Spoiled in St. Kitts

We have a boat, two boats if you count our dinghy. We do not have a car. When we are visiting an island we do a lot of walking, ride the local bus, ride in a taxi or on occasion we rent a car.
On St. Kitts we have friends and our friends have a car. What a luxury. Mike and Renee, from the catamaran Jacumba, are calling St. Kitts home for the time being. Mike is working for a development company building a beautiful new resort called Christophe Harbour. Mike and Renee showed us some of their favorite sites on St.Kitts.

Mike and Renee at the Ship Wreck Bar and Grill

The scenery is great and the Green Monkeys come visit the guests.
The Green or Vervet Monkeys were brought to St. Kitts approximately 400 years ago. They were brought by French settlers from East Africa during the slave trade, intended as pets. Today their numbers exceed the human population on the island by almost 3:1. They are cute but also a nuisance. They eat the local crops one bite at a time. They are a bit skittish but not too difficult to see if you know where to look.

Christophe Harbour is in the early stages of development. Mike took us four wheeling on the soon to be golf course

Building on a Caribbean Island can be tricky. The political environment can be fickle and many times projects are never completed. Many islands have “battle scars” of an abandoned developer’s dream.

Included in the Christophe development are small bungalows on Sand Bank Bay. Facing the east, the beach is cooled by steady trade winds and the water is crystal clear. The beach is generally empty

Irresistable!

St. Kitts is also known for it’s many beautiful plantations. Ottley plantation was built in the 19th century as a sugar plantation. Today it is a grand inn.

You can find hints of the past in the lush landscape.

Beautiful colors everywhere.

Small cottages are hidden in the mango trees.

The pool is a contrast of old and new .

Turtle Beach lies at the southern end of St. Kitts. Renee introduced us to one of her favorite beach hang-outs, Spice Mill. We can see the attraction, the lounging is great. Small restaurants and bars sit along the beachfront and in the background you can see the island of Nevis, a mere 2 miles away.

Back on board Fine Line we are happily anchored next to Jacumba in White House Bay.

We haven’t mentioned our trip from the Virgin Islands to St. Eustatius. We would rather not talk about the 15 hours of motoring into the wind and arriving in St. Eustatius to find the only anchorage rocking and rolling from side to side. A 3 hour nap was all we could stand before heading further south to St. Kitts. Fortunately there is only 24 miles between the two islands and so we continued into the wind, salty and tired. A few days in the Port Zante Marina and we were good as new.

From St. Kitts we are heading to the volcanic island of Montserrat.

Anne and Steve
S/V Fine Line

Into The Wind

In the Eastern Caribbean, starting in May, the winds tend to come from the east to the south east. That's the way we are heading. We have to re-think this travel plan so the wind is not always blowing us in the face.



The best we can do is wait for the winds to calm down, somewhere below 15 knots and hope the seas are less than 6 feet. And so we wait for those conditions.



And fix our broken windlass

Hike around St. Thomas. Lots of hills with old stairs. This is called the 99 steps (yes there are 99)

The view from the top is great. There are alot of old buildings here. Some are being restored and some are not .

Before leaving we get a chance to visit with our friends Nancy and Bob. Nancy and Anne have been friends since 1976...that's 33 years.

Here is their beautiful boat SunLuver. They are heading home to Key West, Florida via the Bahamas. They are heading the right direction and will have great sailing weather for their trip.

Nancy makes a great Bloody Cesears. The secret is Clamato juice. Very very good.

Nancy and Bob. They definantly look like cruisers.

We are leaving at sunset. We are down to the last details....some pizza for lunch.

Checking email and weather

The moon is a day past full so it should be a spectaular night of sailing/motoring. It will take us somewhere between 14-17 hours to travel the approximate 110 miles to our next port on the island of St. Eustatius (Statia). See you there.

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line

Cruizin With Friends

We arrived back on Fine Line on May 20th. 3 days later Darlene and Doug arrived.

Having guests onboard is alot of fun but you always worry about how your guests will adapt to the small spaces, warm weather and island life.

No worries though as long as there is cold beer onboard for Doug
And a front row seat for Darlene

Day one you gotta walk the plank

Darlene trying for a perfect score...we gave her a 9.5...point your toes Dar

The water feels cool when you first get in but it is really nice at 80-82 degrees

Darlene had no problem getting into the relax mode

Doug singing a tune at sunset

Next day we went snorkeling. Doug came prepared with his own equipment....straight from http://www.ilikeoldstuff.com/

"No, my great Sea-Hunt-Like mask is not leaking."

Norman Island, British Virgin Islands. "The Caves".

Steve and Doug raising the Gennaker for a great down wind sail

Doug enjoys working with Steve......see the smile on his face

Steve and Darlene charting course
In a week there are many places to visit. The British Virgin Islands and the US Virgin Islands are so close to each other that you can easily visit multiple islands in a day. You can always find something fun to do.

There are plenty of beach stops with bars and restaurants. Not your typical restaurant, most have sand floors and great views. No reservations required.

Decorations vary but frequent displays include old stuff boaters leave behind....flags, boat parts, clothing Doug enjoying this stop.....how ironic! Or, is it sarcasm???

A great vantage point on St. John looking across the Sir Francis Drake Channel at the island of Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

The "Willie T" is another fun stop on Norman Island. This is a popular drinking spot. Lots of young tourists come here to drink and do naughty things. Sorry we cannot show you the action photos as it violates this blog site's terms of agreement. Ask Doug to show you.

Doug a bit worn out from all the action

Steve too

Anne and Darlene on watch for misbehaving youths or are they watching the naked wakeboarder?? Ask Darlene for the photos because again, the terms of this blog.......

Doug was worried about getting seasick (that's what he said) so he took Bonine....lots

ZZZZZZZZZZ

Later in the week we visited The Baths, a must stop on the island of Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.

The large boulders are fun to climb on. You can pretend you are a mountain climber like Darlene

Cool shade and crystal clear water

Another must see is White Bay on the island of Jost Van Dyke. One Love Bar and Grill has typical island decorations.

Outside seating with a view

And a great rum drink called "The Painkiller". What might the ingredients be??

Think there might be some rum in that there drink?

No more painkillers for Steve

Doug gets a "good behaviour" smooch from the crew

A week in the islands will definantly relax you

Put a smile on your face

The weather was great. A few short rain squalls

Beautiful sunsets

Cane Garden Bay on a calm beautiful night.

So will they come back? Were they transformed to islanders? Doug is convinced he will win the lottery and return with a bigger and better boat than Steve has. He will bring his guitar and one day he will be

An Island Guitar Hero!!



A big thanks to Darlene and Doug for sharing their great photos with us.

So now what?? Our boat needs some fixing. Our windlass (brings the anchor up and down by pushing a button) is broken. The up button works ( thankfully) but Steve has to lower the anchor manually. Doesn't sound too bad but the anchor alone weighs 72 pounds and the attached chain weighs 1.5 pounds per foot. Typically we lower 125 feet of chain when we anchor. Good workout but not fun.

We will head south to Tortola on Friday to meet our good friend Nancy and her new beau. They are taking their catamaran out of charter and sailing to Key West. You can follow their travels at http://sunluver.blogspot.com/

See You Soon,

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line