Nevis

Surprise, surprise! I bet you didn’t expect another post so soon. First of all some news. Our house in Lancashire was sold on 4^th April. We have mixed emotions about this – happy that the months of waiting are over, but sad that our family home of 34 years is no longer ours. We are now homeless and Sal Darago is the only roof over our heads that we own. Don’t feel too sorry for us, because we are in the Caribbean, after all.

Passing Redonda

The wind was light when we left Montserrat for the 34 mile passage to Nevis. We flew our sails but we had to motor as well. Our route took us close to uninhabited Redonda, which reminded us of Ailsa Craig in the approaches to the Firth of Clyde in Scotland.

The Bath House Hotel, Nevis

We cleared in at Charlestown where the three offices of Customs, Immigration and Port Authority are right next to each other, upstairs in the old cotton ginnery. Anchoring is not allowed unless all the moorings are taken, so we paid 160ECD (approx 40 pounds)to cover the cost of entry and mooring. No further charges are made in St Kitts, as both islands are one country, but we have to report to Customs in St Kitts 24 hours before departure to St Eustatius. The dinghy ride from the nearest moorings to Charlestown takes 15 minutes and it can be a wet one.

Approaching Nevis

We tried unsuccessfully to buy a dongle SIM at the Digicel shop so we’re still relying on free wifi and internet cafes. We did find time to visit the museums of Horatio Nelson and Alexander Hamilton.  Nelson married a local widow called Fanny Nesbit, whose family had a plantation in the north of Nevis. Hamilton (no connection to Nelson’s affair with Lady Hamilton) was born on Nevis, went to America and became the first Treasurer of the United States. Some think of him as one of America’s founding fathers.

We refused several offers of taxi tours round the island and took the local bus instead. The north going bus took us almost halfway round to Butlers, where we had lunch in an inexpensive local bar and restaurant. I tried conch water, a delicious stew of conch and vegetables. We walked a mile or two visiting the ruins of some sugar mills on our way to Zion. Here we caught the south going bus back to Charlestown. The cost of transport was 9ECD each, about 2 quid.

Eden Brown's Sugar Mill

The next day was Sunday, so off we went in Sal Darago looking for the moorings further north. We didn’t find any and almost went aground twice going too far inshore in our search. At Oualie Bay, we picked up an ex-park mooring and stayed the night. The wind was gusting up to gale force and there were plenty of wind waves but not much swell. We went ashore to a bar and restaurant called the Gallipot. It’s owned by an Englishman from Kent. We had Sunday lunch – lots of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, veg and gravy. This was our first Sunday lunch since last November and it was very good. The beers cost 6ECD each. On our way back we decided to have a beer at the Oualie Beach Hotel. After all, we were using their free Wi-Fi. Here the beers cost 11ECD each, the most expensive in the Eastern Caribbean, so far.

New River Estate

Now we are in St Kitts, only 3 miles across the Narrows. We spent last night in the calm and peaceful Shitten Bay (honest) and snorkelled in Bug’s Hole. Both are lovely, unspoiled anchorages, so don’t be put off by their names.