Gustavia, St. Barts to Saba
To continue with yesterday, I stayed on board at Phillipsburg (there wasn't room for eight people and loads of foods in the dinghy) with George. I got a little knitting done and watched a couple of 10 meter racing boats play around. It turned out that one was Stars and Stripes, the US boat. The other was Canada. Even though the air was light, they were moving. They were so graceful and absolutely beautiful.
After provisioning, we got underway to St. Barts--had to motorsail because the wind was so light. The weather was partly cloudy, and once we got away from land, it was still hot, but much more bearable.
We arrived in St. Barts and got a nice anchorage--nice breeze and relatively calm. Had Happy Hour, then fixed dinner--rice and beans with sausage, and salad. Dessert was Orange Pims and Bonne Maman Tartlettes aux Citron for dessert. And then to bed early.
We got up early this morning, breakfasted, then headed into Gustavia to clear in and out of customs, then shopped a little bit. Well, Nancy shopped a lot. I got a t-shirt dress, a necklace, and a post card (carte postale) to send to the team back home. Gustavia is a nice little town, although it is set up for very rich tourists...Cartier is there and some other high-end designer clothing shops.
Tom and I walked around the marina a little bit, then he, James, and I "discovered" some steps leading up a hill and decided to investigate. The steps were constructed of stone and bits of broken pottery, which was really quite interesting. The hill crested and looked out over this absolutely gorgeous bay which looked like it had a little resort nestled on its shore. I noticed another little path that went further up the hill and lo and behold! There were the ruins of a fort. A historical marker explained that these were the remains of Ft. Carl, which was built by Sweden in the late 1700s and was taken over by the French in the early 1800s, which wasn't hard given that the fort was manned by only four soldiers.
After we returned from our little expedition and met up with the others, we realized we were missing Gina. We had wandered off, forgetting that she had gone into an internet cafe to sennd an email to her son, Danny (her Blackberry stopped working). I can't believe we did that! I can't believe that I would forget about Gina!
After we "found" Gina, we were off to the boat to head to Saba. Again, we had to motorsail because the winds were light and we were headed downwind. The seas weren't quite as rough as yesterday, and Tom found something like Dramamine (Mercalm), so his experience was much better. Arrived in Saba around 1700h and picked up a mooring ball in Wells Bay. Everyone had said that it would be difficult to find an empty mooring but there was no one there. The wind was strong, it was a little choppy, and things got a little tense between the captain (Kent) and his wife (Nancy). But Tom was manning the hook and got the mooring ball on the first grab. He has now been deemed the Hooker--and he can be had for cheap.
I was a bit nervous about staying here because the area looked so threatening. The cliffs were dark, there wasn't a welcoming expanse of white beach and the wind was blowing really hard. But then the wind calmed down, the setting sun illuminated the cliffs and it was much nicer. And as always, my fears were ungrounded.
Spaghetti for dinner, with salad and wine. And of course, Happy Hour stared as a soon as we were securely moored. Tom played the Ship of Fools CD he compiled; he did an excellent job.
After dinner, I was looking out at the horizon or where the horizon should have been and noticed a light in the sky. Ah, a star...wait! It's bouncing around and moving erratically--really erratically. I pointed it out to the others--they said it's an airplane, or a helicopter. We watched it for a while, then it disappeared around Saba. UFO? Nah...then it showed up again! In the west this time, and like before, it was twinkling and bouncing around. I grabbed the bincoculars and there it was--mostly white, although the others thought they saw different colors. We watched it for a good long while, then it either moved off or was obscured by clouds. It's a shame Kory wasn't here--I'm sure he's going to be quite jealous that I saw what could have been an UFO. However, since we have no definitive proof, all I can say is that is was a Bizarre Celestial Phenomenon (BCP).
Another bizarre phenomenon is phosphoresence. I tossed a little bit of salad overboard and that must have drawn fishes, because the water started lighting up. Some of the flashed were quite big and there was a fish that tried to board the boat to get more salad. Given the far encounter with the BCP, I was a bit on edge and was a bit startled by the fish.
Carolyn stared a game of Mexican Train dominoes. I watched while Carolyn, Kent, Tom, and James played. Tom won both games. Being me, I made sure that everyone followed the rules.
We had a good breeze (at times it sounded like a gale), which made it difficult to get to sleep. Then I heard a boat engine. What kind of self-respecting boad is sailing at night? Immediately, my mind jumped to bizarre conclusions--it's the authorities, coming to get us because we didn't check in. Ummm...not at 2300h. After listening to the motor drone closer and closer, I could see the boat shining a spotlight. Next (il)logical conclusion? Pirates! They are going to board our boat and take everything we have (which ain't much)--maybe murder us in the process. I lay there, heart pounding, repeating "Go away, go away," trying to formulate a strategy of what I would do if they boarded the boat. It got closer and closer, then the engine stopped. I held my breath, waiting for someone to come on board. Silence. More silence. Then I hear a radio. Duh...they were coming in late and picking up a mooring1 I let out my breath, rolled over, and went to sleep.
After provisioning, we got underway to St. Barts--had to motorsail because the wind was so light. The weather was partly cloudy, and once we got away from land, it was still hot, but much more bearable.
We arrived in St. Barts and got a nice anchorage--nice breeze and relatively calm. Had Happy Hour, then fixed dinner--rice and beans with sausage, and salad. Dessert was Orange Pims and Bonne Maman Tartlettes aux Citron for dessert. And then to bed early.
We got up early this morning, breakfasted, then headed into Gustavia to clear in and out of customs, then shopped a little bit. Well, Nancy shopped a lot. I got a t-shirt dress, a necklace, and a post card (carte postale) to send to the team back home. Gustavia is a nice little town, although it is set up for very rich tourists...Cartier is there and some other high-end designer clothing shops.
Tom and I walked around the marina a little bit, then he, James, and I "discovered" some steps leading up a hill and decided to investigate. The steps were constructed of stone and bits of broken pottery, which was really quite interesting. The hill crested and looked out over this absolutely gorgeous bay which looked like it had a little resort nestled on its shore. I noticed another little path that went further up the hill and lo and behold! There were the ruins of a fort. A historical marker explained that these were the remains of Ft. Carl, which was built by Sweden in the late 1700s and was taken over by the French in the early 1800s, which wasn't hard given that the fort was manned by only four soldiers.
After we returned from our little expedition and met up with the others, we realized we were missing Gina. We had wandered off, forgetting that she had gone into an internet cafe to sennd an email to her son, Danny (her Blackberry stopped working). I can't believe we did that! I can't believe that I would forget about Gina!
After we "found" Gina, we were off to the boat to head to Saba. Again, we had to motorsail because the winds were light and we were headed downwind. The seas weren't quite as rough as yesterday, and Tom found something like Dramamine (Mercalm), so his experience was much better. Arrived in Saba around 1700h and picked up a mooring ball in Wells Bay. Everyone had said that it would be difficult to find an empty mooring but there was no one there. The wind was strong, it was a little choppy, and things got a little tense between the captain (Kent) and his wife (Nancy). But Tom was manning the hook and got the mooring ball on the first grab. He has now been deemed the Hooker--and he can be had for cheap.
I was a bit nervous about staying here because the area looked so threatening. The cliffs were dark, there wasn't a welcoming expanse of white beach and the wind was blowing really hard. But then the wind calmed down, the setting sun illuminated the cliffs and it was much nicer. And as always, my fears were ungrounded.
Spaghetti for dinner, with salad and wine. And of course, Happy Hour stared as a soon as we were securely moored. Tom played the Ship of Fools CD he compiled; he did an excellent job.
After dinner, I was looking out at the horizon or where the horizon should have been and noticed a light in the sky. Ah, a star...wait! It's bouncing around and moving erratically--really erratically. I pointed it out to the others--they said it's an airplane, or a helicopter. We watched it for a while, then it disappeared around Saba. UFO? Nah...then it showed up again! In the west this time, and like before, it was twinkling and bouncing around. I grabbed the bincoculars and there it was--mostly white, although the others thought they saw different colors. We watched it for a good long while, then it either moved off or was obscured by clouds. It's a shame Kory wasn't here--I'm sure he's going to be quite jealous that I saw what could have been an UFO. However, since we have no definitive proof, all I can say is that is was a Bizarre Celestial Phenomenon (BCP).
Another bizarre phenomenon is phosphoresence. I tossed a little bit of salad overboard and that must have drawn fishes, because the water started lighting up. Some of the flashed were quite big and there was a fish that tried to board the boat to get more salad. Given the far encounter with the BCP, I was a bit on edge and was a bit startled by the fish.
Carolyn stared a game of Mexican Train dominoes. I watched while Carolyn, Kent, Tom, and James played. Tom won both games. Being me, I made sure that everyone followed the rules.
We had a good breeze (at times it sounded like a gale), which made it difficult to get to sleep. Then I heard a boat engine. What kind of self-respecting boad is sailing at night? Immediately, my mind jumped to bizarre conclusions--it's the authorities, coming to get us because we didn't check in. Ummm...not at 2300h. After listening to the motor drone closer and closer, I could see the boat shining a spotlight. Next (il)logical conclusion? Pirates! They are going to board our boat and take everything we have (which ain't much)--maybe murder us in the process. I lay there, heart pounding, repeating "Go away, go away," trying to formulate a strategy of what I would do if they boarded the boat. It got closer and closer, then the engine stopped. I held my breath, waiting for someone to come on board. Silence. More silence. Then I hear a radio. Duh...they were coming in late and picking up a mooring1 I let out my breath, rolled over, and went to sleep.
posted by Teri S. at 9:24 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home