Friday, February 29, 2008

St Kitts (St Christopher)

Thurs 28th we left Nevis & had a cracking sail over to Basseterre, St Kitts doing 5-6 kn with just half the genny out. We decided to go into the marina as the anchorage was v exposed, wavy & empty. The berthing was no piece of cake in the strong winds & Susi ended up with a scraped & bruised leg. I think she was disappointed that there was no blood. I was v surprised as, judging by the noise she made, I thought her leg had fallen off!

We went for a wander, had a beer (at EC3dollar the cheapest in the Caribbean so far!) in a little "shack" with the locals then went shopping. The supermarket was v good & as well as shopping for ourselves we bought some cat food for a scruffy mummy cat & her two little kits we had seen earlier.

Quote of the month from our modest skipper to his long-suffering crew during a disagreement: "Don't think of this as a boat. Think of it as a small island where I am the king".

Nevis

We spent the 1st night after checking in to Nevis on a mooring bouy off Pinney Beach, a one-off payment of EC40dollar (about 8 quid) allowed us to use any mooring bouy for a week, which seemed to be excellent value. While snorkelling I found that there were many big conch shells lying in the sea grass of the type you see cleaned & varnished for sale in tourist shops. A little later we were joined in a beach bar by 2 Irish girls, Marianne & Maive, who were staying on the island with Mariannes' sister. We had a good old chat & said we would probably meet up around the corner at Oaulie Beach on Tues for the live music.

It was a windy sail on Sunday (24th) to Oaulie Beach. It is a lovely bay with clear waters, swaying palms, a sandy beach and one bar/restaurant. 1494 & her crew spent a relaxing couple of days here sunbathing, reading & snorkeling & on Tues eve met up with Marianne & her sis, Celine. We enjoyed their company &, before they left, they even invited us up to the house the next day. We stayed a while longer in the beach bar & made friends with Fin & Penny from yacht "Pi Squared" & ended up rather drunk.

Next day we motored V1494 around to Tamirand Bay & picked up a mooring just below the cliff on which stood Celines' house. Impressive as it was from the sea it was fantastic when we got up there! The view over the bay & across to St Kitts was stunning, as was the house itself. Built on 2 levels on the side of a steep hill it had an open, airy feel. From the top-level patio/balcony you could look down to the lower-level pool & a 2nd patio/balcony area where there was even an outdoor kitchen to serve those poolside barbeques! Celine had v kindly offered us the use of her washer & dryer so Susi had decided that our bedding would get a wash &, I guess, after 10 months, it was kind of due a wash!

So, comfortably seated with snacks & drinks the hours whizzed by. Music was initially provided by Celines' daughter, although on CD rather than live & we heard all about their businesses & famous neighbours back in Ireland. And we were happy to talk of our travells with V1494. Celine even knocked up a lovely meal & by the time we clambered back on board we were a bit drunk, very full & happy!

Piccies

Photos. 1. Nevis & St Kitts flag. 2. Antigua flag. 3. Conch from Nevis. 4. Nevis sundown, Oaulie Beach.




Saturday, February 23, 2008

Leaving Antigua

We planned to slow down & explore Antigua. Well, we slowed down alright - we were stuck in English Harbour for 3 weeks due to the weather, but it was a good place to be stuck. There was plenty going on socially with da boyz from Christiana & I was pleased to meet up with my old drinking buddy Brendan from Graciosa.

We finally left Eng. Harbour on Feb 18th & then spent a few enjoyable days in Jolly Harbour. One day I joined an all-inclusive resort for the day. It cost me 60 US dollar & I spent the whole day eating & drinking & fetching food & drink for Susi (only one of us paid to join) & trying to make the most of the watersports facilities. It was a change & quite a good day but neither of us had to eat for the next 24 hours & we both felt as sick as pigs which, of course, is what we were!

Yesterday 22 Feb we had a very rolly & long trip here to Nevis. Keep tuned to find out more about Nevis & St Christopher.

A "Hoff" moment

Picture the scene if you will: Our young adventurers are sitting on the beach enjoying a drink when Susi notices a Hobie catamaran capsize with 3 people on board. 2 of the 3 (mummy & child) start swimming for the beach (it's not far), leaving poor old dad not really sure what to do. He starts swimming after his wife and offspring but, with a sytrong offshore wind, is not getting anywhere fast. I put my drink down. "Excuse me", I say & I swim out to the cat. The guy obviously didn't know how to get the cat back on its feet & he accepted my offer of help gratefully. So I popped the cat upright & waited around while he climbed onboard. I was ready to jump off & let him carry on sailing but he was keen for me to sail him back to the "boat park". It was at this point that a beach worker came along in his motorboat. And what was his contribution? He told me off for not wearing a lifejacket!! Anyway, the guy was a bit shaken-up & was very glad to be back on dry land, shaking my hand & thanking me a lot. I gave him some tips & stuff & hoped it wouldn't put him off going back out there & enjoying it.

I really enjoyed the incident & Susi called me a hero! I think that "The Hoff" would have approved although, of course, no one was ever in any danger & I didn't have to resucitate a hot chick with oversized titties!

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Antigua, Quickly

We like it here. Some of what we've been up to is:

- Visited nearby beaches.
- Some nice walks involving old forts and stunning views.
- Did the Sunday barbeque and live music thing up on Shirley Heights. We hitched a ride up on the back of a police pick-up truck & hitched back down too.
- Caught a bus to St Johns (the capital) to get ur films processed (some of you may remember film cameras, they are what we had before digital!).
- I hired windsurfing kit at Dickenson Bay and had a blast! I'm still recovering.

We are still in English Harbour but shld be moving on in the next couple of days towards Jolly Harbour area.

That's it.

Friday, February 01, 2008

R. Salee - Antigua

On Tue 29 Jan we dragged ourselves out of bed at 0400 ready to go thru the lifting bridge at 0500. It was, of course, still dark but as the bridge only opens once per day we had no choice.

The river runs right thru the middle of Guadeloupe & so is the shortest route from South to North bu, due to variable depths and silting it is not necessariily the most straightforward. According to the pilot book it shld be looked upon "as adventurous fun rather than a shortcut". Anyway, all went smoothly for us - although one of the other 3 boats ran aground - and we were thru the river and the reefs to the north of it by 0730. In fact we were nearly at Port Louis, our planned destination &, since the sea was calm &, since the forecast for the next days was not good, we decided to press on to Antigua.

40M later we were entering historic English Harbour, past Nelsons' Dockyard & turn left.

I had chosen my prefferred anchorage on the chart but, as allways, you drop the hook where there is room. In this case we were able to anchor exactly where planned, tucked up around the corner, allmost land-locked & v sheltered in about 2.5m of water.

On the way into the harbour Susi had spotted Henry & Lorraine of "Flute II" & we waved a hello & were invited for "a beer". With anchoring so quickly and easily accomplished we were soon aboard "Flute II" where good company turned "a beer" into several more until it was time for Susi & I to go & find some food.

As luck would have it the restaurant 20m from 1494 included on their menu such delicacies as "fisn n chips" and "veggie burgers & chips" and "veggie sausages & mash". Needless to say we looked no further!!
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