RCC PILOTAGE FOUNDATION A CRUISING GUIDE TO FRENCH GUIANA, SURINAME AND GUYANA MarƟ n Dixon-Tyrer Published by RCC Pilotage Founda on 2016 © Text: RCC Pilotage Founda on 2016 © Photographs: Mar n Dixon-Tyrer 2016 © Plans: Navionics Updates, Supplements and Feedback Visit www.rccpf.org.uk for any mid-season updates or annual supplements, for cruising logs for this area, or if you no ce any errors or omissions and would like to let us know. Contact us at [email protected] CAUTION Whilst the RCC Pilotage Founda on, the author and Posions and Waypoints the publishers have used reasonable endeavours All posions and waypoints are to datum WGS to ensure the accuracy of the content of this book, 84. They are included to help in locang places, it contains selected informa on and thus is not features and transits. Do not rely on them alone defi ni ve. It does not contain all known informa on for safe navigaon. on the subject in hand and should not be relied on Chartlets & Plans alone for naviga onal use: it should only be used in We recommend cross-reference with more inter- conjunc on with offi cial hydrographical data. This is active electronic chart apps or to the free chart par cularly relevant to the plans, which should not viewer at https://webapp.navionics.com/ be used for naviga on. The RCC Pilotage Founda on, the authors and the publishers believe that the informa on which they have included is a useful Addi onal Cau on: Charts and Surveys aid to prudent naviga on, but the safety of a vessel Charts in these regions must be used with par cular depends ul mately on the judgment of the skipper, care, since they rely on ancient surveys for their who should assess all informa on, published or data. Addi onally, river bo oms and profi les change unpublished. The informa on provided in this pilot much more rapidly than in the ocean. book may be out of date and may be changed or The waypoints given in this publica on were updated without no ce. The RCC Pilotage Founda on accurate as of late 2014, but the same principle cannot accept any liability for any error, omission or applies regarding river naviga on. failure to update such informa on. To the extent permi ed by law, the RCC Pilotage Founda on, the author and the publishers do not accept liability Bearings and Lights for any loss and/or damage howsoever caused that Any bearings are given as °T and from seaward. The may arise from reliance on informa on contained in characteris cs of lights may be changed during the these pages. life me of this book. They should be checked against the latest edi on of the UK Admiralty List of Lights. Combina on plans Some river plans have been combined to give a be er overview of routes along them. However, the join points are approximate and as for all plans, they should not be used for naviga on. 2 CONTENTS FRENCH GUIANA, SURINAME AND GUYANA 5 GUYANA 55 FRENCH GUIANA 12 Springlands (5°53’.44N 57°08’.03W) 58 Berbice River / Rosignol (6°16’.3N 57°32’.2W) 59 Fleuve Oyapock/St Georges (3°53’.0N 51°48’.0W) 16 Demerara River and Georgetown (6°50'N 58°10'W) 61 Fleuve Approuague/Regina (4°18’N 52°08’W) 22 Essequibo River 61 Îles du Connétable and Les Ba ures du Connétable 22 Lau Lau Island to Bar ca 64 Îles Remire 23 Enterprise (6°54’.87N 58°23’.54W) 64 Fleuve Mahoury/Degrad des Cannes (4°51’N 52°16’W) 24 Wakenaam Stelling (6°57’.00N 58°28’.90W) 65 Fleuve Mahoury upriver from Degrad des Cannes 25 Parika (6°51’.90N 58°25’.50W) 65 Rivière de Cayenne/Cayenne (4°56’N Roeden Rust (6°50’.94N 58°27’.63W) 66 52°20’W) / Larivot 26 Liberty Island (6°49’.20N 58°34’.74W) 66 Îles du Salut 27 Fort Island (6°46’.73N 58°30’.53W) 66 Kourou (5°08’N 52°38’W) 29 Lau Lau Island (6°39’.66N 58°34’.72W 66 Sinnamary (5°22’N 52°57’W) 32 Stampa Island (6°33’.31N 58°35’.02W) 67 Maroni River 33 Hurakabra Resort (6°27’.13N 58°37’.45W) 69 Crique Coswine (5°41’.47N 53°58’.41W) 35 Bar ca (6°24’.07N 58°37’W) 70 Crique Vaches (5°36’.96N 53°59’.95W) 36 Baganara Island (6°19’.99N 58°35’.52W) 71 Crique Lamen n (5°34’.40N 53°59’.84W) 37 Mazaruni and Cuyuni Rivers 72 Paradis Village (5°30’.82N 54°00’.97W) 37 Kykoveral Island (6°22’.76 N 58°41’.21W) 73 Saint Laurent du Maroni (5°30’.47N 54°01’.99W) 38 Pomeroon River (7°37'N 58°45'W) and Saint Jean du Maroni (5°24’.72N 54°05.00W) 39 Charity (7°23’.84N 58°36’.04W) 74 SURINAME 40 Waini and Morawhanna Rivers and Port Kaituma (7°43ʹ.56N 59°53ʹ.04W) 74 Marowijne River/Albina (5°29’N 54°03’W) 43 Suriname River entrance 44 Paramaribo (5°52ʹN 55°10ʹW) 45 Domburg (5°42ʹN 55°05ʹW) 45 Surnau Kreek (5°41’.51N 55°01’.64W) 46 Waterland Marina (5°39’.40N 55°03’.76W) 46 Accaribo (5°37’.92N 55°04’.49W) 46 Paranam (5°36ʹN 55°5ʹW) 46 Nieuw Amsterdam (5°53’.51N 55°05’.30W) 47 Johan-en-Margaretha (5°53’.49N 55°02’.45W) 47 Alkmaar (5°51’.88N 55°01’.29W) 48 Moengo (5°38'N 54°25'W) 49 Coppename River 50 Boskamp (5°47’.02N 55°53’.83W) 51 Nieuw-Nickerie (5°56ʹN 56°59ʹW) 52 Coran jn / Courantyne River 54 3 THE RCC PILOTAGE FOUNDATION FOREWORD The RCC Pilotage Founda on was formed as an Cruising informa on for areas such as this can independent charity in 1976 supported by a gi some mes be sparse or diffi cult to get hold of. In and permanent endowment made to the Royal making this available as a free download the RCC Cruising Club by Dr Fred Ellis. The Founda on’s Pilotage Founda on hopes that anyone cruising charitable objec ve is “to advance the educa on of the area will benefi t from the shared informa on. the public in the science and prac ce of naviga on”. We would really appreciate ongoing feedback from The Founda on is privileged to have been given other cruisers who explore the coasts of French the copyrights to books wri en by a number of Guiana, Suriname and Guyana to help us to build on dis nguished authors and yachtsmen. These are the informa on. Contact us at [email protected] kept as up to date as possible. New publica ons are also produced by the Founda on to cover a range The RCC Pilotage Founda on is very grateful to of cruising areas. This is only made possible through Mar n Dixon-Tyrer for all his hard word on French the dedicated work of our authors and editors, all Guiana, Suriname and Guyana. Huge thanks also to of whom are experienced sailors, who depend on Ros Hogbin who has edited the text and undertaken a valuable supply of informa on from around the all of the produc on to bring it to publica on. We world by generous-minded yachtsmen and women. are also grateful to Navionics for allowing use of Most of the management of the Founda on is done their images. on a voluntary basis. In line with its charitable status, the Founda on distributes no profi ts. Any surpluses are used to fi nance new publica ons and to subsidise publica ons which cover some of the more remote ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS areas of the world. The Founda on works in close Thanks to Maret Allik for being onboard Otra Vida collabora on with three publishers – Imray Laurie crew during the me of wri ng this guide. Bernhard Norie & Wilson, Bloomsbury (Adlard Coles Nau cal) and Sharmilla Kleinhenz kindly provided the West and On Board Publica ons. The Founda on also Channel waypoints in Guyana, during a lovely day of itself publishes guides and pilots, including web cruising stories and homemade wine at their beau ful downloads, for areas where limited demand does garden and house. Thanks to Chris Doyle for his not jus fy large print runs. Several books have been earlier cruising guide to the Essequibo, which helped translated into French, Spanish, Italian and German mo vate further explora on of these countries by and some books are now available in e-versions. For sailboat. During the prepara on of this guide, many further details about the RCC Pilotage Founda on people contributed their local knowledge and advice and its publica ons visit: www.rccpf.org.uk – thanks to all for their considera on and kindness. Mar n Dixon-Tyrer 4 INTRODUCTION TO THE AREA FRENCH GUIANA, SURINAME AND GUYANA PLAN 1: French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana Introduc on The countries of French Guiana, Suriname and up to date with the posi on of constantly moving Guyana form a cruising ground that is s ll well off the sandbanks. beaten track. Cruising boats visi ng these countries Aside from the few small islands in French Guiana, number only a few hundred each year, and the there are no coastal anchorages in the area covered majority of cruisers visit just a handful of anchorages. by this guide due to lack of protec on from swell.