Since my last post on 3/14/25, we have eaten well, celebrated three birthdays (if you include our grandson born 3/12), completed a lot of planned (and unplanned) boat work and visited two islands that we’ve never been too! It’s been a filling, fun, frustrating and exhilarating time… sort of a typical month in the Caribbean!
We last communicated from Falmouth Harbor, Antigua, where before we left, we enjoyed more really nice restaurants (Indian Summer and Mauro’s Pizza to name a few favorites), watched some glorious sunsets and waited thru some very still days for boat work to be done (including a rigging inspection).
On March 19th we moved the boat to Jolly Harbor (for more boat work, what else?) and were greeted with a green flash sunset on our first night in the harbor. We ate well again in Jolly Harbor, where one of our favorite lunch spots is the Clean Food’n Jooce truck, that serves immunity drinks, vege bowls and panini’s, as well as other healthy choices. On Andrew’s birthday (3/22), we went to Al Porto for lobster and seafood pasta and the next day we met up with Carl & Val (s/v Valianna) for Andrew’s second bday celebration at Sheer Rocks, a really nice spot, kinda tricky to find since it’s down a path that goes through another resort and built into a cliff on the water, but the food (and of course, the company) was great!
Finally, by Apr 9th, we were ready to go and I could spend my birthday in Nevis, an island we had never been too! The sail over was not very pleasant with the wind behind us and sloppy seas making for a rolly passage but once we arrived in Charlestown Harbor, it was fairly settled and we found a mooring available. It was the best mooring I’ve seen in all of the Caribbean with a 10 foot pennant and a float in the middle. I was able to easily pick up both sides to secure the boat, which is very exciting, because usually Andrew has to leave the wheel while I try to hold up the mooring ball with a boat hook and he threads the line thru the eye on the ball. These experiences can be marriage wreckers so this one was certainly pure joy!! That evening, after watching the car ferry that looks like a Chinese barge, trundle by, another green flash sunset made our day!!!
The next day was my birthday and I intended to make the most of it! I got up before Andrew, made coffee and started some bacon. The intent was for the coffee & bacon to wake him up so that he could make me banana/blueberry pancakes! It worked!! After breakfast, we put the motor on the dinghy and set off to town to check in with Customs & Immigration (since we had arrived after they closed the night before). The town is very clean & tidy with old stone buildings, built in Alexander Hamilton’s day, mixed in with colorful newer structures of wood and cement. Hamilton was born in this town and there is a museum of Nevitian history in his historic home. After checking in, I walked around town, through the museum, etc. while Andrew took the dinghy back to the boat to raise our courtesy Nevitian flag.
When Andrew returned, we hopped a cab into the hills to have lunch at Bananas, a peaceful (in fact we were the only ones there) and elegant restaurant set in a Caribbean country home with lovely balconies & gardens. We were greeted by Vee, who showed us to our table and served us with exquisite timing. We had yummy drinks in our hands in minutes and she helped us with our order, recommending the goat stew that we shared as a starter and then the lobster burger for Andrew and the mahi in lemon butter for me. It was all fantastic plus the place is an art studio and I found a chart of the Antilles (the islands we’ ve been sailing for the past six years) that I was thinking of purchasing.
That evening, since it was still my birthday, I decided I wanted to go to Sunshine’s to try their famous Killer Bee rum punch. Apparently, you haven’t been to Nevis if you haven’t tried it! Sunshine’s is in a colorful red, green, and yellow building on the beach, with the same color picnic tables surrounding it. We ordered our Killer Bee’s and a rack of ribs to share for dinner. The ‘large Bee’ was served in a small Dixie cup but after two, it packed a punch (which I later discovered swirling around in bed that night)!! After dinner, the lovely staff came out singing with a delicious rum cake and ice cream complete with a flair for my bday!! What a great day!!!
The next day, I decided I wanted to purchase the chart at Bananas but first I wanted to walk to another art gallery called Indigo Egret. A local woman named Kate Spencer is the resident artist in this beautiful house, which is filled with her fantastic work and other lovely items for a home. I couldn’t resist her print of the night flowering cactus.
That evening, Andrew and I decided to splurge on a really special outing at Montpelier Plantation Inn. After a bit of an ordeal finding a cab near the ferry/dinghy dock (which I thought would be easy, given there’s a taxi stand right there with taxi’s swarming the place during the day), we finally arrived at the grand tree that marks the entrance of this remarkable old estate. We were greeted by Muffin, who is an attractive American that has owed this place (with her husband before he passed) for the past twenty years. She gave us a tour to the 60 foot pool laid with cobalt colored tile and then to the Grand Room, where we were served drinks and an amuse bouche. For dinner, we moved to the restaurant overlooking the lights of Charlestown and I enjoyed the lamb Ragu w/ noodles while Andrew savored some wahoo fish. Everything was exquisite, including the service and made Andrew and I think we might enjoy some land vacations in a place like this one day!
On April 12th, we motored 10 miles across The Narrows to another island we had never been to: St. Kitts. It took us a while to find a decent anchorage off the main town of Basseterre because the wind was out of the east/southeast and the area is completely exposed to the south. We settled on the eastern end of the bay (the industry side), which was supposed to be better than the anchorage closer to town. After taking the dinghy ashore, we realized the amenities in this area were sparse. The dinghy dock was rickety, splintered wood with tires to tie to instead of cleats. From there we walked up a dirt bank to a break in the chain link fence that took us to the back of Budget Marine. The dusty road past the store took us to the main road and from there we could see some big box grocery stores and the Hertz Rental car place, where we were going to rent a car for the following day. From there it was a short, but hot walk to the food court where Andrew had Jamaican Jerk pork and I had chicken schwarma for lunch. We were definitely hanging in the locals territory with not many conveniences for sailors.
After a horrendous evening on the hook in this rolly harbor, the next morning, we called the nearby, Port Zante marina, to see if they had a slip available for us. Thankfully, they had room but getting into our slip was tricky. We had to back in and grab two piling on either side of the bow while dragging the dinghy out front. Let’s just say, we got in but it wasn’t pretty)! We checked into the marina office and I took a stroll through the marina complex. The place probably covers three city blocks and is chock full of restaurants, bars, jewelry shops, souvenir stores, etc. all of which were closed. They are here for the cruise ships that land at the facility and not only was it Sunday but there weren’t any ships in town so the place looked like a closed down movie set without a sole in site.
I returned to the boat to heat up some leftovers for lunch and watch The Masters via Starlink. It was hot in the marina but at least we had electricity (fans, Starlink, etc) and it wasn’t rolly. We settled in for the evening.
The next day, we got to the Hertz office around 9:15 and discovered that both of our licenses had expired. Fortunately, I had a picture of my camera card (waiting for me at home) with the updated expiration date, which they were willing to accept. Andrew almost always drives when we are together, especially when driving on the opposite side of the road, so it was particularly harrowing for him but we manage to circumnavigate the island counter clockwise with only minor scratches on the passenger side, when I was avoiding a truck and got a little too close to the bushes.
Our first stop on the island was The Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, probably the largest fort we have ever seen and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Designed by British Army Engineers and built by African slaves in 1690, the pictures hardly do it justice but here are a few:
Our second stop was Romney Manor, built in 1626 and currently home to a beautiful botanical garden and Caribelle Batik, where Carib Indians still practice the old art of creating fabulous designs with wax and dye. The building was originally one of the Carib King’s manors and then inhabited by Thomas Jefferson’s great, great, great grandfather. The property is also known for nurturing one of the oldest living trees in the Caribbean, a 400 year old Saman tree.
For lunch, we drove to the south end of the island where there are some fancy resorts, impressive private homes and lots of beach bars. We chose the Raggea Beach bar, down a rutted dirt road where Andrew had fish chowder and a burger and I had a most excellent lobster sandwich. It was the perfect finish to a fun day and the end of my birthdays and boat work story for now.
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