Leaving Nevis

Stream
Darrell Jackson and Sarah Barnes
Mon 17 Mar 2014 02:26
17:03.97N 61:53.03W

Thursday 13th March 2014
Up early after a quiet night and thankfully the legs were fine after the exercise of the last two days. We had two attempts to dinghy to Oualie beach, due to forgetfulness, and we both got thoroughly wet despite Darrell taking extra care as the wind was against us. We caught the bus into Charlestown and had a wander around. Darrell was impressed to note that the road verges had had their first trim of the year and it's still only March! The architecture in Charlestown is the skirt and blouse type meaning that is stone built on the bottom half (usually dressed volcanic stone) and the top wooden painted in bright colours and with ornate fretwork that is called Gingerbread.
We wandered down to the hot springs. We had noticed the sign the day before and were curious. We had looked in all our guides on the boat but found nothing about them. We passed a semi derelict stone building on the way to a newish structure that houses the pool which is about 3 metres square and reached down some steps. The original building dated back to the 1800's, but the springs have been in use for centuries. They are a natural phenomenon due to the volcanic nature of the island. The water was 108 degrees Fahrenheit and you have to immerse yourself slowly, going down one step at a time to allow your body to acclimatise. We met three people from St Kitts who explained about the hot springs. As we chatted we found that they had lived in Manchester, with family still there, and knew Stockport well, before emigrating to Canada, but have family on St Kitts: Small World! We chatted as we lowered ourselves into the hot water. Apparently, the minerals in it do you the power of good, thankfully it was clear and didn't smell sulphurous.The pool is designed so the water flows gently through it. There is a notice above the pool explaining it's history and giving various warnings like not spending more than 15 minutes in it. Another small group arrived and they explained that the locals use it a lot in the evenings and after going to the beach. As we were just drying ourselves Taxi Dave (Yeh Man) arrived and welcomed us like long lost friends, he was giving some other yachties a tour in his new vehicle.
As we wandered back into Charlestown a cruise ship was ferrying in its passengers into port and Winston greeted us as he was getting ready to take a group on a cycle tour. The 'band' was playing and everyone was around to welcome the tourists. Darrell went to check out and then it was the bus back to Oualie Beach but the driver had to finish his dinner first. As we were driving along picking up and dropping off a few passengers the driver turned to us and asked if we were in a hurry to get to Oualie. He was pleased when we replied that we weren't as he wanted to go the long way round. Fine by us! He turned off the main road and headed up into the hills. We passed different types of housing from posh villas to the local small holdings, where people were cultivating their gardens more. We passed Nevis egg farm and several houses that seemed to run car garages in their gardens. The driver then stopped outside a house and gave the lady her prescription before carrying on through what are called the Camps, small villages, picking up more passengers. We eventually rejoined the main road again on the north east side of the island near Newcastle airport. Ten minutes later he dropped us off Oualie, where we had a late lunch on the beach before returning to the boat.
On the boat we got ready to sail to Antigua the next day: taking the outboard off the dinghy and lifting it onto the foredeck without any problems for once, but much fiddling around! Then early to bed.
We have really enjoyed our time on Nevis, finding its people extremely polite and helpful, always acknowledging you with a "Good morning/Good afternoon" and always wanting to talk and with an obvious pride in their island. There is just something intangible about the island and it has been the first one we have visited that we have both felt genuinely disappointed to be leaving. As I told the man in customs "We'll be back!" There's so much more to do and see.

Friday 14th March
Up early and sailing before 7am. The wind wasn't too strong but, as Darrell would say, a "dead noser". As the wind was against us we decided to motor sail to reduce the time it would take. Mind it still took longer than Sarah's flight from Gatwick to Antigua in December. We started with a starboard tack that took us north easterly for three hours before tacking towards Antigua. Due to Darrell's fine seamanship (his words) this leg took us straight to Jolly Harbour. The wind swung about a bit but eventually freed slightly later in the afternoon so we had a fine sail for the last couple of hours and arrived just after 5pm, after custom had closed. This meant we moored alongside the berth outside customs and immigration for the night, unable to leave the boat. Technically, no one is allowed off the boat until the skipper has cleared in and recently at Jolly Harbour two yachts have been fined $EC 5000 (£1250) by customs and immigration for infringing this rule. So we decided to be good citizens and abide by the rules, especially as Darrell has had dealings with the officials here before!
Customs opened late (this is the Caribbean) but we had cleared in by 09.00 and organised a berth in the marina and a gas refill by 10.00. While waiting for the customs to open we got talking to another crew waiting to clear in. The skipper was an American lady who had bought her yacht in Croatia last October. Had it delivered to the Canaries and then took part in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers to St Lucia with a crew that she had recruited via the internet! She was now cruising in the Caribbean, again with crew sourced from crew finder websites. I personally would not like to sail in Blyth Bay with some so called "sailors" I know, let alone cross the Atlantic with someone I didn't know! Takes alsorts!