Category: 2014 April Blog

April 20th – 29th, 2014 (-4 on UTC)

Dear F&F,
20th – 22nd April – Vieques, Spanish VI
After a long leisurely (Easter Sunday) breakfast on the boat in St Croix we set off for a glorious 5 hour downwind sail to the island of Vieques. This was the first anchorage of the season where we were only one of two boats in the bay and no sign of any habitation whatsoever onshore. It turns out errantly, US Customs told us to check in here at Ensenada Honda. We called them on the phone to tell them there was absolutely nothing here. They told us we were wrong…. Was I going to argue with him? No…:-) I asked if he\’d ever been here before? He said no, but he\’d give us two extra days so we could check in at Culebra – our next planned stop.

Apart from wild horses on the beach and the ominous signposts we spotted informing us of the risk of unexploded bombs both ashore and underwater, there was nothing but beautiful scenery, palm trees and white sand beaches. Prior to 1999, the US Military used this island as a target practice island. Just before the millennium, a 500 lb. bomb accidentally killed a local which caused all sorts of demonstrations and was quite notable in the US news at the time. From then forward, the US Military has been steadily cleaning up the island of ordinance and hence the warning signs! The upside of the island\’s checkered history is that it has been slow to develop and the attraction of tourists from outside Puerto Rico is a recent phenomenon. We were looking forward to seeing some of the un-spoiled Caribbean and finding out more about Vieques\’ history. No sooner had we got settled in the Punto Conejo Bay anchorage that we realized our neighbor was getting extremely up close and personal. When we hurried into the cockpit to investigate we realized, that for the first time ever, we were dragging the hook! Immediate action was required and in short order we reset the hook. Frankly, I don\’t think any anchor would have held where we dropped as it was solid thick sea grass. I thought I\’d dug in the hook by backing the engines, but it must have just been a temporary grab of the grass. Once we dug through the grass, we were set for the night.

The next morning we moved up the coast about six miles to the main town of Esperanza Bay. As we approached, a local American ex-pat (Glen) came out in his dinghy and helped us negotiate the shallow sand bar into a secluded part of the bay. Though he had moorings available, we declined his offer as we didn\’t like the way other boats were doing the rolly-polly. Once we\’d secured the anchor (making sure it held this time – we didn\’t want a repeat of last night!) – Glen came aboard for coffee and told us he and his partner escaped the rat-race many years ago. They arrived here on a boat and basically never left. Glen told us a few things about the island, the best tours and things to do. We went ashore and booked a night tour of the bioluminescent bay for that evening and after doing a bit of internet at Lazy Jacks Bar, went back to the boat for a late lunch. We\’d heard the bioluminescent bay was a \”must do\”. We\’d seen some outstanding night time shows and were hopeful but not too optimistic. Well, they did warn us when we booked that it was not guaranteed that there would actually be any phosphorescent organisms to see and I think they knew we wouldn\’t see it at it\’s best. The water temperature had recently fallen in some end of season storms from last year. Since then, the bay has been \”darker\” than in years past. The bay is an environmentally protected area with no engines permitted as the fuel residue harms the bioluminesense. In the pitch black by the side of what was essentially a shallow pond open to the sea, we all ‘felt’ our way into kayaks in the moonless night. As we paddled our way into the center of the shallow bay, we then just hung around while the two young guides gave us an elementary talk on some of the star constellations above. To be fair we have been spoiled as nothing will compare to the sight we encountered last season when we crossed the South Atlantic. One night on the way to the island of Fernando De Noronha off Brazil, we saw (no exaggeration) literally thousands of luminescent jellyfish gliding alongside the boat for about 20+ miles, it was without doubt one of the highlights of our adventures on the boat together. We did see a little phosphorous movement when the kayak oars hit the water, but nothing to write home about. Oh well, at least we got our exercise for the day.

22nd _ 24th April 2014 – Culebra & Culebrita, Spanish VI
The next morning we decided to move on and motored to yet another Ensenada Honda Bay on the sister island of Culebra, 12 miles to the north. We discovered an even sleepier place which according to our Lonely Planet guide, ”is home to rat-race drop outs, solitude seekers and eccentrics”. Perhaps it is, but apart from tying up at a private dock and walking to the airport to get checked in, we didn\’t think it was going to be much of a hang out. We even managed to purchase our US Customs decal which would be required when we arrived in Florida. It\’s effectively a \”tax\” to cover the cost of US Customs checking in boats from foreign countries. It\’s good for a year.

Late that afternoon we decided to pull up the hook and motor around the corner to the tiny island of Culebrita. This was the baby of the Spanish Virgins and also we thought the nicest of them all. This was a great little spot and we spent a relaxing couple of days anchored in beautiful quiet, Tortuga Bay with several other boats.

Here we met new friends Bev and Bob of Catana 43 catamaran \”Icaros\” out of Townsville, Australia. We meet them a few more times \”down the road\”.

The beach was an exquisite white sand crescent with an old lighthouse on the hill dating back to the 1880’s. There is still a navigational aid on the same site, but its source is now a modern solar powered light mounted alongside the original lighthouse keeper’s house and gardens. The other great attraction here on the island is ‘The Jacuzzi’. On the northeast side of the bay hidden behind some boulders is the most amazing natural phenomenon – a small shallow sunken warm sea water pool with natural swirling water. We both loved it and had the spot to ourselves relaxing fooling about and jumping in and out. It was great fun for what would be our last afternoon on the Spanish Virgins before we began our next forage back to the city and the bright lights of Puerto Rico.

24th – 27th April 2014- Puerto del Rey Marina – Puerto Rico
Yet another wonderful sail of the season for the 4 hours to the east coastline of PR. However, there was some confusion trying to figure out which marina to go into for the night! As usually happens when you are semi lost as to where we should stay, the answer came in the way of an unexpected source. A local guy at the fuel dock where we stopped suggested Puerto del Rey Marina. It turned out they had one space available in a huge very modern marina. Turns out much of the film, \”Captain Ron\” with Kurt Russell was filmed here. Scott always fuels up at any given opportunity as in his words, “you just never know when another chance will present itself\”. It’s a hangover from an old OCD disorder or perhaps maybe just common sense. It\’s actually from a time when he ran out of fuel sailing in the Hawaiian Islands in 1976 with his Dad. Who….never let him forget it…:-)

This was our first encounter with a local on the mainland of Puerto Rico and luckily for us he spoke better English, but Scott\’s Spanish isn\’t too bad. Puerto del Rey turned out to be an excellent spot and a reasonable base for some initial exploring of the island. The interesting thing about this huge marina was that with over 1000 berths (the majority of them \”sports fishers\”, you had to call the marina office for them to come and pick you up in one of their golf carts. Otherwise, it was a 15 minute walk to the shore. The next morning we arranged to hire a car from Budget (also conveniently located in the marina complex), and drove to the capital San Juan.

What a surprise this country turned out to be, maybe it\’s because of its close association with mainland United States. It was very different to drive on well-maintained roads and through large shopping areas. A bit like passing through some mid-west towns in US. Among other things that PR’s capital city of San Juan is renowned for are its wonderful old blue-hued cobbled streets, Caribbean style pastel architecture and historic forts. Add to that list decent restaurants serving good coffee, friendly helpful locals and what more could you want. We loved this place! We did an initial look round as we knew we wanted to bring the boat here later in the week as a convenient point to launch off for the 2 day sail to the Turks and Caicos. On the way back to the marina later we decided to stop for an early dinner at one of the large resort hotels and eat at the renowned La Concha Hotel\’s restaurant, \”Perla\” in the Playa Condado area. The restaurant first opened in 1958. It reminded us of a cross between the set from \”Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea\” and \”Star Trek\”. It was rather pricey but the food and service were excellent. Nikki said the floor could have done with a bit of a sweep and polish – but that\’s just her Domestic Diva alter ego emerging! The view from the tables next to the curved glass windows overlooking the ocean was definitely worth the effort. It was a special treat. After dinner, we walked back through the pool area and hotel foyer where throngs of people were dressed up in their best glitter-at-cie for a night of disco electronica. The music and DJ were already cranking it up and it looked like the happening place. We didn’t stay long, but did very much enjoy the people watching.

27th – 29th April 2014- San Juan Bay Marina – Puerto Rico
We motored along the northeast side of the island passing famous long sandy beaches. We passed the Pearl restaurant and got a look at it this time from the waterside. Soon, Fuerto San Cristobel came into view and we knew we were almost in the calm waters of San Juan Harbor. We approached San Juan Bay through the commercial shipping channel with the El Morro (the famous fort), guarding the entrance. You can certainly tell why this island was so sought after by the waring sea powers of yester-year. The entrance to the Bay at El Morro was never defeated until the US invasion fleet in the days of Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. We were told that San Juan Harbor is the 17th largest natural bay in the world. It was considered the gateway to the Caribbean in the days of the old sailing ships. We could feel the ghost of Ponce de Leon (who was Governor here) as we motored past the turrets and outpost sentry boxes. We stayed at the aging, San Juan Bay Marina. It was much smaller and and was within walking distance (across the two causeway bridges) to some hotels and restaurants along the beach. That evening we did the walk to a local restaurant called Ropa Vieja. As it was Sunday, lots of locals were out and about on the small city beaches and jumping off the high bridges into the water. It was a zoo, but they all seemed friendly and helped us with directions etc.

The next morning we got a taxi into the old town of San Juan and after stopping for a breakfast omelet in Calle Fortleza, we did some sightseeing around El Morro. The fort is one of two main forts in the old city and both are run by the US National Park Service. We had read about doing a Segway tour of the old city and were able to book for the next afternoon. It took a few minutes of practice to get used to steering and stopping the thing and a bit longer to rid yourself of the ‘goofy’ feeling of being up in the air higher than you\’re used to – but my goodness what a fun few hours we had. Jose, our lovely, very bright and accommodating guide took us on a bit of an extended tour as we were the only two. Another couple were going to go, but she got cold feet, so we had Jose all to ourselves. We think if you\’re willing to be a bit patient and put 10 minutes into riding after learning, you\’ll really find the Segway a blast. We sure did. We went past the historic fountain of Raices (which depicts the Taino African and Spanish Heritage of the island) then through the ‘Paseo De La Princesa’ which is a wonderful old cobbled trail around the outer wall leading to El Morro itself. Then back through Old San Juan and it\’s original merchant houses, passing the home of Ponce de Leon. On the way back we stopped off at the ‘Instituto of Cultura Puertoorriquena’ where Scott bought some of the local masks to take back to his other Beach House on the beach in California. These masks were called \”Gigante Viejas\” and first mentioned in Cervantes \”Don Quixote\”. They are ceremonially used to be \”tricksters\”. The actual history is quite complex and I\’m not really sure if it\’s completely understood. But it\’s the Caribbean mon….it\’s different down here.

We found the Customs office after a bit of hunt and peck in the commercial ferry terminal. Check out was easy, a walk back to the boat and ready for our 2 day trip to the Turks and Caicos tomorrow. This would be our first and only multi day, overnight trip of this entire season. We really enjoyed San Juan in particular and recommend it to all who follow. We were especially enchanted with the Old City and it\’s rich history.

Stand by, more soon!
Scott and Nikki

April 14th – 20th, 2014 (-4 on UTC)

Dear F&F,
First, Happy Birthday \”Beach House\”. She was launched 10 years ago on April 15th. Friends and followers Clark and Vincent who live in France were on our maiden voyage with Cindy and me. Life\’s memories – both bitter and sweet…..

Well, once the Customs Caper was closed we were able to relax and get on with exploring the USVI. The USVI consists of three main islands and several smaller ones.
The three larger islands are St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix (the order in which we would visit). Throughout modern history, these islands have changed hands politically approximately 9 times. The Danish were the last in the early 1900\’s and sold them to the USA who gave them \”territorial status\”. This status is much like Gibraltar\’s status within the UK.

I\’m not positive, but I believe this is the only place in the United States where people drive on the left side of the road! This is a hold over from the various countries that owned the islands before the US purchased them in the early 1900\’s. I\’ve driven lots with with right hand drive cars on the left side in various places around the world, but it was a bit strange driving with a left hand drive (US style) vehicle on the left side of the road (UK style). Aside: We would again do this in the Bahamas – formerly British, but close to the USA.

The island of St. John is the smallest of the three major islands in the group. For the most part, it\’s a US National Park with smattering\’s of some pretty nice
houses scattered throughout; some lovely anchorages on the northwest side. The main town is Cruz Bay which would be our focus in the two days we were here. We wanted to see some of the more remote areas and also find a good anchorage for the night. Cruz Bay is an okay anchorage, but with the local boats, there is really not much space available. The harbor is small and very shallow.

We motored around the south side of the island and passed some gorgeous homes on cliff side settings. We saw an anchorage in a very large bay – Grand Cruz Bay – which looked potentially nice as an overnight spot. We continued on to the east side of the island to what looked like a wonderful cruising spot on the chart – Coral Bay. It was so close to the BVI that we could see the \”Indians\” and the Bight at Norman Island. We motored in with a small \”tall ship\” which does tours and found out very quickly that we\’d found the \”Fanny Porter\’s Home for wayward boats and lost souls\”. It was a flash back to the 1970\’s. I\’m sure there was a boat newer than the 1970\’s in the anchorage, but I was hard pressed to find one. Think of pulling into a trailer park and seeing everyone wearing tie-dyed t-shirts and head bands – popping the top on their VW Micro Bus along with all the black light posters and accoutrement that went with it! We knew, that this was not to be our anchorage for the evening. UC Santa Barbara was a great experience….at the time. I did not need to re-live it.

We motored back along the south coast of the island and found we could rent a private mooring in very crowded, very shallow (but comfortable) Grand Cruz Bay, home of the Mega Resort (which if memory serves may have been a Marriott?). It seemed more a time share resort than a hotel. We didn\’t go ashore there to find out. However, we did notice that about 3 feet below our rudders was a 35 foot fishing boat wreck that we swung over all night long. I presume someone originally sunk it here to be part of a mooring. I did wonder why the chap asked our draft…now I knew why. There were some incredible private homes on the cliffs around the bay and new construction was definitely in evidence. We dinghied into Cruz Bay (a mile away) and walked about town finding a lovely little cafe and to our surprise, Chris (The guy who was playing Jimmy Buffet) from the \”Soggy Dollar Bar\” in Jost Van Dyke (BVI). We knew he\’d be playing on his home island, but didn\’t know where. Luck was upon us. He was a good listen.

The next morning, we motored the 10 miles to Charlotte Amelie, the Capitol of the USVI on St. Thomas. I knew from my one and only previous visit, that this was not the most pleasant place for cruisers, but Nikki really wanted to see it. It\’s a GIANT Cruise Ship port. They can handle 3 of the big ships at once on the docks alone. The Marina was expensa-tanium and the island generally not cruiser friendly. The good news was that it\’s geologically interesting from the sea and we found a safe and reasonable anchorage in the main bay.

We took the dinghy ashore, hailed a taxi and went to French Town. Nikki thought this might be fun exploring from the Lonely Planet Guide, but it turned out to be just a small commercial fishing area. We had a Pizza at \”Pie Whole\” which was recommended by Lonely Planet. The meal was fine, but to get to this spot only 3 miles from the anchorage took an hour as the traffic was strictly \”LA Freeway\” the whole way. It was \”Cruise Ship Day\” (Almost everyday this time of year) and the place looked like a bazaar. The outside of the shops were quaint local architecture, some of the insides looked like 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive. The tourists were in a frenzy practically shoving each other out of the way for \”the deal\”. They sold everything – duty free – luxury items galore. What people don\’t get is that – it\’s no deal, but when they get here on vacation it\’s as if a years worth of bargain hunting for that Gucci handbag or those diamond earrings won\’t wait a minute longer. The shop owners practically assault you physically to get you into their stores. There are literally hundreds of them. I have no idea how they all can survive, but since they do, it must be a pretty good payday. This of course is the LAST type of place we wanted to be, so we started back to the boat. En route, we tried to do a quick stop at the second oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, but alas it was closed due to the first day of Passover. Maybe next time….:-) We did however stop at
\”Pirates in Paradise\”…aarrrh!.. This store says it has a \”treasure trove of pirate gear\”. Even \”girl pirates\” were well taken care of in Pirate wear. Nikki enjoed the kitsch, I perused the book shelf which had some interesting history and titles. I\’ve made a note for future Kindle purchases.

Well, I had my fill of the place and even Nikki had. We knew we didn\’t want to stay in amongst the ever coming and going day charter boats, so we thought about either Water Island or St. James Bay at Great St. James Island. This was a nice little island off the Southeast corner of St. Thomas. We opted for St. James as it would give us a better sailing angle the next day for our planned trip to St. Croix.

Just recently,(now late May 2014) we learned that friends Dave and Kathie aboard s/v \”Sunflower\” had a bit of a boo boo while going in to Water Island. We\’ll tell that story in a future blog, but the take home message is…maybe it was best we didn\’t stop there.

The anchorage at St. James Bay was crowded, but calm; all the moorings taken. Both here and in the BVI, the boats now were decidedly more American and less European flagged. This was the first time I\’d noticed this since the Eastern Pacific back in 2009. Just south of Great St. James is Little St. James. It seems to have what appears to be a huge Mosque at the top of it – a giant Golden Dome. It\’s the dominate feature of the island which we thought had a visitors center but couldn\’t find out much information about it.

The next morning, we set sail for St. Croix. It was a short 32 miles, about the same distance Marina del Rey is away from Santa Catalina Island off Los Angeles.
We negotiated the reef system and found reasonable comfort in Christiansted Harbour. This island was decidedly Danish in character compared to the other two more oft visited islands of St. John and St. Thomas. As it was definitely off the beaten path, much more to our liking. Friends Mike and Beth Lonnes have come here for two weeks every year for over 10 years. They have a sort of family get together here, relax and enjoy the views and the easy diving which can be done right off the beach in many places. We rented a car and went for the drive around the island. Very scenic and gorgeous reefs with turquoise waters. Along the way, we visited Point Udall which states that it\’s the Eastern most point in the United States. Actually incorrect btw! It\’s the most Eastern Point in the United States in the WESTERN HEMISPHERE. The Aleutian Islands off Alaska are the Eastern most location \”in the United States\” at 179 degrees EAST longitude. Ah we sailors…can\’t keep us from nit picking about those pesky details. However, we are surprised the \”experts\” missed this salient point (get it?)…:-)

We did a big food shop at various markets and also went to Fredricksted on the east side of the island. This area was in the lee and quite calm, but mostly where the cruise ships docked. None were there while we were…a bit of a surprise. The town was sleepy, clean and again…very Danish in it\’s architectural influence.

We met some friends of Mike and Beth\’s who run a dive operation out of one of the hotels, but the conditions were just too rough to dive. The winds had been up for several days with rain and squalls. Again…maybe next time….:-)

We enjoyed walking about both Fredricstead and Christiansted. Mike and I talked by mobile phone (as the US cell phone system worked here). He told me about the \”St. Croix Hook\”. It\’s a locally made bracelet and very well known design that looks like a horse shoe at it\’s clasp. It has local lore that goes with it. If you\’re in a relationship, you wear the \”hook\” with the open side toward you. If not, away from you. I bought a special one for Nikki and she bought one for her daughter Hollie and niece Rebecca. I also bought one for my daughter Skye. She wrote that she loves it – oh just melt Dad\’s heart…:-) That Evening we finished up at the Thai restaurant (Galangal) and met a couple of pretty ex-pat American gals who made their home here…everyone has a story!

Overall, our time in the US Virgin Islands were a good experience. The Customs Caper and our visit to Charlotte Amelie aside.

We could understand why Mike and Beth liked coming to St. Croix year after year, but for us, it was time to move on. Our next sail would be to the controversial island of Vieques in the Spanish Virgin Islands which are part of Puerto Rico – also a U.S. Territory.

Stay tuned, more soon.
Scott and Nikki

April 14th-15th, 2014 (-4 on UTC)

Dear F&F,
So this is the \”get it out of my system\” blog! it will be replaced tomorrow by the \”fun part\” of the USVI.
Some of you may be bored, some may laugh….I hope the later. If it\’s not your cup of tea, skip it and wait till tomorrow\’s blog…:-)

I\’ve always had the thesis that the \”bigger the country\”, the less headache we run into with customs and immigration. Up till now, it\’s been absolutely true as it was in New Zealand and Australia. Needless to say, our \”arrival\” at Cruz Bay, St. John\’s (US Territory) blew that assumption out the window.

We departed Jost Van Dyke in the BVI having had a great time; most especially at the Soggy Dollar Bar!…:-)
The customs check out included the usual \”jobsworth\” who fortunately was issuing his wrath to the three charter boats and not me. Despite that, watching him in action was less than pleasant.

We took a circuitous route to Cruz Bay, St. John\’s (USVI) as it would only be a few hour trip between the two islands. We motored by a few of the smaller islands like Great Thatch and Little Thatch (supposedly named after the famous pirate \”Blackbeard\” where he would jump out unexpectedly on his hapless victims). We arrived at Cruz Bay, St. John\’s – dropped anchor and hoisted the USVI courtesy flag. Yes, despite being a US Territory, the USVI has it\’s own flag. Soon we were to find out, in at least a euphemistic way, \”Blackbeard\” was about to jump out yet again. This time from behind his desk – on to us..the hapless victims!…:-) Alright, alright, I\’m being dramatic….:-)

We took the very short dinghy ride to the US Customs dock and presented ourselves as usual. Here I was, all prideful of my first US landfall in 6 years and how smoothly our arrival would be. The cubicles looked just like the ones you see at an airport as these guys have to check in \”international passengers\” from the BVI. The difficulty came when they asked Nikki if she had an \”ESTA\”? \”Yes she did we told them\”. They confirmed this on their computer. An \”ESTA\” is the US Visa waiver program\’s short hand name. The ESTA is given to nationals of friendly nations, most especially those with British, Aussie and NZ passports. For Canadians, it\’s even easier. It was designed to allow citizens from the UK (for example) to enter the USA without having to go through a lengthy visa process; especially those passing through en route to another country. A US Visa is required for instance to simply \”pass through\” a US International Airport – EVEN IF IT IS NOT YOUR FINAL DESTINATION and you are staying only an hour or two in transit. It mandates that the person using it is not living in the United States and will be \”in country\” less than 90 days per stay – it\’s good for two years and renewable. Here\’s where we got into a fuss. The \”small print\” (you know, the stuff on your credit card and mortgage statements?) says that: \”The original entry by the holder in any 90 day period must be on a COMMERCIAL CARRIER\”. Ummm! Why this matters has so many holes in it that I won\’t waste the several paragraphs it would take. The essence of it is: \”If the alien is subject to deportation, the commercial carrier will be responsible to insure the persons removal at their cost\”.

First, \”Beach House\” (despite my having a commercial license and the vessel is approved for commercial service) is not considered a commercial carrier.
Second, if Nikki were to fly to Des Moines, Iowa and it was determined that she should be deported…what are they going to do? Fly her back to the USVI and send her out out to the BVI on a Commercial Ferry? Well…yes we were told. In addition, as she attempted to enter the country \”illegally\”, they were supposed to pull her \”ESTA\” and she would have to apply for a Visa at a US Consulate in Puerto Rico or Barbados! The revocation would be permanent. Okay, bureaucratic nonsense is NOT my strong suit. As such, I did become a bit frustrated, but essentially only wanted to ask some questions to see how we could work around this issue most expeditiously.

I asked if we could put Nikki on the next Ferry back to the BVI (only an hour) and have her clear in and out, returning on the Ferry (Commercial carrier). \”Nope\”, was the answer, I had to take her back, then send her on the Ferry, bring the boat to the Customs Dock and clear in. She could then join me.

I\’ll jump ahead….
We learned in Puerto Rico from US Customs that these guys have a reputation as being (I\’ll be polite)…hard nosed. And that there were two easy work around\’s.
First, she should have been able to do as I suggested above take the Ferry to the BVI and back and second, she could have been issued what is known as a \”pardon\”. This would enable her to do either of the above; round trip on the Ferry or have me bring her back and place her on the return Ferry without all the fuss.

Well, my frustration and questions put the chap off and he then issued me (not Nikki) a paper instructing me to have the attempted entry of the person mentioned \”removed\” from the USVI immediately. I told him that of course we would follow his rules, but to no avail, the \”official document\” was to be signed and executed immediately. This all had a bit of a \”Big Brother\” feel to it, don\’t ya\’ know. So much for the bigger the country and customs rule thesis goes!

As such, we upped anchor and went back to the BVI where we rechecked in and out. Which of course had fees! The Customs gal there (who was the nicest one in the BVI at Soper\’s Hole) told me this wasn\’t the first time this had happened and of course we wondered why:

A) The BVI customs folks did not warn us of this potential issue and B) Why the US Customs service doesn\’t put a pamphlet at the BVI offices to prevent this situation from happening. But alas, I\’m a thinker.

To keep this tale reasonable in length – we returned to Soper\’s Hole, BVI. Nikki went the 9 miles back on the Ferry the next morning and I took \”Beach House\” over by myself. Nikki had no problem entering at the Ferry terminal and all was well. You of course see the importance of Nikki having to arrive by \”commercial carrier\” by now, right? The good news is..it\’s only the \”initial entry\” that must be on a commercial carrier in any 90 day period and that we have till July 12th for Nikki to enter in Florida BEFORE the commercial carrier rule would then go back into effect…..WHEW!…. Who knew?

Okay, I\’ve got that out of my system and friends behind us beware! If your crew is not all US Citizens, watch out for \”Blackbeard\”…:-)

Our next \’Ships Blog\’ will be about the rest of our time in the USVI, much of which was delightful.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

April 14th-15th, 2014 (-4 on UTC)

Dear F&F,
So this is the \”get it out of my system\” blog! it will be replaced tomorrow by the \”fun part\” of the USVI.
Some of you may be bored, some may laugh….I hope the later. If it\’s not your cup of tea, skip it and wait till tomorrow\’s blog…:-)

I\’ve always had the thesis that the \”bigger the country\”, the less headache we run into with customs and immigration. Up till now, it\’s been absolutely true as it was in New Zealand and Australia. Needless to say, our \”arrival\” at Cruz Bay, St. John\’s (US Territory) blew that assumption out the window.

We departed Jost Van Dyke in the BVI having had a great time; most especially at the Soggy Dollar Bar!…:-)
The customs check out included the usual \”jobsworth\” who fortunately was issuing his wrath to the three charter boats and not me. Despite that, watching him in action was less than pleasant.

We took a circuitous route to Cruz Bay, St. John\’s (USVI) as it would only be a few hour trip between the two islands. We motored by a few of the smaller islands like Great Thatch and Little Thatch (supposedly named after the famous pirate \”Blackbeard\” where he would jump out unexpectedly on his hapless victims). We arrived at Cruz Bay, St. John\’s – dropped anchor and hoisted the USVI courtesy flag. Yes, despite being a US Territory, the USVI has it\’s own flag. Soon we were to find out, in at least a euphemistic way, \”Blackbeard\” was about to jump out yet again. This time from behind his desk – on to us..the hapless victims!…:-) Alright, alright, I\’m being dramatic….:-)

We took the very short dinghy ride to the US Customs dock and presented ourselves as usual. Here I was, all prideful of my first US landfall in 6 years and how smoothly our arrival would be. The cubicles looked just like the ones you see at an airport as these guys have to check in \”international passengers\” from the BVI. The difficulty came when they asked Nikki if she had an \”ESTA\”? \”Yes she did we told them\”. They confirmed this on their computer. An \”ESTA\” is the US Visa waiver program\’s short hand name. The ESTA is given to nationals of friendly nations, most especially those with British, Aussie and NZ passports. For Canadians, it\’s even easier. It was designed to allow citizens from the UK (for example) to enter the USA without having to go through a lengthy visa process; especially those passing through en route to another country. A US Visa is required for instance to simply \”pass through\” a US International Airport – EVEN IF IT IS NOT YOUR FINAL DESTINATION and you are staying only an hour or two in transit. It mandates that the person using it is not living in the United States and will be \”in country\” less than 90 days per stay – it\’s good for two years and renewable. Here\’s where we got into a fuss. The \”small print\” (you know, the stuff on your credit card and mortgage statements?) says that: \”The original entry by the holder in any 90 day period must be on a COMMERCIAL CARRIER\”. Ummm! Why this matters has so many holes in it that I won\’t waste the several paragraphs it would take. The essence of it is: \”If the alien is subject to deportation, the commercial carrier will be responsible to insure the persons removal at their cost\”.

First, \”Beach House\” (despite my having a commercial license and the vessel is approved for commercial service) is not considered a commercial carrier.
Second, if Nikki were to fly to Des Moines, Iowa and it was determined that she should be deported…what are they going to do? Fly her back to the USVI and send her out out to the BVI on a Commercial Ferry? Well…yes we were told. In addition, as she attempted to enter the country \”illegally\”, they were supposed to pull her \”ESTA\” and she would have to apply for a Visa at a US Consulate in Puerto Rico or Barbados! The revocation would be permanent. Okay, bureaucratic nonsense is NOT my strong suit. As such, I did become a bit frustrated, but essentially only wanted to ask some questions to see how we could work around this issue most expeditiously.

I asked if we could put Nikki on the next Ferry back to the BVI (only an hour) and have her clear in and out, returning on the Ferry (Commercial carrier). \”Nope\”, was the answer, I had to take her back, then send her on the Ferry, bring the boat to the Customs Dock and clear in. She could then join me.

I\’ll jump ahead….
We learned in Puerto Rico from US Customs that these guys have a reputation as being (I\’ll be polite)…hard nosed. And that there were two easy work around\’s.
First, she should have been able to do as I suggested above take the Ferry to the BVI and back and second, she could have been issued what is known as a \”pardon\”. This would enable her to do either of the above; round trip on the Ferry or have me bring her back and place her on the return Ferry without all the fuss.

Well, my frustration and questions put the chap off and he then issued me (not Nikki) a paper instructing me to have the attempted entry of the person mentioned \”removed\” from the USVI immediately. I told him that of course we would follow his rules, but to no avail, the \”official document\” was to be signed and executed immediately. This all had a bit of a \”Big Brother\” feel to it, don\’t ya\’ know. So much for the bigger the country and customs rule thesis goes!

As such, we upped anchor and went back to the BVI where we rechecked in and out. Which of course had fees! The Customs gal there (who was the nicest one in the BVI at Soper\’s Hole) told me this wasn\’t the first time this had happened and of course we wondered why:

A) The BVI customs folks did not warn us of this potential issue and B) Why the US Customs service doesn\’t put a pamphlet at the BVI offices to prevent this situation from happening. But alas, I\’m a thinker.

To keep this tale reasonable in length – we returned to Soper\’s Hole, BVI. Nikki went the 9 miles back on the Ferry the next morning and I took \”Beach House\” over by myself. Nikki had no problem entering at the Ferry terminal and all was well. You of course see the importance of Nikki having to arrive by \”commercial carrier\” by now, right? The good news is..it\’s only the \”initial entry\” that must be on a commercial carrier in any 90 day period and that we have till July 12th for Nikki to enter in Florida BEFORE the commercial carrier rule would then go back into effect…..WHEW!…. Who knew?

Okay, I\’ve got that out of my system and friends behind us beware! If your crew is not all US Citizens, watch out for \”Blackbeard\”…:-)

Our next \’Ships Blog\’ will be about the rest of our time in the USVI, much of which was delightful.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

April 6th – April 14th, 2014 (-4 on UTC)

Dear F&F,
We were looking forward to the 75 mile day sail from Anguilla to Virgin Gorda as it would be only our second chance this season to use our spinnaker pole. The spinnaker pole allows us to sail more or less directly downwind. You can use it with any of our front or \”head sails\”. We picked a great day with 15-24 knots behind us and seas which had not built up too much. We were flat and happy with a full main and genoa poled out to starboard – a really great sail; Sirius Satellite Radio a blasting.

Wikipedia – British Virgin Islands: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_British_Virgin_Islands

As we approached Virgin Gorda, we got a chance to sail very close to Sir Richard Branson\’s private and very own Virgin Island – Necker Island. It rents (we heard) for $55,000/day. But hey, you can have 25 people and it\’s ALL inclusive….:-) They even have a small submarine with Captain at your disposal! It looked lovely and we watched several people who were kite surfing, one of whom zipped by right in front of us. Not the safest maneuver as we have no way to quickly avoid him, but all was well and he waved and smiled as he went by. We did gybe once, but not till the last hour of our sail which is how stable the day was.

Cindy and I chartered a small monohull (aka: monomaran) here in 1996, so this would be a first for me – entering somewhere I\’d already been! (At least since French Polynesia in 2009). We took a mooring and headed straight for Saba Rock. This is a very small island (you can walk across it in about one minute) and is in the heart of the Virgin Gorda Sound. When Cindy and I were there in 1996, it had a few rooms and a very small bar that was right out of the bar scence from \”Star Wars\” with all th appropriate characters. Well…things have changed. They did a complete make over of the place and it\’s now quite up-market. We enjoyed the drinks and wifi and had a an early dinner. The next day, we went over to the Bitter End Yacht Club and enjoyed walking around their facility. I toyed with the idea of taking some kite surfing lessons, but the prices were outrageous and it was too windy in any event.

I took the dinghy across the mile wide bay to Gun Cove and checked in with Customs. The usual \”jobsworths\” as Nikki calls them, but for the most part, I just smile and say yes Sir, yes Mam. The word \”jobsworth\” comes from the British saying, \”I can\’t do that mate…it\’s more than my jobs worth\”. It describes the act of asking someone to do anything slightly out of their job description who in no uncertain terms…will not! The customs and immigration department\’s of most countries can be described as \”jobsworths\”. I have always believed that the bigger the country, the easier it is to deal with the customs and immigration officials when you\’re in their physical presence. In a few days time, I was about to find the definite exception to THAT rule….(next blog!)

We decided to move on toward the \”Baths\” at Virgin Gorda which are one of the highlights of the island. We anchored in a beautiful and shallow area behind a protective reef that we were told about by one of the Bitter End YC guys and avoided the crowds. We dinghied into Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor and took a quick look around. Not much going on there. The next morning, we got up early to insure we\’d get a mooring at \”The Baths\”. It was only a 15 minute trip (can\’t stay there overnight) and we got a really nice mooring close ashore. The Baths are a beach area about 1/2 mile long with incredible rock formations, very large boulders and nice clear water. By 9:30 am, all the 20 moorings were taken. Several boats were anchored out. We took the dinghy to the outer swimming area (no dinghies allowed inside) and went for a really nice hike on the west side of the island. From here, you could see \”Fallen Jerusalem\”. Fallen Jerusalem is a small island that when the early explorers saw it, said it looked like the Temple after it was destroyed by the Romans. Frankly, it does. We swam and hiked and really enjoyed our day.

Two features of the BVI are First, it\’s really crowded and second, all of the 10 or so islands are very close to each other. This is a reason it\’s so popular. You can get from one island to the next in an hour or so and it\’s very close to the US. The islands are definitely part of Pirate lore as well…more in a minute. We sailed to Trellis Bay, which I\’d not been to before, and it was packed like the proverbial sardine can! We did go ashore, but decided this was just to be an overnight stop off. The next day we headed back across the Sir Francis Drake Channel and went by Cooper and Peter Islands. Neither looked all that appealing to me in 1996…things haven\’t changed!… We did go by \”Dead Man\’s Chest\” and \”Dead Man\’s Bay\”. A \”Dead Man\’s Chest\” was a Pirate term for a coffin. The infamous \”Black Beard\” (Edward Teach or Thatch?..no one knows for sure) apparently marooned 15 mutinous crew here with the famous 15 bottles of rum. The island is only 1/2 mile from shore at \”Dead Man\’s Bay\”, but in those day\’s of yore, Pirates (nor most sailors) new how to swim. As they had no food or water, they all made a swim for what would become \”Dead Man\’s Bay\”. None of them made it…. With such history… .we moved on!

See Wikipedia: \”Dead Man\’s Chest\”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Chest_Island,_British_Virgin_Islands

Off Salt Cay lies the famous wreck of the RMS Rhone. The Rhone was caught in a late season Hurricane, October 29th, 1867 and smashed again the southwest end of Salt Cay.  In the 1977 film, \”The Deep\”, a buxom Jacquline Bisset is seen being dragged under the Rhone by a vicious moray eel! (what a croc!…:-))

See Wikipedia:  \”RMS Rhone\”:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Rhone 

Cindy and I had done the dive in 1996, but we again wanted to move on. We went by \”The Indians\” (small islets) en route to Norman Island. It\’s this island that Robert Louis Stevenson apparently based, \”Treasure Island\” upon.

Norman Island (Treasure Island): http://www.normanisland.com/info.htm
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Island

The bay was very calm, lots of anchorages and a new restaurant bar had just opened. We enjoyed a bite ashore that night and went off to \”The Indians\” then next morning. It\’s a well known dive site and Nikki and I did a short dive off the north end. This was the site of Cindy and my \”Bumblebee Dive\”. When we were here in 1996, we dove the sight and had a small school of barracuda staring at us only a few feet away. Right then (in this most serious of moments…ha!), another very overweight gal in a one piece yellow with black pokadot swimsuit came around the corner. She was apparently still a new diver and literally looked like a bumblebee hovering over the flowers (baracuda in our case). She was a bit anxious over finding herself in this situation and flapped her wings mightily! Maybe you had to be there, but we spontaneously laughed so hard, our masks flooded (in synch!). From our nice time at \”The Indians\”, Nikki wanted to see Road Harbour on the island of Tortola. I told here it was effectively a large \”rent a car\” lot for charter boats without anywhere to comfortably anchor. Well, we did the \”buzz by\” and it was as I had remembered it…Hence, on to Soper\’s Hole.

Soper\’s Hole is at the western most end of Tortola (main island of the BVI). It was a famous Pirate hangout and \”Blackbeard\” reportedly used it as a base of operations to come out against unsuspecting treasure and merchant ships en route back to Europe. There is Great Thatch and Little Thatch islands just outside the harbor and many feel his last name which we have all heard is \”Teach\”, may have been \”Thatch\”.

Wikipedia \”Blackbeard\”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbeard

We had a nice evening ashore and a lovely dinner at the \”Fish and Lime\” Restaurant. Nikki always likes it when the guide book gives a good recommendation and it turns out that way. Not the rule by the way, but the exception. The next day, we headed off around the north side of Tortola to Cane Garden Bay. We went ashore, but it was too late to visit much of the area. It was a really nice calm anchorage with a great beach and swimming area. The next day, we motored back to Bomba\’s Surf Shack to check it out. It\’s a real dive and we would have had a lumpy time trying to get ashore. As such, we headed off for our last planned stop in the BVI – Jost Van Dyke.

Wikipedia – The Island of Jost Van Dyke: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jost_Van_Dyke

We did a bit of a tour and finally ended up mooring in Great Harbour. Another Pirate Island, JVD was a Dutch Privateer. He used this island (only 5 miles from Tortola) as his base of operations for taking prizes with his \”Dutch License\”. The line between \”privateer\” and \”pirate\” could be a very thin one. A Privateer had a \”letter of marque\” from his host country which allowed him as a civilian ship to take prizes (other ship\’s and their cargoes) from nations whom they were at war with. Pirates were in it to take from anyone and everyone. Some of the Privateer\’s crossed the line and were then ruled Pirates. Sometimes, one countries \”Privateer\’s\” were another countries \”Pirates\” and on it went. Jost Van Dyke apparently crossed the line and was just considered a pirate. The English hero, Sir Francis Drake was an English Privateer, but to the Spanish, he was \”Pirata Drake\”. History of course is written by the victors…..:-)

Wikipedia – The Privateer \”Joost van Dyk\”:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joost_van_Dyk

JVD is home to \”Foxy\’s\” bar and also the home just around the corner of the \”Soggy Dollar Bar\” in White Bay. Foxy\’s was really famous throughout the Caribbean but we think it\’s heyday may have finally faded. When I was here with Cindy in 1996 over Christmas, the boats were rafted so thick, you could practically walk ashore. Now, Foxy\’s seemed a yester-year scene. The \”Soggy Dollar\” however was HAPPENING!…

It was the week or so before Easter vacation and the US Spring Breaker\’s were off to an early start. The Soggy Dollar was so named from the original boaters who came here and having no dock to land at swam ashore. They would pay for their drinks with the \”soggy dollars\” in their swimsuits. This is also the bar that invented the potent rum drink, \”The Pain Killer\”. They served them by the dozens in minutes.

They had live music and Chris (who was definitely in touch with his inner Jimmy Buffet) was playing all the Buffet classics. We enjoyed him and became fast friends. He told us he\’d been in the Caribbean for 25 years and that he would be playing at several bars in the USVI (US Virgin Islands) next week and we should come and check him out. The party was all day (and we\’re sure) well into the night.

We picked up a few souvenirs and dinghied the 1/2 mile back to Great Harbour. We did put in an appearance at Foxy\’s but it was like an old folks home next to the Soggy Dollar. The next morning, we checked out with BVI customs (more jobsworth\’s) and made the short trip to Cruz Bay in the USVI…. Now, that\’s another true story – and shortly I will tell it…..:-)

KIT, Scott and Nikki

April 5th & 6th, 2014 (-4 on UTC)

****NOTE: The posting of our last blog didn\’t work as it was a bit too long for a remote post from the boat. I\’ve been able to re-post it via the internet and now it\’s ready for viewing. It\’s the post under \”Ship\’s Blog\” at the top of the home page just before this one. I WAS ABLE TO UPLOAD SEVERAL PHOTOS including the one of \”Plane Spotting\” in St. Maarten. If the internet holds up okay, I\’ll add a few photos to this post as well…Enjoy!

Dear F&F,

Anguilla would be our last stop in the Leeward Island group. Only 6 miles from St. Martin (French side) it would seem light years away upon our arrival. It\’s atmosphere is very laid back! The people very friendly. And to think, we were only 6 miles from St. Maarten/St. Martin!

Despite the very laid back nature of the locals, in 1967 there was a \”revolt\” as the Anguillan\’s wanted to be a separate entity from St. Kitt\’s and Nevis which they were then a direct part of. The British after a few strong complaints separated Anguilla some years later into it\’s own overseas territory status. It\’s history is British and was colonized by them in 1650. The soil turned out to be a bust and eventually all agriculture was abandoned. The island remained pretty sleepy (and still is) till the tourism industry grabbed a hold of it.

It was so short a distance, despite the favorable winds we motored. We had to charge the batteries anyway and we could run the washing machine with a battery charging source. En route, we were gobsmacked (as the British say), by being passed by sister ship s/v \”Simoust\” (Switch 51 #5) now in charter out of St. Martin. We tried to hail the charter group aboard, but alas, they were not listening on the VHF radio. I doubt they even realized we were the same type of boat. \”Beach House\” is Switch #11 of the 15 that were made.

Upon landing at Road Bay, Anguilla we anchored with mostly local boats. Road Bay is one of two overnight anchorages on the island. Much of the island is a National Park and off limits to overnight anchoring. This island has three mega resorts, one of which, \’The Viceroy\’ is very exclusive. Road Bay however was about as \”Jimmy Buffet goes to the Caribbean\” as you can imagine. We went to \”Elvis\’s Bar\” which is an old Anguilla racing sloop in the sand on the beach!.

Indeed, we discovered that Elvis had left the building and we kibitzed with the ex-pat bar maid and bar man. We were the only patrons except for another US ex-pat who owned a restaurant there. We walked up and down the beach which took all of 20 minutes having stopped by customs who was happy to check us in and out at the same time. Apparently, the charter crowd and most of the private boats don\’t stay more than 72 hours, so they allow this. There are some nice off shore reefs and small islands to the north of the main island. The diving is reported to be very nice. As we were anxious to get on to the British Virgin Islands, we would only stay day and night before a very early morning departure. We thought about staying a day for a dive, but after talking with Matthew (the local dive operator) the weather was predicted to be a bit rough and we didn\’t want to wait. Good for the sail, but bad for a dive. If you wanted to really get off the grid and be remote, yet be able to go to a 5 star resort, this might be the place. Except….there are probably many more places just like it scattered around the Caribbean that are a bit easier to get to.

The sail to the British Virgin Islands would be about 75 miles and we could easily make it in one day if we left early. I don\’t like arriving after 3:30 pm due to low light and not being able to see reefs. The British Virgin Islands would be the first place I\’d actually sailed in back in 1996. Cindy and I came here and did a charter and went diving on our own in preparation to deciding if the cruising life might be for us. Lots of water under the keel since then.

We got up early and in a lovely 20+ knot breeze ran downwind to the BVI. The sail was great and our first landfall would be between Virgin Gorda and Necker Island, the \”Virgin\” owned by \”Virgin Group\” CEO, Richard Branson.

Stay tuned, more very soon.

KIT,
Scott and Nikki

March 31st – April 5th 2014 (-4 on UTC)

Dear F&F,
We were sad to leave St Barth\’s. Friends Richard Spindler and Donna de Mallorca told us it was the best of the Caribbean. They spend 3 months per season here (which is the entire season for them). We could see why. Being here for the St. Barth\’s Bucket Regatta and getting to see Jimmy Buffet were certainly a highlight of our Caribbean sojourn.

Nikki persuaded me to go in for a final coffee and croissant before we left the anchorage for St Maarten/St. Martin. Unfortunately, the lady at the bakery was not particularly pleasant, but I will say, just about everyone else on St. Barth\’s was.

We had to leave by noon in any event in order to catch the 3 pm bridge opening for access to Simpson\’s Lagoon less than 10 miles away. St. Maarten/St. Martin is a true condominium. The south side of the island is Dutch and the north side French and hence the two different spellings. Legend has it that a Dutchman began walking from one side of the island with a Gin in hand and a Frenchman from the opposite end with a glass of wine. Where they met became the final border!

The lagoon is a huge area with several established marinas and takes up much of the island\’s interior. The boating industry on the island is mostly geared up for the Mega Yachting fraternity. We counted over 60 AIS targets in the lagoon alone and saw a few dozen Mega Yachts ensconced. We hailed the Simpson\’s Bay Marina and thought ourselves fortunate that they had space available. That is until we found out the price! As we needed to take care of some deferred maintenance, I bit the bullet and took the slip.

Catamarans are sometimes charged a premium (in cases like this one – double) for the privilege of having two hulls. Many marina\’s include utilities, but not this one. There was the water, electric, garbage collection and security charges. It all added up to a whopping $458.00 for a two night stay. The facilities were not even near up to standard for these kind of fees. I also had the world\’s most expensive boat washer here. The boats\’ hulls were actually only 1/2 \”on the dock\”. The dock fingers were extra short, but don\’t worry (I was told)…just imagine they\’re there!… Definitely a place for the \”RO Club\” (Rich Owners) and not your average yachtie. Once we got settled we dropped the dinghy and cleared customs. No hassle on the Dutch side, but the attitudes were definitely – well – attitudes. Turns out that Ron and Kathleen off \”Lady Amelie\” had a VERY difficult time with the Customs officials on the Dutch side. Hey and Ron\’s Canadian. Everyone loves Canadian\’s, right? You are supposed to check in/out separately for the Dutch/French sides. We didn\’t, more on that in a minute.

Once back from customs, we decided to check out the marina facilities including the large Market Garden supermarket across the road. It was a delight and had everything from edible flowers,(well this is mega yacht territory!), to decent wines (hurray!). We stocked up again as we knew we would not find shopping anywhere close this selection and quality nearby.

The next afternoon, Ron and Kathleen dinghied over from the French side where their Switch 51, \”Lady Amelie\” was up on the hard awaiting transmission and rudder repairs. We decided to go and try the Mojitos at \”Jimbo’s\” the Tex Mex place in the marina. The place was owned by an American who had had the restaurant over 20 years. Once upon a time…he came here on a boat!..:-) The food was good, the atmosphere great and the service was lovely. Something about an American owner? The next day we had some minor boat jobs to get done and as time was getting away we decided to anchor for the night in the lagoon. This would get us ready to head up around to the main bay on the French side – Marigot Bay. We\’d leave first thing in the morning. This would also save us a $225.00 night at Simpson\’s Bay Marina.

The two sides of the island are actually connected through a narrow waterway with a second bridge between the two sides of the lagoon.
However, the width of the bridge opening out to Marigot Bay is barely wider than this boat and a vicious current often runs through the narrow opening. We decided to go the long way round back through the entrance bridge we came in to enter the Lagoon; out the Dutch side. This was a wise choice as we will reveal momentarily!

The lagoon has a long highway bridge which effectively separates the Dutch and French side respectively. The colorful changing bridge night lighting display reminded us of the bridge view at Rivergate Marina in Brisbane, Australia where Nikki and I began our journey together.

One of the things this island is more famous for is its airport! In fact, for \”plane spotting\”, it\’s rated the number one airport in the world!
The planes coming into land actually have to land at the very beginning of the runway as it\’s not particularly long for a jumbo jet! The daily flight from the Netherlands is a big 747 and the main attraction. It is only 75-100 feet above the beach where the sun bunnies arrive to watch the spectacle. There is a well known restaurant bar, \”The Sunset Bar and Grill\” which has a flight monitor to let the patrons know when the big aircraft are due to arrive. This is a bit of a circus and makes for an interesting way to grab a drink with 200 other people there for the same purpose.(Some great photos to be published later on this one!)

We took a taxi with Kathleen and watched in anticipation as the great metal bird emerged out of the grey rainy skies ready for touch down. It was an amazing sight as 200 odd cameras witnessed the scene from the bar and beach for posterity. The bar must make a killing with the fact its the best place to watch. Sad to say, but this really is the one part of the St. Maarten island experience we enjoyed the most. Was there something we missed in translation perhaps?

\

St Martin (Marigot Bay, French side) would be our last French Island to visit this season. We went to the French Customs office and played as if we were still on the St. Maarten side. The unbelievably rude \”tude\” made us just blend in with the 100 or so boats in the bay. We told him we\’d come by when we moved the boat (which of course we already had!) We had no intention of going through their ridiculous system to check in for two nights with \”Attitude R US\” stamped across their foreheads.
Despite some \”up market\” areas on the French side, we had to endure the begging. So much for the enlightened French welfare system. Don\’t get me going!

It\’s one thing to be expensive, but is there value in the cost? Are the locals friendly? Of note: The higher the density and frequency of Cruise Ships = less than delightful attitudes. Can you spell \”jaded\”? This is a tourist economy, reputation means a great deal. With few exceptions, we\’d say St. Maarten and St. Martin are \”must miss stops\”. As St. Barth\’s was one of our favorites, less than 10 miles away, St. Maarten/St. Martin was one of our LEAST favorites. Sorry to be a bit of a bummer, but we\’re relating our experiences. Maybe someone else\’s is different, but this was ours. Frankly, we wouldn\’t go back.

Sadly, this would also be our last encounter with Ron and Kathleen as they were waiting for parts to arrive from overseas and at the best guess, would be here 3-4 weeks…..at least. We decided to go and check out the small Port La Royale Marina for our farewell dinner together. After being hustled for business as the four of us browsed the menus, we decided on The Galleon restaurant with the lure of a free cosmopolitan cocktail and the best mussels in town. We obviously had our “gullible tourist” radar turned off that evening with yet another pretty ordinary meal. The company and conversation made up for the quality of the food. We had a lovely night and said our farewells to Ron and Kathleen (for the second time this season). As we dropped them off in the dinghy, we traversed the narrow channel back to Marigot Bay anchorage, glad we had made the decision to go the long way around with \”Beach House\”. We heard from Ron & Kathleen a few days later they witnessed a charter catamaran shearing off the port side chain plate as they motored through the narrow bridge channel. The guy was alone and either misjudged or got stuck in the current and lost control of the boat. He didn\’t realize the extent of the damage and a few minutes later, amid the sound of a heart rendering crack, the guys carbon fiber mast fell and hit ‘The Drink’. I\’m sure afterward he had one too!… Think VERY expensive and that lovely Catana 47 is done for the season. At least no one was hurt.

A few weeks later when we would arrive in Culebrita, Puerto Rico in the Spanish Virgin Islands, we met the US Catamarn \”Muse\”. \”Muse\” had a similar experience there last season. He had the right of way going through the bridge and a chartered mono hull didn\’t look. They collided at the same bridge. It caused \”Muse\” to shear her chain plate and lose her mast as well.

Like we said, glad we didn\’t go through that way! Boy it\’s tempting as it saves 2 hours.

The next morning, we upped anchor and headed across the 6 mile channel to our last \”Leeward Island\” – Anguilla. It\’s affiliated with the UK and as such, we knew we\’d be in for more pleasant folk \”mon\”….\” 🙂

That Blog will be a short one and then on to the BVI! (British Virgin Islands).

KIT,
Scott and Nikki (posted en route to Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos … yeah, we\’re still a bit behind)….:-)

March 23rd – March 25th 2014 (-4 on UTC)

Dear F&F,
We sailed the 33 nautical miles from Montserrat to Nevis with the genoa and full mainsail. A great downwind sail and the first (downwind) since we left Trinidad at the end of last season. This allowed us the first chance this season to use the spinnaker pole; \”wing and wing\” or as Nikki says, \”goose-wing\”. We passed close by the west coast of the small island of Redonda (which is connected politically to Antigua). This mile long scrubby and very steep sided island was once a mining facility for the extraction of phosphates. The mining was abandoned in the 1930s and the island has been uninhabited since then. It didn\’t look very inviting, there are no anchorages and its coastline is nearly 1000 ft of sheer cliffs.

An interesting side story was that an Irish Montserrat merchant, claimed Redonda for his son in 1880. His son was 15 at the time. He landed on the then uninhabited rock and declared his son \”King Filipe I – King of Redonda\”. Along with the Bishop of Antigua and some other friends, they all had a good time and consumed much in the way of \”Caribbean Spirits\”. Believe it or not, eventually Parliament in the UK actually approved of such a move as it kept the every changing alliances of the islands of the Caribbean more to their liking.

We arrived off Neviss main town, Charlestown and anchored at Pinney\’s Beach. This is a long stretch of sandy white beach with yet another up-market – Four Seasons -resort. At that end of the beach, the \”yachties\” are not encouraged to frequent! Pinney\’s beach has a couple of famous beach bars, one of them being Sunshines home of the Killer-Bee cocktail. No we didnt get there, the walk from town was too long and the steep wet beach landing was enough to keep us away, so we enjoyed a G&T on board \”Beach House\” instead and listened to the music from the beach – we must be getting old! For those who follow in our wake, the dinghy ride is almost a mile to the dinghy dock – each way.

Next morning we went ashore to check in and explore. Nevis has a history of sugar plantations, most of which have been converted into high end boutique hotels with good restaurants attached. The island is also famous for two of its former residents; Fanny Nesbit married Lord Horaito Nelson here and Alexander Hamiliton was born here. Hamilton left at the age of 9 and was mostly raised into his teens on Jamaica before emigrating to the colonies. The rest is history. There are two museums on the island giving a piece of both Lord Nelson\’s and Hamilton\’s life stories. Neither \”museum\” was much to see, but it was interesting nonetheless to read about both nations heroes of a bygone era.

We decided to go and visit the Golden Rock Plantation up in the foothills of Nevis Peak. Nevis is an English bastardization of the Spanish – \”Nieves\”. Nieves means snow! When Columbus first sighted the island on his second voyage of discovery in 1493, it appeared covered in snow and hence the named it after his favorite Cathedral – \”Nuestra Senora de las Nieves\”.

We negotiated an (expensive) taxi ride for the 25 minute drive into the hills. Nevis is a pretty island and seemed unspoiled overall with locals who welcome the recent expansion of the airport and the big hotels coming to town. The water front seemed to have been tidied up over the last few years and the entry facility definitely geared up to receive the smaller cruise ship crowd. Thankfully on this island, they have maintained most of the Caribbean style architecture from the original. The Golden Rock Plantation had been renovated and was looking very good. The food was good but cold. The service strictly \”Caribbean\”. The views to the north of St. Barth\’s and St. Maarten\’s were fabulous. A day ashore was all we felt we needed to do some justice to Nevis so we headed on to her big sister, the island of St Kitts the next morning.

St. Christopher (St. Kitt\’s) – 25 March 2014
The islands are almost joined together so we motored the 6 miles into the main anchorage – Basseterre which means \”lowlands\”. It didnt look very tenable and so we hailed the local marina and they replied that they had space for a 51 ft. Catamaran inside. Unfortunately their idea of space was the end of the main dock. We side tied along a small cargo pier which was 5ft higher than the deck. As we were on the \”outside\”, we couldn\’t reach the water and power, but it did have security at the gate and we were able to walk into town. Oddly, despite St. Kitt\’s and Nevis being the same nation and only a quick trip from each other, we had to check in and out with Customs and Immigration from both islands. As we were adjacent to the main cruise ship dock, this was fortunately easy.

Port Zante, Basseterre is really a duty free stop off for the large cruise ships. We found some decently priced wine and the cheapest Bombay Sapphire gin we had seen since we bought it (also) duty free in Darwin Australia two seasons ago. It took us two years to drink two & half bottles, so we stocked up….and bought two…:-)

The big attraction on St Kitt\’s in the Brimstone Hill Fortress. This fortress gives the island it\’s nickname,The Gibralter of the West Indies\’. We had the afternoon left and decided to get a taxi and have a look round the restored fort. The view from the top was of St. Eustatia (Statia) and Saba to the northwest with St. Barth\’s and St. Maarten to the northeast. We learned about the history and conflict that the English and French had here in the late 1700\’s and a bit about how the various wars and lands were divided up in a few important European treaties which are for the most part, still in effect today. St. Kitt\’s also has a train which does a few hour tour. We would have done it but couldn\’t get tickets as the cruise ship had it fully booked.

We came back and bought some (likely locally produced) DVDs. The guy who was selling had Nikki in hysterics. We thought he must have got his college degree in marketing. He told us the plot of every film we picked up off his stand. He kept pulling more must see before you die\’ movies from under the counter it was pretty funny! We finished off looking round \’The Circus\’ in town, a small area designed with Piccadilly Circus London in mind. Apart from a derelict red London phone box – we could really get the connection! We decided to go by the guidebook, (famous for misrepresenting restaurants; especially those that advertise in their guide). We had tea at the Ballahoo Restaurant. The food was pretty mediocre but a pleasant setting to watch the world go by around \”The Circus\” roundabout below. The waitress at the restaurant was right out of the 1970\’s film, \”Five Easy Pieces\”. She couldn\’t imagine that we would ask questions and actually expect her attention. We were one of two tables seated in the restaurant. She clearly couldn\’t be bothered. Unfortunately, some of the locals are quite jaded (especially to the cruise ship crowd which she assumed we were from). After our lovely experience we met an American chap in the marina who said we should go to the \”All American Bakery\” the next morning…\”it was to die for\”, he said. The next day, I went early and found the place. It was clear that – first, the waitress from last night\’s experience had a daughter who was working the counter and second, the product was in effect..Winchell\’s Donuts.

The island has it\’s strong points, but don\’t ask me for them. Let\’s say, it wasn\’t one of my favorites. The other funny experience we had at the Marina was running into a very stuffy Brit and his wife who were a bit too posh for Nikki\’s taste. The \”chap\” told us that he sailed his (very nice) Benateau 50 over \”on the ARC don\’t you know\”! For those of you who don\’t know, the ARC is the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers which leaves the Canary Islands with about 200 mostly European boats heading to the Caribbean for the season. He was all about knocking down catamaran\’s. He asked how we \”pointed\”? Pointing is how close to the wind a boat can sail and cruising cats (which he knew ahead of time), are notoriously bad at it. It\’s really our only weakness. So I told him essentially \”not very well\”. I used my analogy, which sailors will appreciate. I said, \”as well as a 50 foot shipping container with a mast could…:-)\” I did my best not to \”get into it\” with him and fortunately succeeded. The highlight of this experience was when the next day we set sail together. There was no doubt that from his perspective, \”the race was on\”. I\’m quite sure the chap thought he\’d sail right past us \”pointing\” to St. Barth\’s. We flew right by him, arriving almost an hour ahead in the 22 mile journey. When he got to Gustavia (the main port of St. Barth\’s) he somehow kept avoiding us….:-) Funny, we saw him again the other day at Norman\’s Island Bight (BVI – where we are now) and yet again….he didn\’t say a word….:-)

Next…St. Barth\’s! This would be one of our highlights to date in the Caribbean.
Stay tuned,
Scott and Nikki