Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG

Well we are now in St. Vincent & the Grenadines (mmmm...grenadine) which is one country made up of many islands. We skipped the main and largest island of St. Vincent and instead are anchored in the charming island of Bequia. Three guesses as to how it's pronounced. Nope. Wrong. Try again. Give up? Okay, it's BECK-way. From St. Lucia on out the primary language is English so I am at a loss to explain this bizarre pronunciation. Bequia is a haven for traveling yachts with lots of boat services and plenty of restaurants. It's kind of a velcro harbor -- easy for yachts to stick to it. We've already run into several boats we know here so we may stay awhile, too.

Where we are:
Location=Bequia, SVG
Lat=13 00.161
Lon=61 14.637

The Pitons, St. Lucia

posted by SSB

St. Lucia - The Pitons

We motorsailed a few miles south to Soufriere (I know, I know, ALL the islands have at least one town called Soufriere. When naming things, the French weren't very imaginative. There are tons of "soufrieres" meaning "sulfur" and even more "basse-terres" meaning "low ground".) Soufriere is one of St. Lucia's marine management areas where they are trying to protect and conserve the natural resources. We picked up a park mooring (no anchoring allowed, but the mooring was screwed into the bottom - yay!) and were able to find some fabulous snorkeling right off the boat -- a huge variety of coral and all kinds of fish activity. We actually saw a couple of eels slithering around foraging for food instead of hiding in their holes. All of this within the shadow of St. Lucia's most well-known landmark, the Pitons. These are twin 2500 foot peaks that rise up out of the water like pillars; very tall, very steep. As we were approaching by sea, we had a magnificent view of the mountains in all their glory. Not sure the photos do it justice though.

Where we are:
Location=Soufriere, St. Lucia
Lat=13 51.385
Lon=61 04.063

Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

We love the French attitude towards customs and the formalities. It never costs a penny to clear in or out, and most of the time they just barely glance at your passport, if at all. Yesterday the customs "officer" (a ponytailed older guy running the fuel dock at the marina in Anse Mitan) had us fill out a blank form that had already been signed. Once we filled it out, he put the date next to his signature and we were ready to go. He was a cool guy, though. When he was looking at our passports he noticed Illinois and Arizona and said that he'd been to both places while on a trip across the US on old route 66. He said it was one of his top trips ever but that next time he would do it on a 'arley (French pronunciation of Harley).

Today we arrived in St. Lucia (LOO-sha) in the afternoon and headed over to the marina to clear in. We saw a Manta at the dock and went over to say hello, their boat is a little older than ours but they've been living on it for 5 years now. After chatting a bit we headed over to the supermarket which is in a really great outdoor shopping mall. We had heard mixed reviews from other cruisers about St. Lucia so we weren't sure what to expect, but judging from the nice stores and fabulous homes (they look like they were transplanted from Palm Beach, FL) Rodney Bay seems like a decent spot. We won't be here long, though. Tomorrow morning we'll fuel up with diesel and move on to the south part of the island.

Where we are:
Location=Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
Lat=14 04.620
Lon=60 57.462

Anse Mitan, Martinique

posted by SSB

Anse Mitan, Martinique

We haven't done a whole lot of sightseeing over the past couple of days. But while we were in St. Pierre we ran into Barb and Chuck on Tusen Takk. We had met them in Luperon, DR and saw them again in the BVI's. So we got together for drinks and walked around ashore a bit. Then on Tuesday we motorsailed down the coast to Anse Mitan, which is a great anchorage with a sandy beach. We look over and two boats away is Sol Magique, another couple we met in Luperon. So we had Paul and Ginette over for dinner and caught up on what they'd been up to since we last saw them in St. Martin.

We think we'll just hang out here and be lazy for a few days. Anse Mitan is a touristy resort area and the beach here is really nice. There are supposed to be a lot of nice restaurants and shops so we'll look around a bit.

Where we are:
Location=Anse Mitan, Martinique
Lat=14 33.686
Lon=61 03.195

Martinique -- The Next Jerry Lewis

On the way to Martinique this morning we got hit by the wave from hell. It wasn't a particularly big wave or anything, just a case of bad timing. We were sailing along great at 8 knots. As we approached the island of Martinique we were in a trough when the next wave broke over the side deck. A big wall of water came crashing through the cockpit, soaking everything including us. Usually we have waves coming over the bow but they rarely reach the cockpit, so this was a little scary (note to our parents: we weren't in any danger, don't worry). The only bad thing is that now our cockpit seat cushions are encrusted with salt, so we'll be washing down the boat tomorrow. Other than that it was a pretty great sail and we arrived in St. Pierre in the early afternoon. Customs was located in a bar (first time we've seen that!) so we ordered two Lorraines (local beer) while we filled out the clearance paperwork.

Seems like whenever we first arrive in a country it is either a holiday or a Sunday and everything is closed. Being Sunday today was no exception but we did manage to find a little pizza place on the beach that was open. Martinique is another Overseas Department of France and here almost everyone speaks French exclusively and it is hard to find someone who speaks English -- even more so than in Guadeloupe. But the pizzeria owner was a nice older gentleman and was tickled that I was making an attempt to speak his language. When we were in Puerto Rico, I had a sort of joke for when I told people we lived on a boat. I told them Kevin was the captain and since I didn't know the word for "crew" I said I was the "team". Not super funny but enough to get a polite chuckle. So I figured out a similar word for "team" in French when I was telling the owner about the boat. He laughed so much that on the way home I started to doubt that I was using the right word. I looked it up and sure enough I was telling people that Kevin was the boat's captain and I was the baggage. No wonder the guy was laughing so hard. Apparently in French I am hi-larious.

Where we are:
Location=St. Pierre, Martinique
Lat=14 44.453
Lon=61 10.668

Roseau - High Times

Yeah mon. So today we swam under two spectacular waterfalls, ate almost every fruit that grows on the island, and probably got a contact high hanging out with Rastafarians. Where to begin?

Our adventure began around 9 am when we started a tour with Sea Cat. His real name is Octavius and he's being doing guided tours for 17 years. We weren't able to find anyone else interested in a tour so it was just the three of us. Our plan was to hike Victoria Falls and Sari Sari Falls, both on the eastern side of the island. On the way Sea Cat kept pulling over to the side of the road, bringing samples of all the stuff growing by the roadside. We had some fresh coconut milk and a guava in the morning, and had papaya, mango, cherries, and passionfruit for our afternoon snack. He also brought bayleaves, lemongrass, and the bark of the cinnamon tree as well as showing us how cashews grow (a huge red fruit with a single tiny cashew growing out of one end). We also made a quick stop in a small village known for its moonshine. Sea Cat bought a round of shots for us and the several local alcoholics already hanging out at the bar. It was strong stuff for 10 am but the locals got a kick out of watching us tourists take a shot, make a face, and take a sip of water.

When we arrived at the Victoria Falls trailhead, we stopped to visit Sea Cat's friend Moses, a Rastafarian who is sort of like a high priest. Moses was hanging out in a kitchen-type outbuilding with several other Rastas just chilling and smoking the fattest joints I have ever seen (we are talking the size of cigars). The conversation was lively and animated, they were talking about how they want the government to stop the use of pesticides in the agriculture here. At least that's what I think they were talking about -- a lot of Dominicans speak superfast to each other using the local dialect so we don't always understand every word but usually we get the gist. Those of you with a good grasp of irony will appreciate this: when one of the other rasta men heard that Sea Cat had drunk a shot of moonshine with us, he warned him very sternly "Moonshine? Bad stuff...don't you be drinking and driving, mon!" as he handed him a freshly rolled spliff which Sea Cat proceeded to blaze up. We didn't partake but it was cool to see a part of Rastafarian culture. There's much more to it than Bob Marley music and pot, more about that later.

The hike to Victoria Falls was a good workout; we crossed the river several times on the trail up and scrambled over huge boulders on our way to the pool. As we swam in the pool it was actually hard to see because the force of the waterfall made it feel like we were getting hit with a firehose. But with Sea Cat's help we managed to work our way behind the waterfall to see the water cascading all around us. Pretty cool. After the hike Moses made us an ital soup for lunch with leeks, dasheen, potatoes, cabbage and I don't know what all. (Although some Rastas eat fish, Moses is vegan.) It was surprisingly good, and he served it in bowls made of fired calabash gourd and the spoons as well were made from slices of calabash. The Rastafarians believe that the body is a temple, and ital means a natural and sane way of life. As part of ital the food rastans eat must be as natural and pure as possible with no preservatives or chemicals. Even the ganja is ital -- it is supposed to be purer, finer, and stronger than the Mexican marijuana you find at, say, your local college campus.

Sari Sari video

We got another great workout hiking up and down the steep steps to Sari Sari falls. It was like doing a stairmaster through the rainforest for an hour there and back. But the waterfall was worth it. We've done several waterfall hikes while we've been here, and the great thing about them is you get to cool off in the pool below. We'll take a waterfall hike over a fort any day.

Roseau, Dominica

We had originally planned to head down to the capital Roseau yesterday, but we felt a little lazy. So instead Kevin changed the oil in the engines and we took a walk around Fort Shirley in Cabrits National Park. (I know, I know we keep saying "no more forts" but another cruiser was adamant that we should check it out). Half of the fort is being beautifully restored while the other half has been left to the forest, with huge ficus trees growing out of the limestone fortifications and everything overgrown with vines. It was an interesting contrast and a nice walk through the forest followed by a relaxing evening before setting out this morning for the 20 mile trip to Roseau.

So tonight we are sitting once again on a mooring. I know some of you are thinking "Are they crazy, after what happened in Saba?" You would think that with our luck we would avoid moorings like the plague, and trust me we tried. When we first got to the anchorage, a boat boy named "Roots" came out to greet us and offered us his mooring. We asked him what was holding it and he said "A huge concrete block. Dis mooring ain't go nowhere, mon." At first we told him we'd think about it and we motored around the anchorage looking for a shallow spot to drop the hook. But the depths were ranging from 70 to 170 feet -- we don't have enough chain to anchor in water that deep! Roots' mooring was really close to shore, in only about 25 feet, so we radioed him back & told him we'd take it. Kevin dove on it and with him watching the mooring I backed down on our engines at 1600 rpm just as we would to set our own anchor. The mooring didn't drag, so we think we'll be okay here.

We took a quick look around town and took care of business with customs. (We have to clear in/out of every port. The bureaucracy in former British colonies is merciless. God only knows what they do with the multiple carbon copies of everything. Not a computer to be seen.) We also had a chance to hit the local farmers market and loaded ourselves up with mangoes, pineapple, watermelon, cucumber, peppers and tomatoes. Its kind of odd that we actually bought mangoes since they grow everywhere and had fallen all along the streets and sidewalks on our way to and from the market. But at less than twenty cents apiece (in US$) I probably can't complain. Quick price comparison: anyone know what they cost back in the states at Fry's?

Where we are:
Location=Roseau, Dominica
Lat=15 17.242
Lon=61 22.621

Portsmouth - Waterfalls and Sulfur Springs

We didn't do much on Tuesday. We had planned a tour of the north part of the island, but the other couple canceled and we didn't want to pay the full price of hiring a cab for the day. We were a bit disappointed but we went to drown our sorrows at Big Poppa's bar, hoping to meet up with some other cruisers and try to arrange a tour for Wednesday. Big Poppa himself was there, a large black guy who missed his calling as a standup comedian. He had a whole spiel of jokes and we didn't mind laughing since he gave us a round of rum punches on the house. For our entertainment he also rapped a few bars of Notorious B.I.G. "Big Poppa...I love it when you call me big poppa..." to my delight.

We found a big group going on a tour the next day and were invited to tag along. So Wednesday we left around 8am and headed to the southern part of the island with our cab driver Caesar (a nickname, his given name is Julius). Dominica has nine potentially active volcanoes and there is evidence of activity all over the island. We first stopped at some hot springs with two small pools steadily burping out the sulfur. The water was too hot to touch. It was stinky but cool to see. Our next stop was Trafalgar Falls, a double waterfall where two rivers meet and merge. The upper falls plunge 200 feet down the rock face and the lower fall is slightly smaller but more accessible. We had to scramble over boulders for a good 20 minutes to get to the base of the second fall but it was well worth it. We swam in the frigid water and some of our group were even able to climb a little ways up the waterfall itself. When we returned down the trail we found a small hot pool about the size of a hot tub so we all piled in and relaxed for a little while before heading out.

We stopped for a local lunch and along with rice and beans we had plantain, dasheen (taro root), and a choice of pork or curried goat. The meal was excellent and so was the price: 15 Eastern Caribbean dollars, or about $5.50 a person including your choice of Kubuli beer or fresh local passionfruit juice. After lunch we explored some more hot springs and then went for a snorkel at Soufriere Bay, a curvy bay that is the rim of a sunken volcanic crater. As we were snorkeling we could see more signs of volcanic activity as thousands of tiny bubble streams burbled up from the sand below us (which is how the site earned the name Champagne). We finally arrived back to Portsmouth around 5:30 and all ten of us got together for drinks and to share digital photos.

It was a late night, and we had originally intended to head back to Big Poppa's for reggae night since we thought there would be life music. But we were too tired so we headed back to the boat. As it turns out we didn't need to go to the bar, since the music was so loud you could hear it throughout the anchorage. And I was reassured that we weren't missing out on any live performances once they started playing Bob Marley tracks.

Portsmouth, Dominica

We arrived in Dominica (dom-in-EEK-uh) on Sunday afternoon, after a quick 22 mile passage from Iles des Saintes. Being Sunday, customs was closed but we decided to go ashore and check things out. This is definitely a poor country, on par with the Dominican Republic as far as open gutters in the roads, clapboard houses with tin roofs, etc. But the natural beauty is pretty astounding, more about that later. We headed into a bar called "Big Poppa's" where we had some Kubuli beers and booked a River Tour for the next morning. Dominica is the first place outside of the Dominican Republic where we've really seen a lot of boat boys. Although they are called "boat boys" they are actually grown men whose business is to help the cruisers out by operating as a water taxi, bringing diesel and water to the boat, arranging tours, or just anything in general that you might need while you're in port. They can be pretty aggressive sometimes; we saw one boat anchoring this morning and there were no less than four guys in brightly painted wooden boats hovering around it asking if they needed any services. (Some of the "boat boys" don't even have boats: a few hours ago we bought a bunch of bananas from a guy paddling around the anchorage on an old surfboard.) When we got here yesterday we knew we didn't need any help with diesel or anything, but we did want to do a couple of tours, especially of the Indian River. Some cruisers we met in St. Kitts had recommended Albert, so that's who we made arrangements with while we were at Big Poppa's.

The Indian River got its name because many Carib Indians once lived along its banks. They have since moved (or been relocated) to the Carib territory on the Eastern side of the island. The river is protected by law, no outboard engines are allowed, and you can only go through it with an accredited guide. So this morning with Albert at the oars (you should see this guy's arms) we headed up the river. Several scenes from the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 were filmed along the river's swampy banks (you'll see it in the scenes from the witch's house), and Albert pointed the spots out to us since he helped ferry gear up the river during filming. After several "guided" trips on other islands where the guy didn't do much other than point out the obvious ("there's the ocean...that's a Baptist Church...this is a really old bridge") it was refreshing to have a true guide -- enthusiastic and knowledgeable, with 20 years experience of showing tourists his country. He knew the local and common names of all the flora and fauna on the banks, and he made it a point to look for hard-to-spot iguanas and birds and make sure we were able to see them. The greenery was spectacular with all the ferns and vines and big twisty tree roots, and there were little splashes of color as well -- yellow and red hibiscus, alongside bright green iguanas and hummingbirds.

We stopped for a drink upriver where an enterprising guy was working on building a bar in the middle of the forest to cater to the river tour crowd. The bar isn't finished yet, but in the meantime he sells soda and beer out of a cooler. The soda vendor was a well-spoken guy who gave us some insight into the politics of the country. His main complaint/idea was that although the country is poor, they don't lack for food during the growing season. Food is so plentiful that they have a huge surplus of oranges, mangoes, grapefruits, bananas, etc, even more than they can export. But he can't understand why the government doesn't put in a cannery so that they can preserve their orange juice, fruits, etc instead of having to pay through the nose for imported canned goods in the off season. It was an interesting discussion. I told the guy he should run for office but apparently there's pretty much one family with a lock on the political power in this part of the country so I guess he'll just remain a visionary who's stuck selling sodas.

Anyway, Albert brought us back to the boat and we invited him aboard for a beer and a snack. He was telling us that recently he has moved away from town to a beautiful spot by a lagoon where he can enjoy the peace and quiet and natural surroundings. He kept using the expression "I recently moved my house" and finally I asked him if he meant that literally. Yes, he said. He didn't load the whole thing on a truck, like some do, but he used all the materials from the old house to build part of a new bigger house. His new house is about 1200 square feet with three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen, while his old house was 12 feet by 16 feet (for the mathematically challenged, that's just 192 square feet). I will think about that next time I feel that the boat is too confining.



Where we are:
Location=Portsmouth, Dominica
Lat=15 34.987
Lon=61 27.836

Iles des Saintes

We spent the whole day yesterday working on the bimini repair. Had to literally tear the boat apart; we took off the ceiling liner in the main salon, and had to completely disassemble both the closets to get the supports bolted on properly. But today we motorsailed into the wind with some light choppy waves and the fix held together just fine. So now that that particular fire is out we have a pool going on what will break next. Anyone want to get in on the action?

We are now anchored in the town of Le Bourg on one of the islands that is part of the Iles des Saintes (eel day saint). It's a small group of islands between Guadaloupe and Dominica but it is still part of Guadaloupe/France. The town here is very touristy; there are day trip ferries that come over from Guadaloupe. We liked walking up and down the main street and looking for bargains. Unfortunately the currency in all the French islands is the Euro, so our dollar doesn't go as far as it does in some of the other countries. Despite that fact, we still rank Guadaloupe pretty high up the list of our favorite places we've been so far. There's a little of everything here -- cosmopolitan areas, scenic hiking, pretty beaches, and picturesque farmland. And the people here have been amazingly friendly and receptive to us, even though we don't speak the language well and they have to repeat things four times or use exaggerated pantomimes to get the point across. We're a little sad to be leaving after only a few days here. We would've liked to explore a little more but some of you might have heard that they had the first named storm of the season this week (subtropical storm Andrea). So we are eager to keep moving south to Grenada, where we plan to hole up for hurricane season.

Where we are:
Location=Iles des Saintes
Lat=15 52.046
Lon=61 35.158

Guadaloupe - Mr. Hardware

We got to the car rental place early, and despite the language barrier (so far no one says "yes" when I ask if they speak English) we managed to get one of the last available cars. We had two missions: 1. see some cool waterfalls in the rainforest, and 2. get the nuts and bolts we needed for fixing the bimini.

When Kevin was looking at the bimini problem, he discovered that the two main front support posts were only held on by 3 tapping screws each. No bolts or backing plates, just some really short screws barely penetrating the fiberglass. We're just surprised the thing didn't fall apart sooner. It looks like the manufacturer had fiberglassed some nuts into the hull, so at one time maybe the thing was put together properly, but Kevin guessed that somehow it had broken once before and the previous owner just drilled through the glassed-in nuts and put in screws instead of bolts. So because someone did a half-assed job of fixing it last time, it is up to us to full-assed fix it. But to do it, we needed to buy some really big washers and some longer bolts than we have in our toolkit. So, armed with my "French for Cruisers" book, we headed off in search of the "magasin de bricolage" (hardware store). Of course no one knew of one nearby, the three local people we asked directed us to Destreland which is in the middle of the island near Pointe a Pitre, their biggest city. Once we got close, we pulled in at a Shell station where I proceeded to go through an old Abbot and Costello routine with the clerk. Roughly translated, the conversation went something like this:
Me: Good day, sir. We look for a store of hardware, to buy something like this. (Holds up nut and bolt)
Him: Yes. Go straight and it is near the Carrefour.
Me: Thank you. Please you will write the name of the store for me?
Him: (something I didn't catch) hardware store.
Me: Yes, I understand it is hardware store, but what is the name of it?
Him: (mumble) hardware store.
Me: No, I need the name of the store, please.
Finally another guy steps in and enunciates very clearly "Monsieur Bricolage". Aha! The name of the store is "Mr. Hardware Store"! Easy enough. We find the place and of course they only carry metric hardware (damn you, imperial system!) but we find some bolts that will work. We also find a huge mall, as nice as Scottsdale Fashion Square, and have lunch. Then, off to the rainforest.

The rainforest in Guadaloupe is absolutely breathtaking. Huge canopy trees with ferns, bromeliads, orchids, and massive elephant ear plants with leaves shaped like...well, I guess the name is pretty self-explanatory. The 30 minute hike to the waterfall was enjoyable, we were up so high that we were actually in a cloud and the moisture just hung in the air. The waterfall was about 300 feet tall, people were swimming in the pool below. Our guidebook says that swimming here can give you bilharzia, which is some kind of infection carried by snails, so we took a pass on the swim.

Guadeloupe Waterfalls

Deshaies, Guadaloupe

Our journey this morning took us past some spectacular views of the Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat; there were several fissures in the mountainside with smoke and ash billowing out of them. And even from two miles away, we were able to see the remains of the airport and several buildings partially buried beneath the debris. Hopefully our photos will do the scene justice. When we cleared into Guadaloupe, I got to practice my high school French by asking a helpful local guy to give us directions to the customs office. I'm just glad the customs building ended up being on the right-hand-side of the street because I can only remember the French word for "right"; I wouldn't recognize the word "left" if it walked up and started dancing the can-can. By the way, the name of the country is pronounced the French way, GWAD-eh-loop, not the Spanish/Mexican/Arizonan way, gwad-uh-LOO-pay. Also the French have a rule about pronouncing as few consonants as possible, so the name of the town is actually day-HAY. All together now: Deshaies, Guadaloupe. Just say it with an outrrrageous Frrench accent, and it'll sound about right.

On the way over to Guadaloupe, we observed how a small problem can develop into a much bigger one. Yesterday in Montserrat we noticed that two of the screws holding our bimini (roof over the cockpit) had pulled loose and one had sheared off. We put off doing anything about it because it will be kind of a big job to fix, and we were leaving the next day. So Kevin re-tightened the two screws that were loose and we hoped for the best. Well, on our passage this morning, the screws pulled out again and although the bimini is attached in seven other places, it began swaying slightly. Not good. Especially since a part of the mainsail attaches to the bimini structure and with the sail up the whole structure is under a lot of stress. We could see that one of the other attachment points was taking the full load and the screws holding it were about to go too, so we took the sail down and motored the rest of the way. So I guess we've got a new project to work on.

Where we are:
Location=Deshaies, Guadaloupe
Lat=16 18.460
Lon=61 47.825

Montserrat - Kevin vs. the Volcano

When Soufriere Hills volcano erupted back in 1995, it completely destroyed the southern half of Montserrat. This afternoon as we approached the island, we could see the green rolling hillside of the north and in the background was the barren brown wasteland of the Exclusion Zone (that's what they call it -- no one is allowed to go there). The volcano itself is still belching ash daily into the sky, and tomorrow when we continue southbound we have to pass the island on the windward side so that our boat doesn't get covered in ash. We also have to stay at least 2 miles offshore as they have set up a maritime exclusion zone around the southern half of the island. But life goes on and people have resettled on the northwest coast out of range of the volcano. We are only planning on staying here overnight and aren't even planning on going ashore. But shhh...don't tell customs and immigration. We're supposed to clear in and out of each country but it is Sunday and it's not worth paying the overtime fees to be here less than 24 hours.

Where we are:
Location=Rendezvous Bay, Montserrat
Lat=16 48.523
Lon=62 12.416

Pinney's Beach, Nevis

[Kevin's Post]Oops, I accidently typed in the wrong longitude in our last post, so this post has the corrected location for those of you following us with Google Earth. Last night we dinghied over to a nearby beach bar that seemed lively with christmas lights strung up and quite a few people at the tables. Beaching 'The Beast' is always a challenge since it is so heavy. Our dinghy weighs about twice what the typical dinghy does. The beach was pretty steep, but luckily there was a guy walking down the beach who helped us pull it up. There was quite a bit of surf so we wanted to be sure it was far enough up the beach that it wouldn't get swamped. We had a nice dinner of burgers and beers before we surrendered to the mosquitos and called it a night. This morning, we went to town to clear out with customs. Every island we go to we have to clear in and out with customs and immigration the same as if you were traveling by plane. It can be a royal pain sometimes, first you have to figure out where to go, then you have to figure out what their hours are. Our guidebooks are pretty good about telling us where to go, but usually way off on the hours. We tried to clear out on Friday since we are leaving on Sunday and we thought they were closed on the weekends. Turns out they are open, so they made us come back today since you have to leave within 24 hours of clearing out. And of course we had to pay 10 bucks to leave the country. Tomorrow we leave Nevis for Montserrat. It will be about a 35 mile trip.

Where we are:
Location=Pinneys Beach, Nevis
Lat=17 08.918
Lon=62 37.765

At anchor in Nevis

posted by SSB

Pinney's Beach, Nevis

[Kevin's Post]We left the anchorage at Basseterre yesterday after two very rolly nights and moved down the coast a few miles to a place called White House Bay. We were very happy to be in a flat anchorage for the first time since leaving St. Maarten. Saba and Statia both were pretty uncomfortable, and Basseterre wasn't much better. White House Bay was just right. We spent the day doing some boat chores, we defrosted the freezer using a bucket of water and a spare bilge pump to melt the ice. Amanda did some cleaning inside the boat and I attempted to clean the rust stains off the deck where we worked on the genset. There were little flecks of rust that came off the genset during the week we had it sitting up on deck and the wind blew them all over the port deck. And then it rained. So the boat has these red spots everywhere that have been driving me nuts. Acid cleans them right off, and at this point I've managed to clean up about half the mess. After our chores, we did a little snorkeling. White House Bay has an interesting wreck in shallow water that according to one of our books is from 1799. It didn't look quite that old, but it was a pretty cool snorkel regardless with a wide variety of fish.

After one night at White House Bay, we moved on to Nevis and anchored off Pinney's Beach just south of the Four Seasons resort. This is a beautiful palm tree lined beach that stretches for 3 miles on the west coast of Nevis. This is exactly what we have been imagining the caribbean would be like. Nevis is another volcano island with a tall volcanic mountain at its center. We wandered around Charlestown for a bit and visited the Nevis museum which happens to be in the house where Alexander Hamilton was born. We ate lunch at a local cafe and then took a quick island tour in one of the taxis. We visited the Botanical Gardens of Nevis which is a 7 acre garden displaying all kinds of tropical plants and flowers. We also stopped by the Montpelier Estate which is an old sugar cane plantation which has been converted to a hotel. The old sugar mill is now used as a room for their restaurant. After our touring we headed back to the boat to cool off with a swim.

Where we are:
Location=Pinneys Beach, Nevis
Lat=17 08.918
Lon=62 32.765

St. Kitts & Nevis

We arrived in St. Kitts and Nevis (rhymes with "Beavis". Heh-heh.) yesterday afternoon. We had to go to three places to clear in with customs, immigration, and the port authority but once we were finished we had a little while to walk around Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts. (It's a two-island nation; the island of Nevis has its own capital that we'll visit in a few days.) We had a beer on the terrace at Ballyhoo pub overlooking the Circus (main roundabout/square in town) and discovered a new favorite beer -- Skol, brewed locally here on St. Kitts. We also arranged a taxi tour for the following day to take us around the island.

This morning as we hopped in the dinghy to head into town we realized that there was a big cruise ship (the Queen Elizabeth 2) unloading passengers. It turns out our taxi driver "forgot" that he already had a cruise ship tour booked, so we were left to our own devices to find a taxi tour. It wasn't too hard, apparently every taxi driver in the country was at the main dock looking for passengers and offering cutthroat rates. We selected one and off we went.

There is one main highway that goes in a loop around the island and every tour stops at the same three sights so we couldn't quite shake the crowds. The first stop, Romney Manor, was really cool. It was part of the Wingfield Estate, which was once owned by Sam Jefferson whose claim to fame is that his great-grandson went on to become a fairly prominent politician and writer (although some might find his writing a little dry). You might know him; his name was Thomas? Anyway, although Romney manor house is no longer standing the grounds have been turned into a gorgeous tropical garden. Caribelle Batik also has a workshop there where they make batik cloth (saris, headscarves, tropical shirts). Batik is kind of like tie-dye only instead of tying the fabric they draw designs on it with wax before they dye it, and some of the work is really beautiful. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing so I ended up buying a bandana with a monkey motif.

Continuing around the loop we stopped at Brimstone Hill, an impregnable colonial era fort built on the top of a tall mountain overlooking the Caribbean Sea. At the north end of the island we also stopped at Black Rocks which are lava formations on the coast that sprout up out of the surf like stalagmites from another planet. The rest of the tour was pretty much just a drive through the countryside, which is covered in sugarcane, some of it is grown by the government but much of it just grows wild. We had the driver pull over so that we could try it, and he came back with so much that we ended up carrying it around with us all day. The locals got a kick out of it as we went around town carrying it into the internet cafe, a local fast-food place, the park. Nothing says "tourist" like a three-foot stick of sugarcane.

Where we are:
Location=St. Kitts
Lat=17 17.538
Lon=62 42.787