Beach BBQ in St Vincent and the Grenadines

Today we called into the island of Mayreau, which is the smallest inhabited island in the Grenadines. Only 1.2 sq miles, and has a population of 271. Has no airport, banks, ATMs or buses. Two taxis and one road.

Mayreau was claimed by a French dude way back in the 1720s, and despite all the Anglo-French wars, and the eventually dominance of the British, he and his descendants were allowed to keep it. By 1773 the island was populated by six Europeans and their sixty six African slaves working on his cotton plantation.

Apart from the 21 acres of the village area acquired by the government, the rest of the island is still privately owned today, so I guess we hired the beach and its facilities (shelters, toilets, tables) for the day.

At breakfast time the island’s policewoman came on board with a few of her local assistants, and proceeded to heap enough food onto plates from the breakfast restaurant to feed the entire island.

After breakfast we took the tender ashore, and walked the only road from one end of the island to the other, climbing up the hill to the old stone catholic church in the middle, and down again to Carnesh Bay on the other side of the island for a swim. A lovely, secluded sandy beach with numbers of huts on the shoreline selling the usual t-shirts and drinks. Lots of private and charter yachts had pulled into the bay and were enjoying the beach as well.

Back up the hill to the village where we picked the ‘restaurant’ that advertised credit cards and wifi but, you guessed it, neither were working, so we moved on. Whatever man!

Back down at the beach near the ship, the BBQ lunch was in full swing. Everything had been brought across on the tenders, which must have been a monumental feat. Enough banana lounges and towels for everybody. Full bar service, massage tent, BBQs, platters to serve everything from, the food itself, table linen, a steel band. At the end of the day, they had to get it all back on the tenders, unload and wash it, then be ready for a full dinner service. They all work exceptionally hard.

Supper time was the staff concert, as if they hadn’t enough to do. An eclectic mix of acts, most of them really good, and of course they got us all into the mood by starting off with ‘Sweet Caroline’. 230 of the 300 on board are from the good old USA, and there’s nothing that they like more than belting out the chorus, especially if they’ve just come from the bar. Some terrific soloists, with the odd fun act like the Indonesian Synchronised Swimming Team thrown in.