Beach Barbecue and Beginning of Goodbye

Today is our last full day of cruising and it was a really nice way to finish up this adventure. We had the Windstar’s very popular beach barbecue on the tiny island of Mayreau in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. There are 32 islands and cays in the Grenadines, nine of which are inhabited. Another of the islands in this country is Bequia, which I have visited on a previous trip and is one of my favourites in the Caribbean.  

Mayreau is the smallest of the inhabited islands with a population of just under 300. The population is centred in an unnamed village located on a hilltop. Power to the residents is supplied to the residents by a central  generator located on the hillside of Saline Bay. The slave’s decedents who stayed on this island after slavery was abolished were given land to live on and they fished and farmed to make a living. In recent years, tourism and fishing has been the main source of income. There are a couple of seafood restaurants, a guesthouse and a small shop, as well as several vendors selling bright souvenirs on the walkway along the beach and near the pier where the tender dropped us off. There were a number of sail boats anchored in the bay, and the sailors were enjoying time along the beautiful white sand beach along with us. 

We visited this island last year as well, however the island got hit with Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 which apparently caused damage to 70% of the structures on the island. It was obvious even from a distance looking up the hill that there was lots of reconstruction going on – new looking roofs and evidence of new wood walls, etc. And some homes that were completely gutted. On the beach there were lots of trees partially or totally uprooted. 

Last year when we visited this island, we walked up the hill to see the little (unnamed) town there and to see a little church at the top of the hill. It had a fabulous view of the island and our ship in the bay. The church was rustic but beautiful.  I’ve included a picture we took last year. Sadly the church was damaged in the hurricane and subsequently collapsed and is beyond repair. It hasn’t been rebuilt. This small community must have been devastated. We were very sad because it was a really pleasant memory for us. We didn’t walk up the hill today as we didn’t want to see the ruins of the church. 

We did however, join the beach party and grab some lounge chairs under the shade of some trees along the ridge of the beach to enjoy the breeze and a view of the beautiful turquoise water. At noon our barbecue lunch was ready and we enjoyed a fabulous buffet of salads, veggies, burgers and dogs, jerk chicken and grilled fish. Oh yes, and dessert. An amazing amount of work goes in to these beach days. The chairs are stored on the island but stacked up and locked waiting for the next time a Windstar ship comes along. They have some permanent structures like a lovely clean washroom, bar area and solid wooden picnic tables but everything else is transported from the ship in the morning and taken back at the end of the day. They have a complete bar set up, and place settings for 120 passengers on the picnic tables including place mats and silverware along with solid white plastic plates. 

Adrienne did some snorkelling along rocks at the point of the bay and said she saw lots of fish, including Parrot Fish, and Blue Tang fish. Clair and I walked along the edge of the water enjoying the breeze and the view. And then it was then time to get back to the ship to clean up, cool off and take up our station on our favourite bar stools on the pool deck. 

This was one place where the transfer from the tender to the ship or vice versa was really challenging with the sporadic waves playing havoc with the process. The crew does an amazing job of keeping every safe. I was about to take a step on to the dock on our return when the edge of the tender dropped a couple of feet and the dock disappeared! My leg ended up hitting the edge of the dock as I was mid step. Thankfully, I was hanging on tight, the staff had a grip on me and the tender came back up to level with the dock very quickly and I was able to get all of me on the docking platform. I was no worse for wear, though, as my leg had hit sideways rather than right on. 

It was the Captain’s farewell in the lounge before dinner this evening when the Captain introduced the officers and rest of the crew who were available and they all joined in and sang the song “Sailing”. It’s a really nice moment. Later in the evening as we left the bay on Mayreau we had our final “Sail Away” to the sight of the sails filling, and the sound of Vangelis’ “Conquest of Paradise” and tonight an added extra song by Andrea Bocelli, “Time to Say Goodbye”. And tomorrow I will say goodbye to my fabulous travel companions Clair and Adrienne. So a surprisingly emotional evening. 

And then it was the “Last Supper” which included this amazing Mile High Lemon Meringue Tart .

I’ll be travelling all day Wednesday and won’t have much to say. Will try and do a recap in the next couple of days.

It’s been a great adventure and I’m sad that I’ll have to take a hiatus from travelling with Windstar, through no fault of the many employees who made our trip amazing.