ST KITTS AND NEVIS

 

 

We had a bit of a shake, rattle and roll, 48 mile, 8 hour sail from St Barth to St Kitts. I'm really not keen on the longer passages, but they have to get done! It was a pretty sight to see the mountains of St Kitts looming in the distance and we hugged the coastline until we reached our anchorage in White Bay, passing pretty rural villages under the mountain along the way.

ARRIVING IN ST KITTS

OUR BUDDY BOAT, ZANSHIN

RURAL ST KITTS

BASSATERRE

 

There was absolutely nothing on the barren shore in White Bay, but it was a calm bay to spend the night before clearing in. We did get Internet which was a bonus! We motored to Bassaterre to clear in the following morning, with Arnd on our boat. There were 2 cruise ships in port so needless to say, the place was teaming with tourists and guides and one felt you were being ripped off around every corner. Clearing in is also expensive here, it cost us the equivalent of R360. We have calculated that we have spent in the region of R2000 in the last month, just clearing in and out of islands, such a waste of time and money!

BASSATERRE PORT

 

We took a walk around the old town of Bassaterre, it had a more authentic Caribbean feel than we've experienced here before. The roads are bad and the vendors and taxi's reminded us of home. The difference is that it is clean, the people are warm and friendly and one feels safe walking the streets.

OLD TOWN BASSATERRE

 

The following day saw us doing the short passage to the island of Nevis, with Katz and Zanshin having an epic sailing contest to see who could get there first....the race was on and we had a really fun sail!! Boys with their toys!!

 

MICHAELA TRIMMING THE SAILS

We anchored along Pinney's Beach for 2 nights and had sundowners at the infamous Sunshine Beach Bar which is renowned for it's Killer Bee cocktail. We had one.....and only ONE! They were so strong and absolutely delicious, the best cocktail we've had in the Caribbean so far! It is made from rum, passion fruit, lime, club soda and angostura bitters, we'll have to try and make it ourselves sometime. We met Sunshine, the owner, and encountered a very strange man who came to sit at our table with his pet monkey.

KILLER BEE COCKTAILS

 

SUNSHINES BEACH BAR

We fell asleep with reggae music pumping from all the beach bars along the shore and it was still going at 5am the following morning. These people can party!!

BOBOTIE BY THE SEA

Stephen woke up in the morning to find a yacht bumping up against our hull, a neighboring yacht had come off it's mooring ball and headed into us. Luckily there was no wind, so no damage was done. From now on we'll dive down to check the mooring balls, some of them haven't been maintained for years.

We needed to get a few provisions so Stephen and I took the dinghy into Charlestown the following morning, which was quite an experience. We arrived at the town square where a preacher was spreading the word, extremely passionately into his microphone for the whole town to hear. Then the music played and everyone clapped and threw their hands in the air, and then he got himself a guitar and he sang like a rock star!! We so enjoyed watching all of this, there were no tourists around and we felt we were experiencing the true Caribbean spirit.

 

We found a small take-away, Boddie Cafe, which sold the most delicious roti's I have ever had, we bought fruit and veg at the market and shopped at a little local supermarket for our supplies.

 

THE BEST ROTI'S EVER IN CHARLESTOWN

We got the true laid back island feel in this little town, and walking down a side alley, I saw an old clapped out car, driven by a rasta, with a sticker across the back window saying, "TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED". That says it all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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