Nevis

Spent the best part of a week anchored off a beach on the west side of the tiny island of Nevis (pronounced Neevis) which is part of the twin island state of St Kitts & Nevis.  At first look Nevis looks like an imagined tropical island a kid would instinctively draw -  round island, symmetrical volcano in the middle with beaches dotted around the coast but there's more to it.  Its famous as the place where the British naval hero Lord Nelson met and married Fanny Nesbit and as the birth place of Alexander Hamilton, the first treasury secretary of the new United States of America.  (No connection between the events as far as we can tell).

Nevis

We had a relatively incident free sail from Montserrat although an early gust caught us with too much sail up ....again.  One of these days we will learn.  On the way to Nevis we sailed past the island of Redonda which is really just an uninhabited big rock in the middle of the sea which would not be out of place off Scotlands West coast.  Apparently some Antiguan resident has claimed sovereignty of the island and has proclaimed himself King of Redonda but no lives on the island and it would be a pretty formidable place to try and come ashore.

Island Kingdom of Redondo

After clearing in at the capital of Nevis, Charlestown, we picked up a mooring off a place called Pinney’s Beach right in the lee of the volcano which is dormant.  Its peak however is almost continually shrouded in cloud which seems to generate rain showers which cascade down the mountain slopes and across the bay on a daily basis.  Nevis used to be a huge important sugar producing island for the British but now both it and St Kitts rely almost entirely on the tourist dollar and so have numerous resorts, hotels and visitors from frequent cruise ships and mega yachts.  Nevertheless Nevis remains pretty peaceful and relaxed and although the sugar plantations are gone many of the old plantation houses have been renovated and turned into restaurants or hotels.

The neighbourhood is going to the dogs

We slogged on with the schoolwork while we were here and got in a couple of visits ashore.  The first was to have a look around Charlestown which is quite a pretty town with lots of the old stone buildings still standing and in various stages of renovation.  We had a walk around the town and a  look at a small interesting museum focusing on Lord Nelson and then visited some hot springs to soak our feet.  Its a really pleasant place and the locals are super friendly.

Main Street Charleston

Relaxing at the hot Springs

A couple of days later we took off to the Golden Rock Inn, which is an old plantation home restaurant and hotel for lunch.  The place is located halfway up the mountain on the south facing side.  The setting was straight out of a travel brochure, old plantation buildings, modern decor, beautiful sunlit tropical gardens and all overlooking the sparkling blue Caribbean and cooled by the trade winds.  We had a great meal and then were able to lounge around their pool before returning to the boat.  Our taxi driver who ferried us to and from the restaurant, Charlie, was a character who had 12 kids.  He is not unusual in the islands and lots of the guys we speak to have multitudes of kids - don’t know how they cope.

Views from the Golden Rock

The old plantation buildings

Crew Lunch

Finished up at Nevis on Monday (24th Feb) and then sailed across to St Kitts which is only about 9 miles away.  The main town here is Basseterre but in the bay the swell can get a bit lumpy so we decided to seek refuge in a small marina complex called Port Zante.  Had a bumpy time getting the boat into the pen primarily due to the fact that the pens are only just big enough for the boat but reinforces the fact that there is further improvement on Scott's boat handling skills required.  Managed to scratch the new varnish on the capping rail in a couple of spots but hopefully it will rub out.

We will stay here for a few days and then head off to St Maarten where we are picking up some friends, Dan and Kelly, for a few days sailing.  Dan crewed for us when we went around Cape Hatteras to Charleston in what seems a lifetime ago.  We are all looking forward to catching up with them again.  Dan is an accomplished solo circumnavigator so am looking forward to getting as much info out of him regarding the Atlantic crossing.