St Barthelemy
22 January 2015 | Gustavia
Gustavia, St Barthélemy 17 54.03'N:62 51.44'W
We left Lagoon Marina on 16th Jan and after a month in Simpson Bay lagoon with not a lot of movement in the water, Panormitis had a 3 inch growth of barnacles like coral from the waterline down. Not a good look and certainly not good for progress thru' the water. Of course we weren't alone with this problem as we listened to yachts calling for underwater workers, and talk of just managing to get out thru' the bridge opening. Our underwater worker of course was Gary, and over the next 2 days at anchor, he managed to scrape most of it off. He said the boat rose 6 inches out of the water once it was removed, but then one never lets the truth get in the way of a good story.
We up anchor just after 0900 for the short trip to St Barthélemy ( St Barths for short). With only 6knts from the SE we decided to do some tacking to get back into sailing mode after such a long lay off. The sea was calm and there was the usual amount of cloud cover to produce the spontaneous showers of rain we have come to expect. The weed is still around and we have read that it is the result of the hurricane that came thru' here in November. We had heard of damage when we first arrived but didn't connect the disruption of the ocean bottom to that event. Eventually we broke the silence with the iron spinnaker and motor sailed the last 6 miles. Approaching Gustavia the capital we could see the mega yacht "Eclipse", at 530 odd feet it has just lost its position as the largest super yacht in the world.........bummer!!!!!!! Also anchored nearby was a cruise liner ferrying passengers to and fro the waterfront in their life rafts. Trying to take photos, and down came the rain.......poor passengers sitting on the top deck of said boats getting a good drenching. I'll bet they weren't expecting that when they signed on for a luxury cruise. We had just anchored when the heavens opened.....just a wee bit wet but glad we had arrived before it got so heavy.
We cleared in the next morning..... quite sophisticated. Please use the computer. So we did it all our selves, printed out the paper...gave it to the desk person who calculated the fee. €17.54 per night to anchor.....bit rough we thought, but then we are their income. Everything is imported on the island so they rely on the visiting cruise ships, the mega /super yachts and the likes of us in the small yachts. Ashore and brand name shops dominate, and upmarket eateries line the waterfront. The back streets have all the original facades, a condition of building behind so the streetscape is kept old looking with shingle walls and small brick buildings. After the last island it was very obvious that here they pride themselves on cleanliness and tidyness....not a piece of garbage to be seen and no graffiti either. Gardens well tended and raked and trimmed. It is definitely a destination for the rich and beautiful, and the authorities mean to keep it appealing. Bravo for them. The airport is unique in that pilots have to have a special licence to land and take off here because the approach is between 2 hills with wheels down almost on the road into town, and it is very short, ending into the water. If you were a motorist and not aware, you could be excused for causing an accident on the top of the road.
Off to St Christopher and Nevis when we leave here. About 40 nm to the anchorage, so an early start would be good as well as the wind in the right direction.