St. Vincent is the garden island. Its lush volcanic soil and hard working
farmers produce fruits and vegetables that are shipped throughout the Caribbean. (Photo on left: Kingstown Ferry Dock, St. Vincent)
The native population of the Grenadines is concentrated on Bequia, Canouan, Mayreau and Union Islands. The island of Mustique is primarily private. Locals who service the homes on Mustique work hard to support their small island elementary school; students go to St. Vincent for High School. Petit St. Vincent and Palm are private island resorts. Their workers are ferried back and forth to Union Island each day.
Bequia has a history steeped in whaling tradition. And although whaling today is
not what it was, the whaling heritage is kept alive through the work of local
scrimshaw artists and writers, and the tales and museum of the whaling men
themselves. Admiralty Bay provides a splendid natural harbor for Bequia. Ferries
from Bequia to and from Kingstown ply the often rough water between islands
more than four times a day. Admiralty Bay provides refuge to charter boats and
cruising boats alike. On Bequia, dedicated individuals like Brother King are
working to save the Loggerhead turtle population; other locals struggle to support
a school for the handicapped and a local library. Just off the waterfront, American
born Vincentian Editor Sally Erdle publishes the monthly Caribbean Compass newspaper, the voice of these Caribbean islands. It is circulated free of charge from Trinidad to Puerto Rico.
Canouan, just north of the Tobago Cays, is no longer a quiet island of fishermen and farmers. It is on track to become a major resort destination. Mayreau is a tiny island squeezed between Union Island and the Tobago Cays. Its economy relies primarily on tourism, charter boats and cruising yachtsmen.
Union Island is the commercial hub of the southern Grenadines. Less than three miles from the Tobago Cays and Mayreau, Union’s Clifton Harbour bustles with activity most months of the year because it serves the commercial needs of the smaller surrounding islands. Read more about Union Island.
Read more about about Boaters for Books and the island of Mayreau.
For more local information and photos: Jewels of the Caribbean
Heather Grant, owner of Erika’s Marine Services on Union Island is the project coordinator. She and husband Ian came to Union Island from their home in Canada and established a communications business catering to visiting yachtsmen. They were soon providing computer skills to the Unionists. Heather has been instrumental in promoting computer and reading skills among the young on Union Island. Now she is coordinating Boaters for Books in SVG with Senator Edwin Snagg. Initial recipients of books in SVG will be the outlying rural schools on the mainland of St. Vincent, the Mayreau and Union community libraries, the elementary schools on Canouan and Mustique and the library, elementary school and Sunshine School for the handicapped on Bequia.
Boaters in the region can drop off books at Heather’s business, Erika’s Marine Services in the Bougainvilla Complex on Clifton Harbour, Union Island. Heather and her able employees will distribute the books to the Union island Community Library.
You can help the children of St. Vincent & The Grenadines to learn to read! Send your check or donation of new or used children’s books or reference books to Boaters for Books.
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