17 February 2014 | Isla Beata, Dominican Republic
17 February 2014 | Isla Beata, Dominican Republic
17 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
17 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
17 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
17 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
17 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
16 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
16 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
15 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
15 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
15 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
15 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
15 February 2014 | Dominican Republic
St. Martin - Old stomping grounds
30 November 2012 | St. Martin
We arrived in St. Martin just in time for the monthly Boat Jumble that is held at 'Time Out' near the French bridge, the first Saturday of each month. It is a cruisers garage sale. If you have some things you want to get off your boat you show up and sell your stuff, and others wander around looking for new treasures.
A couple upgrades that we have done this year on the boat are a new anchor and new sails. We purchased a 33kg Rocna anchor, and are incredibly happy with it. Our old 25kg Delta did the trick, but the Rocna has much better holding and is a little heavier. One thing you do not want to do in heavy winds is drag anchor into another boat or into the rocks behind you!
Marc decided that it was time for new sails as well. Our friends from Coolcat met Dave with Calvert Sails who has the same catamaran as we do and has been working on perfecting the sails for the FP Belize. With this info we decided to go with the Calvert sails, so far so good! We will keep you posted once we have had more of a chance to test them out.
Nevis - Beach Bar-B-Q
29 November 2012 | Nevis
Our last adventure on Nevis was a Beach Bar-B-Q buffet dinner at the Nisbet Plantation. This is one of the grandest inns with majestic views. The plantation house was once the home to Frances (Fanny) Nisbet, a widow, who in 1787 married Captain Horatio Nelson (the British naval hero). Dinner was excellent, followed by live music and dancing on the beach. Life doesn't get much better than this!!
If you are planning to sail to both St. Kitts and Nevis while cruising, you do not have to check into both islands, but do need to request a 'Boat Pass' to the other island. Note: We did not have to pay for this pass.
Nevis - Sunshine's Beach Bar
29 November 2012 | Nevis
I am sorry for the delay in my postings. I have no excuse, I have had internet on and off but have been preoccupied with other boat projects, a wedding in Mexico and guests on the boat.
We ended our Nevis island tour at Sunshine's Beach Bar for a Killer Bee drink, which consisted mostly of rum and was very hard to drink, I think Marc had to finish mine for me. We also met Sunshine himself and his monkey Frisky, who lives up to his name.
Nevis - Hotels
29 November 2012 | Nevis
There is a lot of history on the island with a number of old sugar mills and plantations. The old mills are crumbling but the plantations have been converted into hotels. The unique aspect with Nevis related to the plantations is that they used the old structures and incorporated them into the current buildings instead of letting them crumble and fall apart. For example at Golden Rock, they have made one of the structures into the honeymoon suite.
Nevis - Plantations
29 November 2012 | Nevis
While visiting Montpelier Estate we stopped for lunch. The hotel is in located in the mountain with an ocean view. The hotel has been beautifully done and Kaddy, the bartender, makes a mean margarita for a whopping $11 US. I would recommend this hotel if you are planning a visit to Nevis, the grounds are beautiful and the food was excellent. But be warned that Nevis is a very expensive island.
Nevis - Island Tour
29 November 2012 | Nevis
We looked into renting a scooter to tour the island which was the same cost as a private taxi tour, so decided to go with the guided tour, hoping that it would be more educational. And it was a good thing we did. There are very few signs along the way, and we would have missed alot of the island history if we had toured on our own.
Island 26 - Nevis
28 November 2012 | Nevis
We finished all the work that needed to be done out of the water and splashed the boat on November 27th. Stayed one night on the private dock and sailed off to Nevis the next morning. We were not sure how much there would be to see in Nevis, but decided that we were so close we would stop in for a few days. We anchored in Oualie Bay, which was a great anchorage with a beautiful beach. This was our front yard view from the boat.
St. Kitts - Good Eats - Cisco's Place
26 November 2012 | St. Kitts
If you enjoy Rotis, then you will enjoy the second local restaurant that we found. It is a little place tucked a few blocks from the cruise ship dock, on NEW Street just west of the square with the clock. They sell delicious rotis for only $4 US!!
St. Kitts - Good Eats - El Fredo's
24 November 2012 | St. Kitts
While in Basseterre we found a couple local restaurants that we really enjoyed. One was El Fredo`s; a yellow building located maybe 3 to 4 blocks east of the cruise ship dock facing the water boardwalk. Make sure you do not show up too late for lunch because all the local specials will be sold out and you will have to order off the menu. I would also recommend trying their ginger coconut cookies, very yummy! While having lunch they played some good music with interesting lyrics. I inquired who the artist was, the waitress said 'Etana' from Jamaica and the song was 'Roots'. Marc has since bought both of her albums.
St. Kitts - Island Tour
22 November 2012 | St. Kitts
We really enjoyed St. Kitts; the people are so friendly, it is clean and not overdeveloped and has a lot of history. We would highly recommend this as a vacation destination. St. Kitts is one of our favorite islands, but does not replace Dominica.