Position: 17:08:82N 62:37:84W

We set off from Barbuda and had a long uneventful downwind sail – 60M – with not much wind.  There were a couple of rainstorms but they didn’t bring a great deal of wind.  As the sun started to set, we rounded the corner of Nevis, which had it’s own little raincloud caused by the volcano in the centre of the island forcing the moist air upwards.  The consequence of this was that as we came into the lee of the island, it was drizzling.  It all felt very English.

In the lee of Nevis, the port authority has put down hundreds of mooring buoys for visiting yachts – the first we’ve really seen - but there were only about 5 boats.  We had read that it is forbidden to anchor – mooring buoys are compulsory.  How long until the rest of the Caribbean goes the same way, as port authorities recognize another income stream.  Such a shame though, for the independent cruiser who values the freedom and security of relying on one’s own anchor rather than trusting your security to someone else’s mooring.

Empty moorings looking north toward St Kitts

Nevis is a small, round island centred on a single volcano.  Or more correctly, Nevis is a single volcano which has pushed up out of the sea.  It is sometimes compared to a sombrero hat!  There is normally cloud over the peak of the volcano.  It’s capital, Charlestown, simply sits on the leeward side of the island, with no real natural harbour, so it is quite a rolly place to be in a small boat.

Charlestown, Nevis

Charlestown itself is a quaint little place, very slow, very charming.  It all feels very British, and we noticed a number of streets were named after various royals – Prince William Street, etc.  It was all quite closed as it was Sunday, but we still had to do the trek around town, between Customs, Port Authority, back to Customs, then finally to the Police Station on the road out of town to do immigration.  Oh how I wish that I could get my hands on a contract to streamline and computerize the customs and immigration processes for these Caribbean islands!  I can’t believe how difficult and time-consuming they make it, and it can only make their jobs harder.

Typical street in Charlestown

One of the things that you “have” to do in Nevis is visit an old plantation house.  There are a number of these old houses scattered about the island, all exuding old-world colonial charm and offering an elegant, quiet escape from the real world.  Of course, their charm and elegance is built on the dubious foundations of slave labour, as Nevis was a key sugar plantation island.

We went to the Hermitage plantation inn for lunch and an afternoon by the pool. This beautiful old house boasted the oldest wooden building in the West Indies – from the 17^th century – and was almost like being in a period drama set.  We were pretty much only ones there, and had a wonderful meal in a lovely open-sided dining room.  It reminded me a little of being at my Grandad’s old house – lots of heavy dark wood furniture and silver cutlery.

Lunch at the Hermitage

The grounds at the Hermitage are gorgeous – a mix of grass (we haven’t seen grass for quite a while!), palm trees, mango trees, etc.  They had a little vegetable plot to grow veggies for the restaurant.  There are a number of small cottages for rent – this would be a great place to come for a holiday.

Hermitage plantation inn, Nevis

We spent the afternoon at the pool and had a lovely swim, only spoilt slightly by a very sulky Emilia who stuck her bottom lip out and stomped around quite a lot, for no real reason.  I don’t know where she gets it from. 

In between sulks, Emilia practicing jumping in.  She is getting so much more confident in the water, and now does these great dives off the side, although she hasn’t yet progressed to diving head first.

An afternoon at the pool, Hermitage

Emilia jumping in

We met the hotel manager, a local guy called PG and his Scottish wife Claire.  They joined us up at the pool, and PG brought a bottle of wine and four glasses so we had an impromptu party, and talked round the pool as the sun got lower.  They were a very interesting couple; she was an artist and he had trained as a sommelier, and had also worked in Scotland for a couple of years.

I can’t now recall why, but PG took me down to the bar and proceeded to give me a tour of the rum shelf.  He “made” me try out each of the eight different rums he kept on the shelf – none of your Captain Morgan’s here!  Very enjoyable, although drinking eight neat rums before dinner is never going to be what the doctor ordered!  In the meantime, the girls had spotted some vervet monkeys, and I am not sure who found the other more interesting.

Eventially we pulled ourselves away and were entertained in the taxi home by one of the most knowledgeable taxi drivers we’ve ever met.  He was a historian, and kept quoting lines from various American presidents, telling us about various parts of world history.  Fascinating!  We wobbled our way back to Nutmeg.

The following day, we had a mooch round Charlestown, calling in at the philatelic bureau (Nevis seems to be big on stamps) and the vegetable market, before going on a short tour of the island.  It is a lovely, quiet, slow place with surprisingly good infrastructure.  They are about to start a geothermal electricity project, tapping into the heat of the volcano, which has been dormant for several hundred years.  I hope it stays so..  We were surprised to see that the government had built a new drag race track, for the local lads to race their hot hatches round!!  I couldn’t work out if this was a sensible use of money or not – it would keep them off the streets but would it lead to anything greater for them to move onto?

We then went to Golden Rock plantation where we went for a lovely walk through the rainforest, then had a drink and the girls had a quick swim.

Girls at Golden Rock plantation house