We've been busy and we've been slack.
Saturday, a week ago yesterday, Dawn and I bussed north on
Nevis and rented two lovely modern bicycles at Oualie Beach. At approximately 10 in the morning, we attempted
our ride around the island, going clockwise.
We took a side trail near the airport, very near our start to see the
first historical property, The Cottle Church.
Cottle, the plantation owner, had it built specifically to provide
spiritual training of and with his slaves.
He was also apparently one who was very much at odds with slavery, but
believed the region, the economy, and other factors had the practice terribly
fixed and in balance such that all would perish together if it was immediately
abolished. Still, for us, 1824 was a
late time for Christians to come around to so simple an idea as desegregating
worship or even attempting to provide for the souls of those they
tormented. Oh, don't get me started...
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| Restored Cottle Church |
The rest of the bike ride was fun, tough, challenging, and
included a lot of bike-walking up very steep slopes. At the
highest peak, we found a wonderful bar\restaurant, and although the beers were
not exactly what a doctor would order for our tired bodies, they certainly were
enjoyed. The meal, as expected, was half
the price of a meal downtown or near the water, and fantastically
flavourful. From there, we had a long,
tense downhill run back to Charleston, and another hour back along the flats to
return to our starting point. All in
all, it was approximately 20 long, hot miles back to the rental operation; and
we finished around 3 in the afternoon, with great wobbly knees. The next day, we were so filled with a
feeling of accomplishment that we couldn't move. There has been no problem with my right
rotator cuff, however.
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| A great bike trip around the entire island of Nevis. And yes, there are too many hills! |
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| Imagine looking at Pinney's Beach and this beautiful volcano every day for a solid week! |
Our Nevis time concluded with some fun time at the Sunshine
Beach Bar, significant exploration of Charleston, and a lovely afternoon walk
the length of Pinney's Beach. In 2009,
the large Four Seasons complex was closed due to damage from Hurricane Omar,
and with over 600 people out of work, the island was an unhappy place. The complex apparently reopened in late
2010, and we can report we find all the inhabitants quite happy and
friendly. Something that we notice a
lot, is that in Nevis, and indeed in St. Kitts, the amount of litter is
terribly low compared to many islands; and I dare to suggest there are
relationships between litter, self respect, crime, happiness, etc. Don't believe me - read Malcolm Gladwell's
"The Tipping Point".
We arrived in St. Kitts on Wednesday, after only a little
more than two hours travel. We were
using the opportunity to motor the first portion so as to run our
watermaker. After 45 minutes, we checked
the tank and found there seemed to be less in it than when we started making
water. A run around the boat allowed us
to find that our stern shower hose had blown, and we were pumping the precious
stuff overboard. We ran the watermaker
and engines for the rest of the trip and an hour more to catch up. The hose had provided little more than 2
months of service, after replacing another that had served since 1996. And people ask me why I prefer my old
equipment.
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| On our way into Whitehouse Bay we saw this freshly crashed car at the base of a cliff, complete with beach towels hanging from the rocks. Two locals sat on it last night as their fishing spot, so it must be 'old' news! Hopefully, it rolled down the cliff with no one in it! |
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| You can just see the crashed car at the far left of the rocky base of the cliff. |
We did a whirlwind tour of Basseterre, the capital, and
found gasoline, a surprisingly lovely St. Kitts amber rum, and necessary
groceries. Basseterre has a terribly
inhospitable harbour due to the exposure, so we left as quickly as we could and
have enjoyed Whitehouse Bay, in the south end since. Most of our time here has been taken up with
minor chores and reading, with the usual enjoyable sundowners in quite flat but
breezy conditions.
Friday, however, we got ashore early, and attempted a
walking tour of the rather desolate south end.
Most of this territory is involved in one giant development, called
Christophe Harbour. Our old guide
suggested that the development had taken over an old haunt called Turtle Beach
resort, over in Turtle Bay, 3 1/2 miles away; and although that was true, it
was no longer true that they were serving food and drink to the public. Part of the way back, however, we found the
old owner in an new bay, Cockleshell Bay, and his new reggae beach bar appears
to be a most happening and fun spot. We
enjoyed our food and beverages before making our way back to the boat for a
soak and quiet afternoon. Along the
way, we saw literally dozens of green vervet monkeys, and we have proof in
pictures. Locals imprison these or carry them around for the entertainment of tourists - which is a little sad as they are truly pack creatures, requiring their friends and family for happiness.
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| Rasta Beach Bar just plugged full of cruise ship visitors coming in and out by the bus load. Prices reflected this! |
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| Part of the development of south St. Kitts - the Christophe Development which will include a lagoon and marina. We watched them dredging out a section to make way for docks and moorings. |
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| We saw many monkeys along the way! |
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| Another vervet monkey in the wild. Many are captured to serve the tourists up a treat. Many locals walk with them on their shoulders complete with diapers to pose for photos at $5 US. |
Final report is the entertainment in this little
harbour. Although rather barren when we
arrived, we were joined soon after by Cat Ppalu, a favourite of mine: 1977
Peter Spronk 75 foot catamaran designed and built in St. Martin, out of wood
epoxy saturation technique, with a ketch rig.
Initially constructed for offshore racing, the boat has spent most of
its life in the Virgins as a cattlemaran daysailer, hauling crowds of burning
tourists to one bay or another. The new
owner, Randy West, out of St. Barths, said he has been trying to buy her for 20
years, and intends to enjoy her fully.
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| Cat Pplau, one of Laurie's all time favourite catamarans was anchored in front of us for the past 3 days! He has seen this catamaran up in the BVI's over the years and even talked the company into a free t-shirt years ago, which is now in tatters! |
Last night was quite entertaining in the anchorage. An older gentleman sailed in, dropped
anchor, worked himself haggardly to get the boat straightened away; then up jumped
two toe-headed children of about 8-10 years, who were slapped into bosun's
chairs, placed on separate halyards, and allowed to run back and forth a few
feet below the toe rail on the port side.
They were at it for hours into the darkness, and have spent most of
today as well. Captain is obviously
going for the title of "Best Grampie Ever". We've never seen him out of the boat since he
got the grand kids set up!
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| How many hours can these kids play like this and never tire of the game? So far it's 2:00 pm and they've been pretty steady since 10:00 am!! |
After that, two ladies arrived with a 45+ foot vessel
"Blue Planet", with the jib in tatters. The jib was in two great slabs of cloth,
split about 18 feet up, and the two slabs would not furl and unfurl
synchronously to allow it all to come down.
I dinghied over and offered my assistance, and we quickly determined it
was too dark and windy to make a full attempt.
Quite as well, as I was already deep into the sundowner tradition. This morning, after our morning weather net,
Dawn and I returned to make a better acquaintance with Captain Lou (Louise Orion) and her crew, Mia. We worked with them from 8 until 11 to get all the tatters down in the rather unrelenting 12-18 knots. I did at least two trips up with the bosun's
chair, and we all did a lot of tugging and pulling between head
scratching. Still it was fun, and we
were successful in clearing the forestay furler.
The ladies have now left to take the boat over behind the Nevis volcano
and bend on a second, newer jib, before continuing to Pointe-a-Pitre. Louise and the "Blue Planet" operate a portable sailing school for those who fly down
here and book the time segments.
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| s/v Blue Planet sailed by Capt. Louise, with her forestay cleared |
Our plans are to leave tomorrow morning for a potential
anchorage at Brimestone Hill, at the north west corner of the island, where we
might be able to get ashore and tour a historical fortress and national
treasure. After that, we'll return to
Basseterre to check out, and continue up to the little Dutch island of St.
Eustatius. At this point, we wish to share
our empathy for our friends in New Brunswick who are suffering through a
terrible week of snow, ice and more snow.
It really sounds like a record-breaker up there.
