19. Nevis

Just arrived in Nevis, hoisted my new yellow quarantine and sonic flags. Thanks Amanda!

I finally left St. Martin, and had a good crossing to Statia. The 35 miles took about 7 hours. I got to Oranje Bay, picked up a buoy, had some food and went to bed. I didn’t go ashore, so didn’t check in or out of immigration. I left early next morning before they opened. It wasn’t that great, a very rolly bay, lots of huge oil tankers anchored off shore.

Pinney Beach, Nevis

I had another good sail to Nevis. I got the sails just right and Sonic Boom pretty much went in a straight line. I was up to 7 knots at times, but the wind was a little bit south of east, which was bad, and the current was strong, and so it took about 6 hours. When I got to Charlestown I picked up a buoy, had some food and went to bed again. The next morning though, I did go to immigration, which was very expensive – it cost me $50 altogether. First customs, then immigration and then the port authority…sucks.

One of the pools at the Four Seasons

Nevis is lovely though. Charlestown is a really pretty little town. I’m anchored off Pinney Beach, near the Four Seasons Hotel. They’ve got nice swimming pools and jacuzzis, restaurants and bars. It’s a nice way to recover from two long days of sailing. I’ll spend another day relaxing there tomorrow.  Then I’ll head for Guadeloupe. My plan is to stop off at Montserrat for the night on the way. I want to catch up with Tara, Honey Ryder and Terrapin if I can, and be in St. Lucia by the 20^th to meet my big sister.

18. Leaving St. Martin

I went to the Heineken Regatta party in Philipsburg with Mark and Lisa. They left, headed to St. Bart’s and are now in Guadeloupe. The next day I watched the start of the races in Marigot Bay with a good view from Dane and Amanda’s yacht, Fairwinds of Teign. After the races I went from boat party to boat party, and drank a lot of rum.

I got some more work cleaning propellers and scraping boat bottoms. I’m still working with Amanda on their deck - priming and painting.  I’ll be sad to say goodbye to Dane and Amanda. Hopefully I’ll see them again in Grenada...

Fairwinds of Teign

Honey Ryder left a while ago. They’ve gone to Antigua, and are planning to be in St. Lucia for the jazz festival in May. Amaris have left too, and might also be in St. Lucia in May. It’s sad waving goodbye to everyone. I should leave soon, and catch everyone up. I’ll probably head for Statia and then Nevis. Then on to Guadeloupe, Dominica and Martinique.

So I’m slowly getting ready to leave St. Martin. I filled my propane tank - $12, same as last time, 3 months ago. I will also fill up with diesel, which is also fairly cheap, and forty gallons of water, which is usually around 15 cents a gallon. I’ll go to the supermarket and stock up on coffee and chocolate before I go. My favorite is Simply - the Auchan supermarket on the French side. It reminds me of shopping with my sister at the Auchan near La Turbie.

I need to buy charts for my Garmin, which will be around $150, hopefully that’ll be my last major expense for a while. I took my jib to Dane, to stitch up some loose parts.

The other day I saw Jock in his tug. Meeting him was one of the best parts of my stay in St. Martin. Once I bumped into him in the middle of the lagoon, and drank a case of cold bears floating around in our dinghies, chatting and watching the sunset. Jock has a solid fiberglass skiff, rather than a ‘deflatable’ like me. He opened the first beer on the side of it, then handed me an unopened bottle with a smile. I opened it with my flip-flop and smiled back.

Once we went to Barnacles, and he tied up far away from the dinghy dock. I asked why he didn’t tie up near the others. ‘Tis a wee bit jagged.’ It is fairly beat up; the rope rub rail has mainly gone, leaving lots of bare fiberglass edge. Very pirate. The water can get fairly choppy in the lagoon, and dinghies bump and bounce off each other. Once he had tied it up with everyone else, and came back to see all their dinghies shredded, bits of rubber hanging off his. I said it fits him perfectly.