Persephone... Cruiser/Racer

Off to Nevis!

Nigel & Karen Goodhew...

Sun 10 Feb 2013 14:07

Finally, after receiving and installing the new solar panels, regulator et al, we were off...leaving behind our delightful anchorage and the community in English Harbour.

After the frenetic pace at which we visited the windward Islands, a significant slowing down seemed well deserved, but we had stayed in Antigua so long that weed was starting to grow on our anchor chain!

The 50 mile run to Nevis was a delightful reintroduction to the business of 2 handed sailing. 15 knots of breeze, a not too lumpy sea, and dead downwind to our destination.

After running the engine for half an hour or so, we planned the course with a few gybes to keep us moving well, launched the spinnaker and set the towing generator and autopilot. With everything in a delightful balance, from both a sailing and electrical point of view, we had a relaxing ride...until....just to the south of Nevis, we slowed down sharply. The towing generator had snagged an unseen lobster pot and we were gently moving it westward, at a pace which, Karen observed, would have us reaching the anchorage at Charlestown well after dark.

So quickly we dropped the kite, turned Persephone side on to the wind and set about hauling in the generator rope before it might break and lose our ability to power the ship without engine. Using a backstay winch, Nigel hauled in the gear and cut away the fishing line, thankfully with no damage to Persephone or her equipment. And we made Nevis before dusk. Mooring buoys are de riguer here, to protect the sea bed from disturbance by anchors, or to raise a little revenue for the island...

Nevis looks like a classic volcano, with a huge cone brushing the sky and a parabolic slopes leading down to the inhabited shoreline. It is a beautiful reminder of the power of nature.

Charlestown is a sweet, tidy town, with a colourful charm, and good provisioning. Relics of industrial equipment supplied by an Imperial Great Britain are carefully painted and preserved as monuments of a sort. We need to look up "Rustons of Leeds" to see what their huge iron pumps were used for...

The customs and port authority "dance" to complete the clearing formalities was as labour intensive as we have yet seen....a throwback to colonial days and the rise and rise of the civil service, perhaps? Those of us with a current British sense of humour tend to see the funny side, but, perhaps quite rightly, the officials take themselves very seriously.

After victualling we went out for dinner in a beach restaurant called "Sunshine" with Peter and Carol from Jack Tar (AUS) and David and Lindsey from Goldcrest (UK). The Bee Sting cocktails were something to remember, though the memories were faded by the next morning.

The Jack Tars had been close by on the breezy sail from Madeira to Lanzarote and we had last seen them in Puerto Calero until they turned up in English Harbour a few days ago, so it was nice to catch up.

Nevis is lovely island, and tomorrow, we visit the sister island, St Kitts, just a few miles away.