Craving the thrill of the high seas?
Chart a course to this spectacular archipelago.
In no time, our 45-foot catamaran was cruising through eight- to 10-foot swells.
When the Atlantic and the Caribbean converge, he said, its like a whirlpool.
As St. Lucias mighty Pitons began to disappear into a misty haze, the seas fell calm.
We sailed past sprawlingSt.
So where are the Cays?
asked my wife, Joy.
With a keen hold of the helm, his response was simple: Further.
That search for adventure was exactly why we had come.
It was our third Caribbean charter with theMoorings,which pairs families like mine with crewed yachts.
After lunch and once again under way, the captain set two fishing lines to trawl off the stern.
Then, suddenly, the whirl of a fishing reel: Fish on!
yelled my older son, Jackson.
Its all part of the adventure, Gangardine said.
Take, for example, Salt Whistle Bay, a glorious cove on the island of Mayreau.
Gangardine told us wed be going to a beach, but this place felt like a textbook Caribbean paradise.
Dotted with rum shacks and windblown coconut palms, it instantly became our new favorite spot.
That is until we finally reached the Tobago Cays.
Naturally we tested the waters, which are now protected as a national marine park.
exclaimed my younger son, Tyler.
A yacht and small boats on water in the Grenadines.Credit:David LaHuta
Its like another world, Joy said.
I had to agree.
From left: Sailing the Tobago Cays, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines; the author’s charter captain, Johan Gangardine.David LaHuta