With some ominous looking clouds, we departed the Port Zante Marina in Basseterre, St. Kitt's to head a little farther south. Since Customs and Immigration allow you to pre-clear out a couple of days in advance (or check in and out if it is 7 days or less), we took advantage of that before leaving Basseterre. Our plans for the next couple of days were a little hazy. Kind of like the sky.
We checked out Whitehouse Bay, a little south of Basseterre, and recognized a couple of boats that we know. 'Endorfin' and 'Recetta' were on the hook, that we could see, and a couple of other boats, too. We decided to keep on going the extra little bit to Nevis. The north swells that had been a problem were supposed to have calmed down enough to make being there fairly comfortable. We were also contemplating leaving for Montserrat the next morning. Obviously we didn't!
We crossed the Narrows between the islands while putting up with some squall activity. We had grabbed our raincoats in just the nick of time, so we managed to stay dry enough through it. Even a tropical rain can feel cold, especially with the wind blowing.
We passed by places that until now were only names in a cruising guide and on our charts. Bugs Hole, Shitten Bay, Oualie Beach, Tamarind Bay and finally Pinney's Beach. We took a mooring (a must in Nevis) at the north end of Pinney's Beach, just in front of Sunshine's Beach Bar. At this point, we weren't sure how long we would stay.
Within the next couple of hours, and getting some more up-to-date weather forecasts, we decided to stick around until at least Thursday morning. The dinghy was put back together for going ashore the next day.
Ken brought me ashore in the morning so I could get my run in. The beach is a little too steep for one person to haul our dinghy up on, so the taxi service was brought into play. I ran north, passing the golf course at the Four Seasons Resort, and various other sites. I had an audience of monkeys watch me, and over the course of the run, I probably saw about 50, many scurrying across the road as I got closer. Monkeys are considered a nuisance to the locals, as they will devour crops and cause damage with their curiosity. It is also not uncommon to see one on a lead, with the owner offering to let you take a picture for $5.00. With the number of monkeys here, if you wait long enough, you can get a picture for free.
A little later, we took the dinghy ashore and walked to Charlestown, about a mile south by road. The roads are easy enough to walk, as the brush is trimmed well back from the road and the shoulders are wide enough for pedestrians. As we entered town, we came upon an old cemetery that was also home to huts that featured handicrafts, with the obligatory goat landscaping crew. We also observed a group of four young people, clad in bikinis and bathing trunks (no shirt), walking into town. They stopped at the same store we did for a drink, and were notified that their dress was quite unsuitable for walking in town. They were last seen hustling back along the road out of town.
We bought some locally made ice cream (rum and raisin never tasted this good back in Canada!) and decided to just jump on a bus going "somewhere". We figured this would be a neat way to see something. We had a sweet lady give us a bit of a travelogue as we went along, pointing out the church that Lord Nelson was married in (his wife was a Nevisian) and other little bits of info. We observed donkeys, both tethered and free range, along the road. We wound up at the deep water port, close to the race track (horses) and ended up in a farmer's field. The driver had to pick up a load of watermelons, so we followed a track away from the main road to a gate that the young farmer, who we had picked up on the road,opened for us.
The watermelons were piled into the front seat behind the driver. Large yellow melons that we hadn't seen before, but with the red flesh inside like the watermelons that we know. I saw a monkey go by, but Ken missed it. The young man smiled and said that he had trapped a monkey, and we would see it since he was bringing it home. He produced a small monkey that he had leashed with a shoelace around its' body. It was quite small, but it wasn't as daunted by us as I had expected. He held it in his hands as we drove, helping to keep it relaxed. We stopped by his house so he could drop it off.
We passed by some ruins that may have been the "Jumby" Ruins that are on the map. "Jumby" means spirit, and these are supposedly haunted. We don't know for sure, since the bus driver wasn't into giving us a travelogue.
We finally made it back into town, a very interesting 2 hours or so spent on the road. Lunch at a local place with fresh ginger beer was just the ticket.
We wandered over to the port, to check out the dinghy dock. There we ran into Rob and Barb from 'Riff Raff' and Ray and Irene from 'C-Drifters'. Ray said that they had checked into the country in Nevis and had paid far more than we had in St. Kitt's. Interesting, and worth remembering.
We walked back to Sunshine's Bar and enjoyed a cold (decently priced) beer on the beach, looking out past beach chairs, palm frond umbrellas and onto the water to see our boat. Pretty close to paradise!
Check out the pictures, on our Web Album, under the album "Nevis".