Doug and Phil used the opportunity to get quite a bit of home school done, as well as testing out the Open-Bic in high winds.
Finally on April 7th the winds died down enough to make the crossing to St. Barth. With reefed sails Adamo beat east again over the short distance (14 miles) to the small French island. We stopped for lunch at Ile de la Fourche, a national park belonging to St. Barth. It was a nice place to get out of the wind and waves.
We fixed a Pina Colada after lunch and sat on the foredeck soaking in the view of the deserted rocky island. Sea turtles were everywhere and were not shy about hanging around to check us out.
We reached St. Barth in the after-noon and cleared into the country. Phil and I went ashore to go to the customs office. The minute I set foot into the customs office, I knew we would like it here. The typical island customs office is a dingy building with officers whose people skills leave something to be desired. Also it seems that pens are always in short supply. We now bring our own to avoid the glare from the officer when we ask to borrow his. St. Barth’s customs office was in a building which looked like a water-front bank. The interior decor was reminiscent of an investment bank. Pens were provided with a smile. Customs forms were short and did not ask for your address or passport numbers on four different forms. It was clear that the island caters to the boating crowd.
St. Barth’s history is unique among the Caribbean islands. It was never settled, and as such does not have an indigenous population. The French began to develop it in a “chic French” style with a laidback island flare.
The infrastructure is modern and very French. Little cafés sprinkle the waterfront sidewalks, interspersed with designer shops and French bakeries. The docks are packed with super yachts.
It has become our favorite island on the trip so far.
On my birthday Susan baked me a birthday cake and no we did not bother with candles.
I’m getting to the age where it would melt the cake or be a fire hazard on board! That evening the Adamo crew went to dinner at one of the marina-front restaurants. The French cuisine was exquisite. Rare steaks all around topped off with a chocolate cake and banana rum for dessert. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate.
Susan made a terrific discovery in St. Barth: red wine in a juice box. What a great invention.
While we were in St. Martin, we were surfing on Christian’s Blog Site. He is aboard the Christa that Doug crewed on early in the adventure from the Bahamas to the Turks and Caicos. He is spending hurricane season in Puerto Rico. On his blog we saw a comment from Loon with whom we had lost touch. Ian and Tracy from Loon were our partners in crime in the DR with the crazed taxi driver and the horseback riding to the Limone waterfalls. Sue contacted them by email. They are in Antigua and will haul out there in the end of April for hurricane season. We adjusted our plan so that we can spend some time with them before they leave to England for the summer.
We set sail from St. Barth after having spent only two days there for St. Kitt’s. We did promise ourselves that we would return for a longer stay on our quaint island discovery. The sail to St. Kitts was pleasant. We were heading south for a change enjoying a beam reach. St. Kitts and Nevis are two islands comprising one country. Both were formed by volcanoes and have an almost mythical look to them. The peaks of the volcanoes form there own atmospheric conditions which causes clouds to “kiss” the top of the island, a cloud that just will not dissipate. It is a remarkable sight.
We checked in at St. Kitt’s in Basseterre. The process was painful. We had to meet with Customs, Immigration and the Port Authority. We spent two hours waiting and filling in forms. When it was all said and done, the immigration officer went home before we had a chance to complete his forms. We were asked to come back in the morning at 9:00 am. We were prompt for our meeting only to find out that no-one from immigration had shown up. We were now directed to the police station in town. Off we went to town to meet with our immigration contact. Once at the police station he inspected our papers and gave us his approval by stamping our passports. We were free to go.
Basseterre is a cruise ship port. The entire port area was built on ground that was dredged from the channel created for the ships. The buildings are new and are in sharp contrast the run down buildings in old Basseterre. We have determined that the people in the cruise ship ports are not nearly as friendly as in other parts. The passengers provide needed cash inflows to the local economy, but in turn create a big city, pushy attitude.
We left Basseterre for a secluded anchorage on our way to Nevis.
Nevis is a smaller island about two miles south of St. Kitt’s. We went ashore in Charles Town to find a small city, the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton. The people were very friendly. It was not long before we were invited to have a beer with the locals. We discovered that everyone on Nevis has a nickname. We met Fish and Pass. No one really knew what the nicknames meant but they all live by them.
The following morning we pushed on to Antigua to find Loon. We were beating east again. But we were comforted by the fact that Antigua is about as far east as you can go. So it should get easier from here.
Adamo sailed into Antigua after nine hours at sea. We were glad to have arrived and were starved because the seas were too rough to eat lunch. The boys went our too look for Loon while Sue and I cooked. Incredibly, Loon was in the same anchorage and had just arrived from Barbuda. We made plans to meet after dinner.
The Adamo crew dinghied over to Loon at around 7:00pm. The beers started flowing and so did the stories. Sailors usually are early to bed, but that night we were up past 12. We think we may have been a little loud based on the stares Ian got from his neighbor in the morning as well as the loud music which began at daybreak! Needless to say, it was great to see them again and get caught-up on each others adventures.
