We were away at first light yesterday morning and headed from Montserrat to St Kitts passing on the way the barren island of Redonda followed by Nevis.  Up to 1900 Redonda was mined for phosphate but as we sailed by we couldn’t see any signs of the old workings or living areas.

 

Arriving south west of Nevis we were hailed by the island’s border patrol fast launch who made it clear they wanted to board us......I shouted back “no” as we were under full sail broad reaching at 7.5 knots and also as we were only two crew it could be dangerous.  In the end they agreed to back off and said they would return when we were making our approach into Basseterre .  We didn’t see them again and cleared into Basseterre’s Custom’s and Immigration facility at the cruise liner dock.   The anchorage there was pretty grim due to the heavy swell that made Moonstone roll heavily.   Having got our passports stamped and paid all our dues of EC$60 (£15) we lifted the anchor and headed to a nearby more sheltered anchorage and are sat here having a quiet glass of wine!