Basse Terre, St Kitts

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Tue 20 Mar 2012 12:18

17:17.58N 62:43.45W

 

Monday 19th March

On Monday we dropped our mooring and headed off to Basseterre on St Kitts.   The swell had dropped right away and with only 12 knots of wind at best we had the mainsail and the cutter rig fully set doing a very comfortable 6 knots.   Eventually we were headed as we turned SE around the west of the island, so we motored that last bit.

Yet again we had no luck with the fishing.   Rob is still mourning the demise of his favourite lure (after approximately 7,000 miles it fell apart) and has been unable to buy the identical article.   He now knows how half the population feels about the impossibility to replace the perfect bra, I think!   And notwithstanding the lovely flat conditions, we failed to spot any whales or dolphins.

We had already contacted Port Zante marina and booked a berth which probably wasn’t necessary:  if St Barts has the feel of a very up-market Mediterranean island with a predominantly white population due to the inhospitable terrain for sugarcane growing (ie no slaves imported there), this marina feels like we are back in north Turkey!   It is a small concrete square with berths around the edges.   It has posts to attach bow lines to as you reverse in (no helpful William as in Jolly Harbour to help you – Rob had to resort to a very substandard wife with poor lasso skills) and short rickety wooden pontoons.

St Kitts feels like the real Caribbean again.   The people are delightful and very friendly.   This island does not look like so many, tarted up for the cruise ship trade although they do visit here.   There are two ships due in tomorrow and we are right next to their dock so we are expecting mayhem.   I am pleased to report that the local market is also nearby, so hopefully better fruit and veg again.

We had planned to make a trip on the train which used to deliver sugarcane around the island.   Now only an 18 mile stretch is operational, and the rest of the trip is supplemented by a tour bus.   Unfortunately the ticket is US$100 per person (2009 prices) which we felt was a bit steep.   Instead Rob discovered that the West Indies are playing a one day international against Australia here at cricket on Saturday – if we can get tickets we thought that might be quite an experience!

Rob went off to do all the paperwork and eventually found Customs behind a blank door next to the gents toilets. They were very helpful and it was all very straightforward, however Immigration had gone home early, so they just suggested we try again tomorrow after they have processed the cruise ships.