Thursday 23rd January Basseterre St. Kitts  17:17.609 N  62:43.487 W  Distance sailed 119 miles

On Wednesday morning Anne had a swim off Shelduck as I prepared for an overnight passage. I had decided that after 3 weeks of wind 20-25 knots and big seas ahead and on the beam that we would put the wind and seas on Shelduck’s aft quarter, miss a hard passage to Antigua, and head for Nevis and St. Kitts. I tried to get information about the state of the volcano at Montserrat but no one could be sure we would not get ash on Shelduck if we took the direct westerly course to Basseterre so I decided to sail along the east coast of Montserrat and round the north of the island taking the obstacle course.

Shelduck left the mooring at Terre-de-Haut at 13.30 and had a gorgeous run to the south west corner of Guadeloupe then a broad reach along it’s west coast. As we approached the south east corner of Montserrat, in darkness, we could see no lights until we were off the mid point, all the while making sure we were outside the exclusion zone. Suddenly we could see the small number of lights on the east coast. The volcano had a huge dusty cloud over it which could seen in the bright light of a half moon. After the exclusion zone the next obstacle was a huge unchartered area to the north of the island. We had to sail on for two hours to pass it but enjoyed seeing the many lights on the west coast of Montserrat. We then turned 40 degrees to port to pass to the south of the large 300 metre high unlit rock Redonda and it’s associated coral bank and then south of a large shallow area off the south of Nevis where the sea can be very rough. Finally on to Basseterre capital of Nevis and St. Kitts. where we arrived at 10.30 on the 23th.

On entering the small harbour for yachts, north of the liner terminal, we thought we were back in the Baltic. Timber piles to moor to with a difficult approach but with help from a yachtsman berthed nearby and the marina manager we managed it. I checked in, Anne tidied Shelduck and then we both caught up with our sleep after an enjoyable and challenging passage.

The economy of St. Kitts is now based on tourism. They have reclaimed a large area to the south of the old town of Basseterre and built a pier with 2 liner berths and a small yacht harbour. A new pattern of streets and buildings was built integrated and in scale with the old town. There must be a hundred new shops selling to tourists particularly the liner passengers. We both never saw so many jeweller’s shops in one place. There must have been 30.

On Friday the 24th we explored this area and then had lunch at Ballahoo restaurant overlooking The Circus in the old town which is said to be based on Piccadilly Circus. There is an area called Irishtown but the marina manager ruled it out as a safe place for us to visit. I noticed that the name on the small truck delivering oil to a boat in the harbour was Buckley.

As is usual in the Caribbean everyone seemed beautifully dressed especially the schoolchildren. Friday night is music night and its very loud in the harbour. Hope we can sleep.