Canouan – Rameau Bay

A quiet night away from Charlestown, anchored near two huge superyachts which provided some good entertainment – hands-free wakeboarding at night! As warned in the guides – it took us a couple of goes to get the anchor dug in and we did swing a lot overnight – so make sure you have lots of room.

We stayed over at Rameau Bay and that was a good idea. The snorkelling was excellent. Coast guard did a sweep at night and that was reassuring. The only thing to watch is with the current and tides you do move in several directions when anchored, so leave extra room between boats. All round a good stop there after our last very unhappy Charlestown experience 5 years ago.

Burglary in Charlestown 26./27. April 2017

We read regularly in Noonsite about the safety and security incidents. Today we are in the unfortunate position to report to you what happened to us.

We entered Canouan, Charlestown Bay on 26. April 12:00 on the anchor. Visited the town and went back to the boat around 17:00 and stayed on board the entire evening and night.

Closed all hatches except one in the salon of our catamaran. The front hatch was slightly ajar to get some air. It was a windy night and the wind-generator was working full power.

During the night while we were asleep, somebody entered the ajar salon hatch and went into the salon and stole money from the pockets of my pants and out of the wallet of my wife. The intruder also took two mobile phones that were on the navigation table for charging.

He took cash and mobile phones only. Also, he was very diligent and even closed the zipper of my wife’s wallet.

In the morning at first, it was difficult to detect the theft. We reported the incident to the local police station in Charlestown.

It was the first such incident that happened to us.

Though I don’t want to give up my dream of continuing to live on my boat, the incident left us with some thoughts.

Do we have to be glad he or they did not wake us up at gunpoint and wanted more valuables from us?

Yet while we were on shore and locked the boat up anybody could go on board start the engines and sail away with the entire boat. How does the sailing community take further measures to prevent robbery and theft?

In conclusion, I recommend NOT to stay any longer in Charlestown Bay nor in front of the Tamarind Hotel, where a mooring was faulty and a 61.5 ft catamaran was washed on to the other side of the bay on to a reef and the sand.

The solution is the newly opened (April 2017) beautiful marina behind the airport on the SW side of the island. The charge is 1 USD per ft, an easy price to pay vs. the USD 2500 damage the burglary cost us.

The sad thing about it is that if you go to the insider bar near the fruit and vegetable markets people say that it is just one guy notorious for doing so. And he lives in the bay above where the coast guard is located!

Canouan as such is a friendly island with a nice ambience. It has a very good – not to say the best – deli shop in the southern Caribbean and even stocks Italian Grappa!

Security Update and other cruising info. from Chris Doyle (8 February 2016):
In Canouan, I am happy to confirm the story that a man was put in Jail for robbing a boat. He is in for at least two years, and since he was in jail they have not had a single another incident.

One of the water vendors caught him coming out of the water naked at night and recognized him and reported him to the police. He had stolen money on him and I am told he pleaded guilty.

There has not been a single incident since he was arrested so we can say Canouan is as safe as anywhere else and maybe safer at the moment.

There are now two moorings and water vendors. Markus, whose son Mark is usually running the boat aided by Sharka, and John Compton, who is not yet in my guide but he can be contacted: Channel 16 or 1-784-593-0875. Both are excellent and will help in any way you want. They charge only $1 EC a gallon and deliver alongside. Their moorings are good and cost $50 EC.

New yachting regulations have been put in effect for Canouan by Government order (rather than a new law). The first is because a rich Italian has bought Corbay (Anse La Guyac) and put in a ton of sand and a huge restaurant that is private and only open to his friends and associates.

He desires the bay to be completely private so the government have banned anchoring in this bay, which is a pity as it is one of the most secure anchorages in Canouan and I have ridden out much bad weather here.

At first, he put a line of buoys across the entrance which caused an outcry among locals who had it removed. Beach access is still allowed and yesterday well over a hundred locals had a beach party to send the message this kind of privatization was not on. They were very peaceful and respectful and had a great party.

The government has also banned anchoring and kite-surfing on the east side of Canouan. The locals at the party let us know in no uncertain terms they want us to be able to anchor in these places and are angry at what is happening. Do visit Canouan soon, and use the local services to help support them.

This was posted on Grenada Cruiser’s Group Facebook Page – 14 July 2015:
Our boat was just boarded on Canouan while on a mooring at Charlestown Bay. The gentleman (John) who rented us the mooring had suggested we close our entry door while sleeping and lock up securely if we leave the boat, he had even warned my husband a second time later that afternoon when he dropped off his business card.

We had closed our door when we went to bed but were awakened by a noise on deck. We hollered and he quickly jumped back into the water. Thankfully he didn’t have time to steal anything and didn’t offer to hurt us but I am a little shaken!