met by Michael, who manages the restaurant. He gave us a VIP tour of the hotel and restaurant. It is an amazing place. The hotel has two villas with four bedrooms each and a huge seating area and kitchen. The villas have two people on staff. One to organize the water activities and one as the chef.

After the tour, we explored the island. It is not very large and has approximately 300 people living on the island full time and you can walk from one end to the other in about 30 minutes. The village is at the top of a big hill, which is the highest point on the island. It was unusual in that on most islands we've visited, the villages are on the water. We hiked to the top of the village and were rewarded with a stunning view of Tobago Cays from the Catholic Church. We also hiked to Saline Bay and met LoLo, who owns and runs a nice beach bar and restaurant in the bay. Great spot and great pizza.

We decided to have dinner at the Tradewinds' Mayreau Beach Club restaurant that evening and it did not disappoint. We even got to meet the owners Lars and Marguite. It was probably one of the best meals we have had on Chapter 3.

We learned that night why there were only a few boats in the bay. The wind was from the Northeast and the swell and the roll from the swell that night was very uncomfortable. It was time to move.

Remember the thick pennant on the mooring ball that I referenced? It was also very long which meant it wrapped around the mooring ball and twisted in our mooring lines, so getting off of it was as tricky as getting on it. I first tried to unwrap it from the dinghy, then Margie ended up snorkeling it and getting it untangled while I was at the helm maneuvering the boat. Once untangled, Margie swam very fast to the back of the boat and jumped on. Not sure if she thought I was going to leave her, but she moved fast.

After the tangled mess, we moved the boat to Saline Bay. We now know why most of the boats are anchored in Saline Bay. The swell and the roll is not as bad as Troisant Bay. We continued our exploration of the Island to Salt Whistle Bay. It is a protected spot with lots of beach bars and vendors lining the bay. The bay does have mooring balls, but when those are all taken, they somehow figure out how to cram more boats into the bay. It is really crowded and not a place we would anchor the boat. Very pretty bay as the beach is beautiful and a small strip of land separates the leeward and windward sides of the island.

Our original plan was to go to Tobago Cays after Mayreau, but the wind was supposed to pick up for the next few days and we did not want to be on Tabago Cays with the wind howling. It is pretty exposed to the wind since we moor right next to the reef. We decided to go to the Marina on Canouan for protection from the wind.

That became a vacation.

The photo on the top of the blog is of Sylvie. She'd stop us every day and say "Walk up to the top of the hill and when you come back, buy from me." She was raising money for an eye surgery.

It doesn't rain much on Mayreau, but when it does, they collect it in these water tanks. Some houses have them, but if you don't own one, you come here to get your water.

Butt burner hills on pretty much all of the islands we've visited.

LoLo and Owen just started this about a year ago. She's challenged with getting provisions from the mainland, St. Vincent. Her food is excellent!

Michael, the new GM of the Tradewinds' Mayreau Beach Club.

The private pool for the villa at the Mayreau Beach Club. The main pool is shaped like the Tradewinds logo. Such a dichotomy from the rest of the island.

We "dressed up" to go to dinner, which was spectacular barracuda.

The view from the new bar at the Beach Club. Our boat is the one on the right and the Tradewinds boat is on the left.

The view from the Catholic Church on top of the hill. We'd watch the winds on Tobago Cays daily.