St Martin:
Arrived in St. Martin on March 23rd.. Entered Marigold Bay and anchored at night.. Quite
a challenge! Slow Dancing arrived a bit earlier.
We woke up the next morning and were happy to find that we were very close to shore and an easy ride to the town dinghy dock.
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| St. Martin |
We woke up the next morning and were happy to find that we were very close to shore and an easy ride to the town dinghy dock.
Later we moved the boat to the marina for a couple of days
to await a package from home.
Were amazed that we were charged even to take a shower. Didn’t stay there very long:)
Were amazed that we were charged even to take a shower. Didn’t stay there very long:)
St. Martin (the French side) was a plethora of retail stores of every kind and restaurants. It was the perfect place for me to replace my camera and phone (lost at sea) and for Cliff to find special hardware for the boat’s windlass.
There, both the crew of Slow Dancing and Navigator connected
with Susan and Tim (another Island Packet owner) and joined them for
lunch. Cliff and I decided to accompany Susan
and Tim on a walk (climb) to the fort (every island has one and every one is a
long, steep climb), and see a panoramic view of the harbor.
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| Ft Louie atop "another" hill |
Dan and Melissa found a wonderful restaurant (Restaurant Le
Galion) and
suggested that Cliff and I stop there for lunch. We liked it so much that we went back for
cocktails and eventually dinner. The
staff were terrific and treated us like family.
During our stay, we dinghied to the Dutch Side and explored
that area a bit, found a fun place for appetizers, and several marine stores.
St Bart’s:
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| Cliff and I posing at Tower overlooking Gustavia |
We moved on to St. Bart’s on March 31st and
anchored in a bay near Gustavia. What a
charming town! Very European with Caribbean
flavor. Lots of shops, some tres
expensive but fun to investigate.
The four of us (Melissa, Dan, Cliff and me) rented a car to
circumnavigate the island. On one stop, we
again visited a tower overlooking Gustavia and were delighted to spot a large turtle nearby sunning himself.
It seemed like all roads in St. Bart’s led to the airport. During our circumnavigating, we managed to pass the airport several times.
The island is not terribly big but is quite beautiful and was a pleasure to visit.
The island is not terribly big but is quite beautiful and was a pleasure to visit.
St. Kitts:
We left for St. Kitts on Easter Sunday and spent our first night in rolly anchorage in Basseterre.
The town was mostly set up for the cruise ships and was not too interesting to explore.
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| Little Ben, Basseterre, St. Kitts |
We left for St. Kitts on Easter Sunday and spent our first night in rolly anchorage in Basseterre.
The town was mostly set up for the cruise ships and was not too interesting to explore.
The next day we took off for White House Bay (could not find
a white house though). There, we were
pleased to note that Internet was free.
Seems that there was an expensive marina in the next bay over called Christoph Harbor that had just completed some docks for mega yachts (150 ft +) and was using the Internet as a free advertising tool.
Seems that there was an expensive marina in the next bay over called Christoph Harbor that had just completed some docks for mega yachts (150 ft +) and was using the Internet as a free advertising tool.
Crew of Slow Dancing and Navigator decided to dinghy over
there to investigate and were surprised to find that we could use their dinghy
dock for free, get some ice cream at their outside vendor, get a sim card for
the phone, and hail a cab driver.
We were delighted to talk to two young female employees in
the marina office who filled us in on the cost of staying in the marina and
also noted that there would be docks for smaller yachts from 50 ft + in the
near future. After quoting the price per
foot, Cliff and I noted that his 11 foot dinghy would cost around $70.00 per
night. The marina also invited us to
pick up water at little cost. However,
it was a bit humiliating to bring Navigator (a 40 foot Island Packet) to the
dinghy dock to fill up her water tank:)
Melissa and Dan met Bob the cab driver, earlier when we were
in Basseterre. He agreed to come to the
marina the next day and take us on a tour of the island. We met him at the agreed up time but alas,
his wife had taken ill and he asked if we would consider going on the tour
another day. We readily agreed, and as a
special favor, he volunteered to take us
into town for some shopping and lunch, while he checked on his wife in the
hospital.
The next day, we did go on the tour, saw the Sundance
Development (Robert Redford’s), the old plantation mill, the home of Thomas
Jefferson’s grandfather, a "gray sand beach, and real lava rock.
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| Lava Rock |
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| Robert Redford's little abode! |
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| Dark Gray Sand??? |
After the tour, we stopped for lunch at a beach side restaurant and Cliff was happy to pose with a "feathered" freeloading diner!
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| Cliff & Freeloader! |
Nevis:
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| Nevis |
Nevis proved to be another terrific island and after checking into customs, we set out to see Alexander Hamilton’s birthplace. This was a charming little museum which profiled the history of Nevus and also the amazing and interesting details of the contributions of Alexander Hamilton.
We were very surprised to learn that he had a very poor upbringing, and was extremely feisty especially in his fight to abolish slavery. He stood up for his beliefs against strong leaders as Washington, Adams and Thomas Jefferson. And of course eventually lost his life in a duel with Aaron Burr.
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| One of many fountains |
After the museum, we met up with Sam, the cab driver, who took
us off to a Tibetan Tropical Garden with fountains everywhere, and then
to a delightful lunch at a restored plantation resort.
to a delightful lunch at a restored plantation resort.
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| Dan, Melissa & Cliff at tropical garden entrance |
Antigua:
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| Jolly Harbor, Antigua |
Jolly Harbor was as nice as ever and brought back memories
of the bareboat cruise that I coordinated for SOS a couple of years ago. Horizon yachts is alive and well and a couple
of the boats we chartered, Wicked Good and Ciao Italia were berthed waiting for
their current crew.
Since this was antique boat racing week, I sought out Jackie
Ashford of Horizon to see if we would have problems finding moorings in
Falmouth Harbor later that week. Jackie
recognized me immediately (my surprise) and in her usual knowledgeable and
courteous manner assured us that we should have little or no problems mooring
during this event.
Slow Dancing suggested that we join them on a public bus
tour to English Harbor So,
we hailed a bus and the driver happily agreed to take us there. What we didn’t know was that his wife and son
were aboard and that they thought the trip would be great and encouraged the
driver to drive past his last bus route and take us there for a very nominal
fee. I was stunned to find that it took
so long to get to Falmouth and English Harbor on land as when I was last here,
it seemed just around the corner by sea.
We found the bus ride to be lots of fun and the scenery to be lovely.
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| Donkey roaming in Falmouth Harbor |
After spending a
couple of days in Jolly Harbor, provisioning at their terrific grocery store
and enjoying at least three of the new dining facilities, we set out for
Falmouth.
Since our chart suggested that it was a short trip
from Jolly Harbor, we decided to motor and were beset with high winds and
waves. These conditions however, did not
thwart the antique boat racers though. We were astounded to see a large number
of them a bit further out racing.
It was fascinating to be out there with them until Rainbow, a replica of a long ago America’s Cup winner, suddenly popped up behind us.
Cliff kept reassuring me that
we were in fact not in the race and that at some point Rainbow would turn
off. Finally, after what seemed a very
long time, it did veer off and in fact won the race.
It was fascinating to be out there with them until Rainbow, a replica of a long ago America’s Cup winner, suddenly popped up behind us.
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| 'RAINBOW', The Winner! |
A couple of days
later, we were having lunch in English Harbor when crew from a 1930ish 32 ton Scottish
Boat sat down next to us and entertained us with their great story about
sailing on that boat in the same race.
One Scottish crew member exclaimed that
they were constantly raising sails that he didn’t know existed to gain a bit
more boat speed
(.5 knots). This guy was hilarious in his story telling, complete with the Scottish brogue and left us with the idea that even though their boat lost, the story itself will last far longer than the victory of winning.
So, after spending a little less than a week in Antigua, we set sail for Guadalupe. I took the helm as we were leaving Falmouth Harbor, and suddenly, I spotted a steaming water spout. I yelled for Cliff to look starboard and together, we watched a 50+ foot whale swimming no more than 100 feet from our boat. Wow! I was really excited…Cliff was really worried…It was ONLY 100 or so feet away from Navigator!!!
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| Scottish Boat came in Last, 'The Loser"!! |
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| The story teller's |
(.5 knots). This guy was hilarious in his story telling, complete with the Scottish brogue and left us with the idea that even though their boat lost, the story itself will last far longer than the victory of winning.
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| English Harbor |
So, after spending a little less than a week in Antigua, we set sail for Guadalupe. I took the helm as we were leaving Falmouth Harbor, and suddenly, I spotted a steaming water spout. I yelled for Cliff to look starboard and together, we watched a 50+ foot whale swimming no more than 100 feet from our boat. Wow! I was really excited…Cliff was really worried…It was ONLY 100 or so feet away from Navigator!!!
Next Time: Guadalupe, The Saints, Martinique, St. Lucia
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