With the sun shining on the emerald green water, it was time for an early morning swim. The boys had a marathon swim in mind, while the girls settled for a swim around Trilogy. The boys headed first to the Sunshine Beach buildings, as we had been dazzled by a large ball of flame the night before, in that area. We heard no sirens in response and so curiosity lingered. It turned out to be the beach BBQ pit, set just behind the beach and they had been burning timber pallets. The boys continued up the beach to the Four Seasons and snuck a swim in the fresh water pool, with very fluffy towels awaiting them! Then came the long swim back to Trilogy, which is hard when you've been spoilt too much.... They thought of charging coffees to 'their' room number, but something deep inside that their mother's no doubt taught them surfaced just in time!
After breakfast we sailed for St Kitts, a short sail of 6NM in a very light breeze. The skipper decided it was the perfect opportunity to hoist the Code Zero sail, so that it could be furled more tightly and therefore stored better. It was also an opportunity for the crew to practice the procedures that relates to this particular sail. The sail flew well and we enjoyed a short sail before furling and folding it back into its bag again, with the breeze picking up.
Before we knew it, Trilogy was anchored in Whitehouse Bay, a good anchorage and likely to be less wind affected than adjacent bays. The sun was hot and we retreated to air con for lunch and fixing a few things on board, before a snorkel to the rocky shore. The stony sea bed was cluttered with large black sea urchins, none of which had the three pebbles plopped on their heads that we'd seen in Med! Plenty of beautiful conch shells and hard coral fronds, along with some lovely fish were also seen.
Back on board Peter reported that the few tin sheds on shore where music was eminating from, was a bar and possibly a restaurant. Some Americans passing by in their dinghy confirmed for us it was a restaurant that served quite decent food. After our GNTs on board Trilogy, we headed for the tin huts. What a surprise and delight it was, to see how the tin sheds transformed into a beautiful and somewhat sophisticated bar/cafe, called Salt Plage. The name comes from its passed life as a salt mine processing plant from the salt sourced nearby in the Great Salt Pond. Today the tin sheds housed the bar, kitchen and storage in the third. Quite an investment had been made in the infrastructure, with timber decks jutting out over the water, mood lighting, fancy cushions and lounge nooks. To the beat of the bar music, we enjoyed our meals in the balmy evening.
After a restful sleep we awoke to very calm water and the sun shining. Morning coffee and breakfast concluded, we snorkelled towards the centre of the bay where a wreck had been marked on the chart. Sure enough, the wreck was found, nudged up against the large rocks that it no doubt had foundered on. It was quite a sizeable vessel from the size of the propeller and it was fun trying to make out the various items. The fish and coral had long ago taken up residence and it looked like a pot of golden yellow paint had been dribbled over the whole lot. Satisfied with our snorkel we headed back to Trilogy to prepare to motor 4NM to Port Zante in Basseterre Bay, the capital of St Kitts. Just as we were all on board, a big rain cloud hovered above and we relished in the freshness of the rain as it washed the salt away.