Statia to BasseTerre, St. Kitts
Everyone on board was up early and we quietly dropped the mooring and slipped out of the harbour undetected. Many jokes about the cannons from the fort firing across our bow or the coast guard chasing us down to make us come back and clear in and out. The truth of the matter, though, is that it is a major pain to clear in and out at every port of call, especially since they keep regular business hours (or less). Given the speed at which we're moving, which is to say not very fast, it's almost impossible to be able to follow all the formalities and stay on schedule.
We motorsailed again because the winds have been too light to make good time. This is a view of St. Kitts from the boat:
We headed for Port Zante to replenish our fresh water supply and clear in and out. As we came into the marina, the port folks motioned us to come in lengthwise on the port side (left if you are facing the bow). The wind caught the stern and pushed us into the cement wall, where there was a broken bolt or cleat.
Of course, that was a place where we didn't have a bumper, so now we have a nice round hold in the side of the boat--fortunately, it's cosmetic only.
The Moorings representative (Percy) came out to fix the lights in one of the heads and to check out a potential water pump problem. We fessed up and showed him the damage. He was more annoyed with the Port Zante folks than with us. He said he has asked them to fix it many times but they haven't. Having a permanent bumper there and removing the broken metal would go a long way to making it safer to parallel park there.
Percy helped Kent through talking to the Moorings back in St. Martin and filing a report then joined us for lunch at the Ballahoo. The Ballahoo overlooks the Circus, which as modelled on Picadilly Circus in London. It was a lot of fun watching the traffic and people move through the circle. There was man on the corner selling shelled coconuts. People would come by and he would hack off the top of the coconut with a machete. The person would drink the coconut water and hand the coconut back. After a couple of quick hacks with the machete, the coconut was in two pieces and the buyer would scrape out and eat the soft meat of the coconut. Sometimes the coconut guy would fill old water bottles with the coconut water and sell those.
After lunch, Percy drove me and Tom to the fish market and we bought the most beautiful whole red snapper to grill for dinner. Then it was back to the boat and off we headed to White House Bay, which was to be our anchorage for the night.
As soon as we arrived and dropped anchor, a storm blew in. Rain, thunder, and lightning--no swimming before dinner! Tom fixed rum punches for cocktail hour, then we made zesty coconut rice with black bean and veggies, grilled some fresh pineapple for pineapple salsa, then grilled the fish. Delicious! Then it was clean up and bedtime.
We motorsailed again because the winds have been too light to make good time. This is a view of St. Kitts from the boat:
We headed for Port Zante to replenish our fresh water supply and clear in and out. As we came into the marina, the port folks motioned us to come in lengthwise on the port side (left if you are facing the bow). The wind caught the stern and pushed us into the cement wall, where there was a broken bolt or cleat.
Of course, that was a place where we didn't have a bumper, so now we have a nice round hold in the side of the boat--fortunately, it's cosmetic only.
The Moorings representative (Percy) came out to fix the lights in one of the heads and to check out a potential water pump problem. We fessed up and showed him the damage. He was more annoyed with the Port Zante folks than with us. He said he has asked them to fix it many times but they haven't. Having a permanent bumper there and removing the broken metal would go a long way to making it safer to parallel park there.
Percy helped Kent through talking to the Moorings back in St. Martin and filing a report then joined us for lunch at the Ballahoo. The Ballahoo overlooks the Circus, which as modelled on Picadilly Circus in London. It was a lot of fun watching the traffic and people move through the circle. There was man on the corner selling shelled coconuts. People would come by and he would hack off the top of the coconut with a machete. The person would drink the coconut water and hand the coconut back. After a couple of quick hacks with the machete, the coconut was in two pieces and the buyer would scrape out and eat the soft meat of the coconut. Sometimes the coconut guy would fill old water bottles with the coconut water and sell those.
After lunch, Percy drove me and Tom to the fish market and we bought the most beautiful whole red snapper to grill for dinner. Then it was back to the boat and off we headed to White House Bay, which was to be our anchorage for the night.
As soon as we arrived and dropped anchor, a storm blew in. Rain, thunder, and lightning--no swimming before dinner! Tom fixed rum punches for cocktail hour, then we made zesty coconut rice with black bean and veggies, grilled some fresh pineapple for pineapple salsa, then grilled the fish. Delicious! Then it was clean up and bedtime.
posted by Teri S. at 9:58 PM
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