Leward Islands

Antoine's view

The Trade winds - once the ships sails start to fill with these peaceful easterly winds, the trading ships begin their world journey, the first islands they meet on their trip after having negotiated the vastness of the atlantic ocean are a small set, laid out in an arc, called the Windward Islands.
Barbados, Grenada, Grenadines, Saint Vincent and Saint Lucie, these "windward" islands have long since been an ongoing dispute between France,England and various other European colonial powers.Diamond rock, Marigot bay, Rodney bay, Kingstown, you can almost hear the crack of gunpowder still resonate in the surrounding bays.The larger islands make a living with sugar cane plantations, the smaller islands with fishing, what they both have in common is the warm sun, the constant trade winds and the frightening regular passage of hurricanes.
Travellers today are filled with amazement at the beautifull colours of the Grenadian lagoons, the splendour of the volcanic mountains, (some still dormant) of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent.Barbados it, a little further with the wind, is often the first stopover of the sailing ships which have just crossed the Atlantic: after long weeks of loneliness, the navigators are happy to discover its shores? and its rum, celebrates in all the Caribbean one.The best way to experience this archipelago the "windward islands" is to hire a boat and set sail from Martinique usually from the "port du Marin", and island hop your way through along this archipelago, Saint Lucia and its two famous Pitons; the turquoise waters of Grenadine (this is where I first discovered the caribbean, during my first circumnavigation in 1976), and the vast anchorage of Grenada.Further upwind you find Barbados which is often the first stop for yachts that have crossed the atlantic ocean : after many weeks at sea at the helm they are glad to reach land..... and drink it's famous rum which can be found through out the Caribbean islands.