After a somewhat rolly night, we prepared to move on to our next island, Sint Eustastia, a distance of 16NM. We'd seen Statia from Brimstone Hill Fortress and as we made our way along the coast of St Kitts we got a better view of the Fortress from the sea.
Trilogy slipped northwards on the leeward side of St Kitts at an easy 6-7 knots in the light breeze until we entered the wind acceleration zone at the island end. On a beam reach we hoisted the main and unfurled the genoa for a faster passage across the 7NM between the islands. Looking south to St Kitts, the available agricultural land between the coastline and the central peaks was significantly more than any other island so far. Wally, our taxi driver, had expressed his concern that the government was not supporting any agricultural activity and all food is imported to the island. He had also commented that 700 people were employed cutting roadside grass, which seemed totally ironic. No doubt people in high places were making decisions that suited their pockets.
Our destination port was Oranjestad, the only settlement on Statia. The island is 25 sq kms with a population of just over 3000 and the highest point is Mazinga or The Quill at 600 metres. The official language is Dutch, but everyday language is English. The island is a special municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and hence history has determined this status.
Columbus discovered the island in 1493. It was occupied by the British and French before being colonised by Dutch Jews. They built Fort Oranje and the Dutch gained definitive possession through the Treaty of Utrecht. As a free port, Oranje Baaï was one of the most active in the Caribbean, especially during the American War of Independence. In the 18th century the wealth of the citizens lead to the island being called 'Rock of Gold'. Fort Oranje became the first place in the world to fire a salute to the new flag on an American ship, the Andrew Doria in November 1776. Admiral Rodney pillaged the island as an act of revenge, as recognition of the new America was an affront to the British. This commenced a decline on the island and Fort Oranje is one of the few reminders of a period of wealth and prosperity.
The port was quite busy with oil tankers and tugs anchored off and the skipper found a spot to anchor in amongst a series of buoys. The wave action in the bay was strong and we knew we were in for a lot of swell throughout the night. After lunch on board, we headed to a dinghy pier to present to customs. The usual customs formalities completed, we wandered along the port road looking for the old port road that goes up the cliff to the township. Goats had no problems negotiating the steep terrain and we heard several kids bleating for their mothers and saw them leaping along once mum responded. The ubiquitous roosters crowing added to the island sounds. We came across a number of restaurants and bars along the waterfront and David invited us to his bar...a dangerous idea at 15:30! Yes, we succumbed to pina coladas all round, which he promised were THE BEST.....and they were!! I'm sure the steep rocky road up the cliff seemed even steeper after that! However the climb was worth it as we could visit the Fort and take in the excellent view. We walked around a few streets in the heat, taking in the quaintness of the houses before descending the cliff and getting back for a cooling swim before sunset.
Trilogy got quite a rock 'n roll going as the swell was relentless and at times of high amplitude. We had to hang onto the wine glasses with one hand and fortunately could manage to eat Chilli Con Carne with the other. We could trust nothing to stay put and naturally our sleep was quite disturbed. Going for a snorkel first thing in the morning was a relief from the constant motion and as the water was very clear, we had a great time looking at several submerged jetties from the good old days that beautiful fish and coral had happily made home.
We lifted the anchor and set sail for St Barts, another island in the chain of Windward Islands. It was a great sail on a beam reach, doing 8-10 knots very comfortably. A large pod of dolphins made a brief visit and the fishing line trawled, once we were sure the dolphins had moved on. For a while we could see Nevis, St Kitts, Saba, Statia and St Barts islands around us. We decided not to visit Saba, although it promised to be a very attractive island, as the passage north from Saba would have been hard on the nose and therefore a very uncomfortable sail.