St. Kitts

We spent a week on lovely St. Kitts. During a tour of the island we found this hanging lobster claw at Romney Manor gardens. A 350 year old Saman tree shades an acre of the property which is an old sugar plantation. It abuts the rain forest. There are petroglyphs in this area making it likely that is was location of a Carib Chiefton's village. While driving around the island, we saw a thorn tree packed with egrets, Frigate Birds, Brown Pelicans (the national bird), an occasional mongoose and the green "Vervet" monkey (originally imported from Africa by the French as pets). There are now more monkeys than people here! (Our guide said that some people eat monkey and it reportedly tastes like lamb...). Cashews, breadfruit, bamboo, papaya, several variety of mangos, coffee and cotton grow throughout the island. Beautiful flowering bushes and trees abound. In addition to the natural beauty and history, we also enjoyed the people of this island who are extremely warm and friendly.

We also saw many ruins of the 68 sugar plantations operating here when sugar was king. Sugar subsidies from the U.S. and Great Britian ended in the 1980's and the industry was officially closed in 2005. The governent is deciding how best to use the acres and acres of sugar cane fields that it now owns. Some options are agricultural endeavors in partnership with the Taiwanese government, for example, and leasing land for resorts and golf courses, etc. They will not sell the land as they have determined it belongs to the people. Our guide said that the on-going world economic situation had put some projects on hold for the forseeable future.

Sandy going to fire a cannon at Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park. The cannons are almost 800 feet above sea level. It is known as the "Gibraltar of the West Indies". First established in 1690, it was built by slave labor and engineered by the British military. It's now an UNESCO World Heritage site and you can learn more at http://www.brimstonehillfortress.org/, if you so desire.

Where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean. Not much of a picture, but there is a pretty big disturbance in the water here, which I thought was more interesting than Ralph did. Onshore, the beach action immediately shifts to large breakers on the Atlantic side.

Black Rocks Beach formed by the volcano on Mt. Limuiga which is 3792 feet high. Consequently, this area has black sand beaches. The island also has many beautiful white sand beaches, where the bigger resorts are located.

Statia & St. Kitts

One of the great things about sailing in the Caribbean is the lack of tacking required. Ralph and Tim sailed from Panama to Jamaica with barely a tack that that continued in our other ventures including a great sail from St. Croix to St. Thomas. The sails are raised and then when you get where you are going and you take them down. This is a pleasure compared to some of our Pacific Ocean passages. We had another great tack-less sail from St. Martin to St. Eustatius (Statia) although the winds were considerably higher than the 18 knot forecast (can't ANYONE predict the weather?).

The picture shows the ruins of Ft. Oranje in Oranjestad. Statia, under Dutch control, was the trade capital of the Indies in the 1700's. Then, it had one of the world's busiest harbors. In 1776, Statia became the first nation to salute an American naval vessel when the Andrew Doria, a merchant ship under the command of an American rebel navy captain showed up in port. This, plus arms selling to the U.S. revolutionaries, led to war between England and Holland. Today, it is a quiet island, off the beaten track and known for maintaining its heritage and having many great walking trails. It is also home to a large petroleum storage facility, so we saw more freighters in this area than we have since Jamaica.
Basseterre, capital of St. Kitts is 380 years old, has a great Museum and a shopping area modelled after London's Picadilly Circus. This is the WWI and WWII memorial which we found on a walk to the west of downtown, past the public market, and beyond the Irishtown area. Irishtown is so named for the Irish indentured servants who worked the sugarcane fields in the 1600's until the slave trade was established.

Independence Square in Basseterre was formerly the slave market. Now, it is a large park surrounded by historic buildings including the Co-Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception seen in the background. St. George Anglican Church is beautiful and has one of the oldest pipe organs in the world.

There are many performance groups blending a variety of cultures on these islands. This group is called a Masquerade troupe. Its style was reportedly introduced during the 18th century by Yoruba slaves from West Africa. Those are peacock feathers in the headdresses and they have pieces of mirror sewn into the dress (symbolic conduits to the spirit world!). Their dances incorporate aspects of European dance forms (quadrille, jig, waltz), as well as traditional African and Creole moves, such as limbo. Drums make the music.

Sint Maarten

We arrived in Sint Maarten on April 2nd, right before a front that brought heavy rain and high winds. It was a bumpy night on Simpson Bay, but, the rain had a welcome cooling effect. The next day, we moved into Simpson Bay Lagoon.

The beach at Phillipsburg. This is the most bathtub like beach I have ever seen. Gentle, warm and welcoming! This picture was taken at about the halfway point of the beach. The other half of the beach is crammed with chairs and umbrellas that are sold by the hour to cruise ship passengers by various restaurants who also want to sell them a beer.

Phillipsburg street.

Exiting the Simpson Bay Lagoon. The blue structure pointing upward is the bridge. They just open it three times per day, so the boats that are coming in or leaving have to be lined up and ready or wait til the next opportunity. This reminded us of the bridges on Lake Union and Ballard in Seattle.

Virgin Gorda

Virgin Gorda, like all the other islands is straight up and down. This driveway was discovered on a walk from Leverick Bay. All the other houses could have been similarly named.



For "my friend, Sam" in Olympia.

Full moon at Leverick Bay.

Little Dix Bay Resort in the Valley at Virgin Gorda. I have seen ads for this in the New Yorker for years! Also, for Caneel Bay Resort on St. John which we visited. So, these, along with Las Hadas in Manzanillo, make for my trifecta of upscale resorts advertised in the New Yorker visited on this journey.

The Baths. The cruiser's guide says it all, "When planning a trip around the island, it is essential to include the Baths. Located on the southwest tip of Virgin Gorda, the Baths are a most unusual formation of large granite boulders. Where the sea washes in between the huge rocks, large pools of light have been created where shafts of light play upon the water, creating a dramatic effect. The beach adjacent to the Baths is white and sandy and the snorkeling excellent." This picture does not do the area justice. The boulders are huge!

More BVI

Jimmy Buffett sang of Cane Garden Bay on Tortola. This is a beautiful tropical setting which features a great beach.

Soper's Hole, Tortola. There is a great welder here who fixed up one of our davit brackets. Also there is a Pusser's store which sells the famous Pusser's rum and also the famous Painkiller mix. The Painkiller is the drink of the Virgin Islands. The cocktail is a combination of rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice with nutmeg sprinkled on top. I have been drinking them, and now I can make them!

For all you Tucson fans out there. Must have been quite the journey! Maybe they came for the cacti!

It was another straight-up hike to get a picture of The Bight Anchorage at Norman's Island. There is a great snorkeling site here (with caves) at Treasure Point. This island is referred to by the locals as Treaure Island and was thought to be the inspiration for the book. A supply boat called Deliverance makes the rounds here selling ice, water, fruit, veggies, and ice cream! We met a couple from Hungary here - Jossef and Kornelia. They stopped by our boat asking questions about going through the Panama Canal so we had them up for a cocktail so we could tell them about our experience. They said they would have a cocktail with us if we had coffee with them on their boat the next day, which we did. We had a lovely time talking about sailing experiences. During one conversation, Jossef told me I spoke excellent English. I told him I should, it is my native language. He said what he meant to say was I did not have an accent and that they found New Yorkers and Texans hard to understand! They were delightful.

Jost Van Dyke

The famous Foxy of Jost Van Dyke, BVI. He and his place have been famous here since the 60's. Foxy regaled us with jokes and stories about visits from Eric Clapton, Kenny Chesney, and Keith Richards. He asked where we came from, and when we told him we had sailed down from Olympia, he said he had been through the Ballard Locks and the Panama Canal and that the was the best way to get to Jost Van Dyke!





Foxy's Emporium. He did have live music there at lunch and dinner and it was excellent.



And, I mentioned last year that blogspot limits the number of picture that can be loaded without hysteria. That number seems to be 4. I had two more pictures of this lovely island, which I just somehow deleted, so I'll spare you. But, one of them showed the cacti that adorns all these islands. Was I the only person who did not realize that cacti grew throughout these islands?

St. John

St. John would turn out to be our favorite Virgin Island. Two-thirds of the island is National Park and it is spectacular. Moorings have been placed in most anchorages in order to help preserve the reefs and seabeds from the damage of anchors. That made for good snorkeling at the various bays we visited. The National Park Headquarters in Cruz Bay has a nice museum and lots of information about the island.








Famous Trunk Bay, voted among the world's most beautiful beaches. You can see how close together these islands are as this view features Tortola in the background.

Once again, it is a climb to get to the roads from the bays. Maho Bay was our home for a couple of nights. There are lots of trails on St. John. The trailhead here that starts across the road begins at the ruins of an old sugar plantation.

Francis Bay after a little rain cooled things down. We enjoyed snorkeling here by day. In the evening, we were entertained with reggae music coming from the camp at Maho Bay.

St. Thomas

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, is the capital city of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Among other historic buildings, it boasts Fort Christian, built in 1671. It is the oldest building in St. Thomas, but has been "temporarily closed" for some years now. Therefore, you'll be spared the history lesson unless you can read the plaque! Also located in this area is the old customs house, slave market, and subsequent Emancipation Park.






St.Thomas Synagogue is reportedly the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the United States. The congregation dates from 1796 and the current building from 1833. The sand floor is characteristic of Sephardic Carib Synagogues. Evidently this tradition dates from the Spanish Inquisition when it was necessary for the Jewish community to muffle the sound of their services, which were outlawed.

View of Charlotte Amalie Harbor a couple of blocks from the seawall. These islands just go straight up. We had walked up more than 99 steps in those couple of blocks to the Government House when we encountered a stairway named 99 steps which led to Blackbeard's Tower and, once there, one could veer off in another direction and go up more steps to Bluebeard's Castle. And there were steps beyond those steps, as well!

Walking through town there are fascinating labyrinths of original Dutch buildings, lovely courtyards, mansions and wood buildings still in use. Most in town now house duty free shops geared for the cruise ship passengers. Diamonds, gold, perfume, fine liquor, tablecloths, anyone? We spent our cash at a little fruit/vegetable stand on the waterfront. Kudos to the Washington State Apple Commission folks. I don't think there has been one place that we have visited from the Baja on down where there have not been Washington State Apples for sale! I have come to expect to see them in supermarkets, but, in fishing villages in Mexico and Central America, and this tiny fruit stand in St. Thomas?