St Kitts, Eustacia, Sint Maarten, St Martin and Anguilla

Spectra
Paul & Norma Russell
Sat 14 Feb 2015 12:51

 

St Kitts, Eustacia, Sint Maarten, St Martin and Anguilla

18:12.204N 65:06.04W

10th February 2015

5954 Miles from Ramsgate by log.

 

            I have really got behind with this blogging malarkey and so this and the next one will have to be a bit of a catch up. We arrived in St Kitts on the 5th February and by sheer luck managed to bag the last place in the marina which was a bit of a tight squeeze but with the help of a friendly American chap who took our lines all went well. There was a moment of comic confusion when after the American chap  had called me Captain for the umpteenth time I started to call him Captain in return and so it went on, “Thanks Captain, You OK Captain, I’m OK Captain are you OK Captain etc, etc, etc, all to the amusement of the dock master who had obviously seen it all before. Anyway St Kitts; After studying the guide book we rather fancied a ride on the only working railway in the Eastern Caribbean but at $60 per head for a short ride up the coast we decided to give it a miss. The capitol Basseterre has been taken over by the cruise liners and the whole dock area of port Zante resembles an outlet centre. Seven days a week the cruise liners come in, all the shops and restaurants open up and when the passengers head back to their ships all of the shops and restaurants shut up again. To be honest the place had no soul but on the bright side being in the marina did give me the opportunity to climb the mast yet again and re-run the main halyard which had come undone and typically fallen back down inside of the mast. Usually I splice all of the halyards or use a bowline but this time I had tried a new knot which was recommended by a rather glossy yachty book. I’m not even going to dignify the knot with a name it was rubbish and came undone causing this trip up the mast for me, why I changed I don’t know but it will be splices or bowlines from now on for Spectra. Going to the top of the mast was no problem and even provided a point of interest for the hoards of tourists from the cruise liners, nor was dropping the light mouse line down in side of the mast, but trying to fish the little bugger out of the bottom took the best part of three hours and ended up in me using some pretty industrial language. Finally I admitted defeat and removed a plate from the side of the mast to get better access, anyway job done Spectra now has her full compliment of halyards and is all ready to go. The second night in St kitts started of with an Indian meal ashore which was a nice change and rather ironically reminded me of home. This was our first curry since we had a rather dodgy one in a joint Italian and Indian restaurant (now there’s a combination to delight the taste buds) with Peter and Norma in Lisbon, Portugal all those months ago. After the meal we took Spectra out of  the marina and spent the night just outside the marina entrance at anchor in the bay. After sighting a shark type fish swimming around the boat in the night which was all very spooky we headed for Eustatia early the next morning.

            Eustatia is a tiny little place with an interesting history. It was used by the Dutch as a customs dodge during and shortly after the American civil war allowing transhipments of goods from and to the newly independent America. This created a legal loophole which bypassed the nasty old British blockade of trade with America and made the inhabitants of Eustatia extremely wealthy in the process. That was until the British had had enough of that and sent Admiral Rodney to sort it out. He did by invading the place and more or less stealing everything he could lay his hands on making himself and his captains extremely wealthy in the process. Well that’s the history but the reality today is that it only has one very small exposed anchorage and as we approached we found it packed with local boats all bobbing about crazily in a dangerous swell making it impossible to land. So after a slow sail down the leeward side of the island we turned around the northern tip and headed for Sint Maarten which we could see in the distance.   

            Sint Maarten is the Dutch side of this island and we went straight into Phillipsburg the main town and dropped anchor quite close to the entrance to Bobby’s marina on the afternoon of the 7th. After putting the boat to bed in record time we dashed ashore as the sun went down for a walk along the promenade and a beer in a beach bar which was all very nice and civilised. The next morning Steve went for a wander over to the salt lakes behind Phillipsburg while Norma and myself went up the road out of town into the main docks to clear into customs. Not a nice way to start the day, why oh why do so many customs officials feel it is part of the job to be so miserable, it really is a downer doing business with them? Anyway, after parting with a ridiculous amount of money, putting up with one word answers, sullen looks and having a hatch slammed shut after every muttered syllable we were in. They had annoyed me so much that I decided not to stay on that side of the island and booked out at the same time which is a shame because these people are representing their country and if that country’s main income is tourism you would think they would make a bit of a connection there wouldn’t you and stop being abusive to the golden goose? Moan over, the rest of the day was spent doing the tourist bit around Phillipsburg but to be honest it was very much like St Kitts ie one big outlet centre for the cruise ships and so the following morning we up anchored and moved over to the French side of the island St Martin which involved a pleasant 10 mile sail around the coast. Again we dropped anchor and went ashore, what a difference, vibrant, friendly and a customs process which involves 5 Euros and ten minutes on a computer. At least it would have done but the office was closed and so we went out for a meal instead. The French side of the island is actually bigger than the Dutch side and they are separated by a large salt lake, the lagoon, in the middle. You can enter the lagoon via a swing bridge from either side of the island and there are a multitude of marinas dotted around its shoreline. It would make an excellent place to spend a week or two refitting the boat as every kind of boat fixing service you can imagine is dotted around the lagoon but unfortunately for us we had set ourselves a schedule to meet up with Mike and Kate aboard Right Turn in the BVIs and so again we had to head on after a far too short stay.  Incidentally the division of the island so local folklore has it was achieved very amicably. A Frenchman carrying a bottle of wine started walking from the North shore while a Dutchman carrying a bottle of gin started walking from the south shore where they met was to be the border. As gin is far stronger than wine and it was a hot day the Dutchman sat down for as rest after a short time walking and the Frenchman fortified by his wine covered much more ground meeting up with him a long way into the southern section of the island and that is where the border remains to this day, that’s the urban legend anyway.           

            Anguilla is literally a stones throw away to the north and the journey over was enlivened when a mayday with a medical emergency on board came in from a yacht coming into St Martin which we listened to avidly on the radio as the local coast guard handled the situation. We thought we had our own emergency when we found a jet ski afloat in the middle of the sea minus a driver. We thought we had a bit of a situation on our hands, with a missing person from the jet ski, until we got close and realised that it was a complete wreck, no seat or engine, and had probably been washed off a beach somewhere so no excitement after all.

 

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Sandy Island on the way to Anguilla

 

Anguilla has the reputation of being a rich mans playground with prices to match and so it was with some trepidation that we went ashore to visit the customs office which is nestled in a picture post card bay with crystal clear water and miles of white sandy beaches.

 

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The customs and immigration office in Anguilla

 

The total cost was $8 US for booking in and out wow what a bargain. Road bay is the port of entry to Anguilla and just about the only place that is outside of the national park. If we wanted to leave the bay to visit any of the other anchorages we would have to buy a permit at $56 US per day for Spectra which at just under 20 tonnes is in the small boat category. The permit only lasts during daylight hours as you are not allowed to stay overnight, as a side note the next category is 20-50 tonnes and would cost you £104 US per day (ouch), so just imagine what all of those super yachts are paying! As a side note, and to counter my moan from earlier, the customs and immigration in Anguilla were amazing, friendly, welcoming and joking around with all of the visitors, Sint Maarten take note that’s the way to do it.

We had a great night out at the Elvis beach bar and grill which consists of an old wooden boat which has been dragged up the beach, split in two, spread apart and turned into a bar on the beach. The night included lots of beach games, bean bag throwing, catching a hook on a ring etc and we met a great bunch of people. A crew of Texans were passing through who filled us in on both details and dire warnings about the intra coastal waterway which we hope to attempt later in the trip, (visas pending). We also met a welsh guy who owned a B&B in Pembrokeshire and worked short term contracts as a cook at a luxury villa on the island during the winter months. The villa has ten staff on site and could be all yours for only $200 grand per week for the whole villa, if anyone’s interested I have the contact details, if you’re really interested and can afford it I really want to be your friend.

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Elvis beach bar and grill

 

We, well Steve really, met a lady from Canada who was on holiday and had a hobby picking up dead coral from the beach. The rather eccentric lady who had opened the conversation with, ”Hi, I’m a bit sad as my friend has just shot himself in the head back in the states” then pencilled in a few marks on the coral and turned them into shapes, dogs, cats, chickens and so on which she sold via a local craft shop for a dollar each. It sounds a bit odd, but not as odd as her opening statement perhaps, but they were actually rather clever and so Steve now has a seal and Norma has a puppy dog which they paid for by buying her a beer. Later as the sun went down in spectacular fashion (no green flash though) a crowd began to gather on the beach, pretty soon a van pulled up and a couple of guys got out with a set of scales. I thought it was dodgy dealings but they were fishermen selling their catch direct to the market so to speak.

 

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Catch of the day

 

 The Welsh cook dived straight into the throng and came out with two big lobsters for $10 which he assured us were destined to be his breakfast and were going nowhere near the guests.

 

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The fishmongers is open Anguilla style

 

After a great night out we went to bed in a very happy state of mind and all was well with the world aboard Spectra that night.

 

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Sunset in Anguilla

 

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Is that a hint of a green flash?

 

            Our generator has been playing up for a while now, it runs for about 30 minutes and then stops, showing a red fault light. Typically the fault light indicates either low oil pressure or overheating and so you have two possible faults to go for. I replaced the water filter and the fault stayed, I replaced the impeller and the fault stayed, I replaced the oil and the fault stayed, all of this over several days.  It was with this in mind that the next day after a late start I decided to scrub the bottom of the boat as we have a grass skirt hanging from our waterline. I also decided to scrub the water inlet for the generator to see if that would improve the cooling. Unfortunately I only managed to clean the inlet with a wire brush while floating upside down under the boat and half of one side before the battering I was getting from the swell coming in got too much for me and my hangover and I gave it up as a bad job. Even at under 20 tonnes (a small boat in Anguilla) it still hurts when a boat hits you on the back of the head every 5 minutes!         

            That’s it for this one the next exciting edition includes our night sail over to the BVI’s, meeting up with Mike and Kate aboard Right Turn and a fun filled day out for all of the family to visit the American immigration officials in St Thomas all great fun…… I will blog very soon promise.

 

 

 PS: we are still looking for some crew to come back across the Atlantic at the beginning of June. Three legs of about 2 weeks each, Norfolk to the Bahamas, Bahamas to the Azores, Azores to Cork….anyone interested in all or part? drop us a line.

 

 

 

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