We are in St. Kitts at the moment, it official name is St. Christopher, it is a Caribbean country along with another island Nevis. We spent about 5 days on Nevis and then sailed the 10 miles over here. Both islands are volcanic in origin and have large hills which are remnants of ancient volcanoes in the middle of them. The part of St. Kitts that we are in is very dry at the moment the hills covered in dead grass and very prickly bushes.
While on Nevis we rented bicycles and toured around the island, the hills were a challenge to me at times but the day ended well in a marvellous, fast 3 miles downhill ride. We had lunch up in the hills at a lovely spot although I was dripping in sweat as I walked in the spiffy restaurant .
In the main town of Basseterre on St. Kitts the anchorage was very rally so after we checked in, tramped for a half an hour to find a laundromat, waited to have it washed and tromped back to the boat, we motored to a better anchorage. The only problem is that we are out in the boonies and there is no bus service. We stood on the side of the road and hitched into town the other day and then took a bus to an Unesco site, one of the best examples of forts from the mid 17th century. It was beautifully restored and we throughly enjoyed wandering around the site.
 |
| Yet more cannons, are you getting tired of them yet?? |
 |
| What he doesn't make me do for a good picture! |
 |
| The lime kiln for the fort, the lime was used for mortar. |
I think I will always remember the Caribbean as the spot where we found cannons almost everywhere we looked.
We are headed to the two small Dutch islands of St. Eustatius and Saba. There is rumoured to be very good diving in Saba. Barry says to tell you that St. Eustatius has the highest elevation in the Netherlands at 600 meters. I believe another way of referring to these islands is the Dutch Antilles.
We met some folks last night who lent us their charts and guide books for the U. S. East Coast, what wonderful sailors. We made some tentative plans for heading north but are still struggling with whether to go west to the Bahamas and up, or leave the Caribbean from the Virgin Islands head to Bermuda and then across to the Chespeake and New York.
Here I am sitting at the dock in what will likely be a fancy spot in years to come. The dock is still under construction so that is how I can afford to sit on it and enjoy the gentle Caribbean breezes.
