Lilli Mae - On the way home - Leg 5 - Caribbean Cruise
Lilli Mae
Linton
Wed 25 Dec 2019 16:56
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Hi Everyone, Happy Christmas! Hope you are all having a
great time wherever you are.
We left St Lucia on the 22nd December for the sail 240
miles north to St Kitts. The Caribbean Cruise (Leg 5) is not quite that in
as much as we have "sprinted" past the islands of Martinique, Dominica,
Guadeloupe and Montserrat before arriving in Port Zante, St Kitts after 40 hours
sailing. We did have good wind for most of the trip but we got into the wind
shadows of each of the islands and used the engine for about 7 hours to keep
moving. We sailed mainly on a beam and close reach, starboard tack and when we
had wind it was 18-20 knots from the east. Even with the wind the sun was
so strong that we had to put the bimini up for respite from the heat. We
realised that keeping look out whilst sailing up the coast was really important.
This was in contrast to the 3 weeks of sailing the Atlantic when there were very
few obstacles to run in to and little traffic to avoid.
We did get some cool pictures along the way. On Sunday
(22nd) we were enjoying the sunset a huge pod of dolphins came chasing after us;
it was amazing. Although we had seen dolphins visit us before the sheer number
made this an incredible sight. We managed to get most of it on video and we have
clipped a picture from it. Hopefully you will be able to get a feel for what it
was like.
On Monday 23rd we had light winds and we managed to get
the drone flying and took the ultimate selfie. It was a bit stressful getting
it back on board but we managed to get some good footage of us sailing;
mind you it could have been in any ocean! Anyway 2 successful flights and we
still have the drone on board!
We arrived Port Zante at about 5 AM local time; it was
still dark and we tried to find our way into the marina we had planned to stay
at. Trying to get in was really difficult and quite scary; as we were
approaching, the area was not well lit and we noticed some structures in the
dark that we were not expecting to see. It gave us a bit of a fright and so we
decided to circle around in the bay for an hour or so until it got light. As we
approached in daylight we realised that what we had seen in the dark was a new
cruise line docking pontoon that was not marked on our charts! That could have
been a very easy mistake to make with potentially disastrous consequences. When
we finally got into Port Zante marina at about 7 AM local time to find that it
was not a very nice place and as a result we were not happy to leave to Lilli
Mae there. We ended up motoring across the bay to a place we had spotted on
our charts called Christophe Harbour in Salty Pond, St Kitts. This place is
amazing and clearly not really catering for vessels like Lilli Mae sailors like
us; the pontoons are all too big for Lilli Mae and most of the boats
parked there are 30-40 metre super yachts. It is almost like Lilli Mae and we
had turned up at the Burj al Arab in Dubai which is one of the most luxurious
hotels in the world! We know that she will be safe there!
We cleared customs and immigration, bought 3 loud shirts
for US$25 and headed to our hotel. Last night we had pina colada
(multiple) and dinner on the beach at the Shiddiggy Shack and then
we hit the sack. Last night was the first time we had slept in a bed on dry
land for 6 weeks. Needless to say it was a very welcome Christmas break! This
morning we opened some of the secret packages our wives had prepared
before we left Las Palmas and went to breakfast donning Santa hats and wishing
everyone a "Happy Christmas".
So what now? Well we plan to leave St Kitts at midday
tomorrow (Thursday 26th December). We have to sail another 120 miles to BVI and
we are expecting it will take us 24 hours. The weather forecast is for light
winds from the south and so we expecting to motor for parts of the
journey. We plan to arrive in Nanny Cay marina early morning on the 27th
December which will give enough time for us to tidy up Lilli Mae and pack to our
journey home.
We will send a another message before we sign off for
2020 and so we will have to opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year. In the
meantime we wish you a great Christmas and Boxing Day.
We will be in contact.
The Crew on Lilli Mae
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