Sailing from Antigua to St. Kitts, about an 8 hour downwind sail, with Betty up (our Spinnaker), surfing down the waves, averaging 8 knots and topping out at 15.7 knots – was seriously an awesome sail day.
Topped out at 15.7 knots!!
We managed to catch a mackerel and a mahi, but neither ended up in our fridge. We let the mackerel go as they don’t taste so good and the delicious mahi slipped right through Matt’s fingers off the back sugar scoop during cleaning – must mean that he had a disease or someone else was hungrier than we were in the ocean. Keep in mind, we were under sail, down wind, in 20+ knots of wind hitting 10 knots boat speed with 2 meter waves, not easy to catch, bring in or clean a fish off the sugar scoops. Total bummer as Matt has wanted a Mahi for months now – but we will catch another one.
Holy Mackerel
The Mahi that got away.
We arrived in Basseterre to clear into the country and it was an unpleasant anchorage. I stayed on the boat to keep an eye on Sugar Shack while Matt cleared us in. When he returned, we quickly motored an hour to Frigate Bay where multiple beach parties were in full swing when we arrived. Once the parties wrapped up, it was a quiet and pleasant bay with few boats and visitors – even considering this is the home of Timothy’s Beach Resort.
The next day, we headed to shore to see if we could find the Marriott where Monica, Matt’s mom, was staying for a short holiday with her friend Helen. Matt’s keen sense of direction got us there in no time and we easily found Monica by the pool. Lucky for me, they were having water aerobics, led by a very energetic local, which proved to be fun for both the participants and the onlookers. Afterwards, we were treated to lunch, a little more sun, and then a walk back to Frigate Bay. On the walk, we found the local grocery chain, called Ram’s Trading which had a pretty good selection so we loaded up on a few key items.
Matt and Monica by the pool.
Found a beach bar with a beer.
We decided to head over to Christophe Harbor for a change of scenery. I won’t fool you, we anchored out, we did not go into the actual harbor. (I love when you can just move your house to get a different view!) This is a relatively new, luxurious harbor. They are catering to the rich and the super rich with access to most of the place restricted. The new marina has hopes of being one of the nicer ones in the Caribbean with shops, dining, and cafes – this is a work in progress.
Matt and I had aspirations of heading to Nevis to hike the volcano, but unfortunately it never came out of the clouds – if I am to hike 3 hours, hand over fist up a volcano, I want to see the view from the top! So, instead we worked on boat projects, fixing, repairing, cleaning, etc…Productive few days. We did manage to go exploring ashore – we went in search of the place with the gorgeous photos on Christophe Harbor Facebook, but were denied access 🙁 We did manage to find their beach bar, Salt Plage and enjoyed some amazing sunsets along with a few pricey drinks – but it was worth the view! Certainly one of the best places to watch the sunset and catch the green flash!
Salt Plage before it got hoppin.
My sweetie and I and Salt Plage.
Thursday, we then headed back to the Marriott to enjoy another water aerobics class (Matt walks the beach as Monica and I giggle through the class) and a tasty huge scoop of well deserved ice cream! Yeah. We hung out and chatted and took advantage of the good internet and uploaded photos and posts. We showered, a long, hot, sumptuous shower which was decadent after taking boat showers for months! Boat showers usually consist of cold water being turned on, then off, then on, then off so as not to waste the precious water supply. After taking full advantage of the facilities, we headed to Sprat Net for a lobster dinner. This was organized by Monica’s group so there were about 25 of us in the bus as we headed over. For about $38 we feasted on lobster, shrimp and ribs with sides! Amazing price for a huge plate of food!
Lobsters enjoying a swim before dinner.
A horrifying look on my face, so you get my hand!
Matt and Monica at Sprat Net.
We got up early, typical, and took a swim. This bay is so pretty, few other boats, not a lot of activity, and tons and tons of sand dollars and star fish below in the crystal clear water 3 meters (12′) under the boat. So fun! We then headed back to the Marriott for one more day of fun and sun before Monica and Helen were to leave. After we returned to the boat, we went back to White House Bay, where Salt Plage is and enjoyed the live band from the boat!
As Matt and I are finishing dinner, we see a boat with its navigational lights heading toward us, I try to get the binos out but since it is pitch black it does not help. They hover behind our boat for a few minutes before coming along side – the St. Kitts Coast Guard asking permission to board. Not a big deal, we have already been through this process a few times in St. Maarten and we knew what they were looking for. So, as Matt puts out the fenders, I am grabbing our boat paperwork, passports, life jackets, fire extinguishers and flares. Two men board in all black, with big black boots (they had no booties so scuff marks were to be expected) and guns. One guy had an automatic rifle that he promptly displayed during our visit – a little unnerving, but the guys were super nice. We got through all the particulars, had a few laughs along the way, and they did not even search the boat (we were prepared). My only thought is, don’t look up as we did not have our St. Kitts flying – why you ask? Well because we don’t have one. We managed to stay in the country for a week without flying one, because we could not find one ashore. They did not look up and the entire process took maybe 30 minutes. They then headed to our neighbors and spent well over an hour on their boat – they were not prepared and probably got searched. Nothing came of it as the Coast Guards left without incident. Just another day in the Caribbean.