St. Kitt's 2009

We had a GREAT time in St. Kitt’s! We went to St. Kitt’s to visit our friends Mike & Renee (S/V Jacumba) who moved there abut 6 months ago. They spoiled us rotten and we loved every minute of it!

First, our trip from St. Martin. We left on Monday, May 11th with several course possibilities in mind. We decided to skip the short trip to St. Bart’s followed by the long sail to Antigua because of the wind and sea direction. We opted to head either to Statia for the night or try for the long run directly to St. Kitt’s. We thought we might be better off taking advantage of the good conditions to St. Kitt’s because the wind and sea direction that was predicted for the next day would make for a difficult sail from Statia. We had those kinds of conditions last year and we weren’t interested in a repeat! The only problem was that we wouldn’t make landfall in St. Kitt’s before dark. We are not familiar with the anchorages and didn’t want to attempt anchoring in the dark so we opted to push on to Nevis where it’s easy to pick up a mooring ball off of Pinney Beach. We are nothing if not flexible! It was a good sail with 4 ft. seas and 18 knots of wind. We thought we’d spend a day or 2 exploring Nevis but the weather wouldn’t cooperate. It rained Tuesday and most of Wednesday so when we got a break Wednesday afternoon we headed over to Whitehouse Bay, St. Kitt’s and anchored next to Jacumba. It was nice to be anchored in a quiet, secluded bay after 2 months of traffic and city lights in St. Martin.

Let the entertainment begin! Mike and Renee took us all over the island and to Nevis. We spent 2 days in St. Kitt’s last year and toured Basseterre and the north end of the island including Brimstone Fort (look at last years blog entry for great pictures). Mike has a car provided to him by the company he works for so he and Renee showed us around the island, especially all the great spots along the southern peninsula.

Here’s how our busy week went:
Wednesday - Arrived in Whitehouse Bay. Drinks with Mike and Renee onboard Merengue.

Thursday – Went to see the condo that Mike and Renee were renting, did some laundry at their place and then went for drinks and dinner at the Shiggidy Shack.

Friday – Mike and Renee treated us to dinner at the Beach House, a beautiful, ocean-front restaurant.

Saturday – Island tour. Stopped to see the Reggae Bar and the Spice Mill, two more beach-front locations. Then Mike showed us around the property that will soon be Christophe Harbour. The development will include a golf course, home sites, marina, a Mandarin Hotel, shops, restaurants and more. Mike has been hired as the Project Manager. The views from the golf course are going to breathtaking! Mike drove us around in his Landrover so we could see how the course will be laid out. No other vehicle could have made it through! Then it was on to Basseterre for lunch and some shopping and then a drive up the east coast to Ottley’s Plantation. Ottley’s is a resort built on an old sugar plantation overlooking the sea. For anyone looking for a truly laid-back vacation, this is the spot. We ended the day with a drink at the Shipwreck, another beach bar where the monkeys come to visit. What a great day! I kept saying, I feel like I’m on vacation!

Stopping for a drink at the Spice Mill.

This will be the view from hole #3 of the golf course. That's Nevis across the channel.

The Landrover took us where I never thought we could go. They had blasted part of the course the day before so we had big boulders to go over and around.

Digging the whole for the next round of dynamite.

Another beautiful view from where the golf course will be. The new marina will be built where the salt pond is.

Ottley's Plantation.

A monkey on the grounds at Ottley's Plantation.

Eating a mango......

Oh look, here's another monkey eating a mango. Seems like they're everywhere!

The view from the main house.

We loved the way they blended the old with the new like this swimming pool next to the beautiful stone wall.

The Shipwreck Bar at the end of our day.

Hey, what does that sign say? Green Bay, WI 2,604 miles!

One of the guys from the restaurant was feeding the monkeys bananas and apples.

Sunday – The Domino Rematch! And the dunce hat goes to……Jim! Wendy won but Jim lost so Merengue still has to carry the hat around, till next time that is!

Mike happily passes the hat on to Jim.

We make the loser take a lap around Jacumba.

Monday – Night out at the movies to see the new Star Trek film. St. Kitt’s has just built a new movie theater and it is probably the nicest one we have ever been in. It has stadium seating, chairs that recline, a really big screen and good popcorn. Oh yes, and the movie was good too.

Tuesday – Day trip to Nevis. Mike was going there for work. He was meeting a landscaper to get a tour of a nursery and some of the properties on Nevis so he could learn more about tropical plants. Renee, Jim and I got to go along and thoroughly enjoyed the trip across the channel on the car ferry, the tour of the nursery and the drive around the island.












One of our stops was at the Hermitage, an inn that is a collection of cottages built on a 17th century plantation. The main building was beautifully furnished with antiques.

Wednesday – Lunch at the Spice Mill and then a lazy afternoon on the beach.

The view of Nevis from Cockleshell Beach.

The beach bar at the Spice Mill restaurant.

The view of Nevis from the beach chairs.

Another great day with great friends!

Thursday – Dinner at the Stone Wall, a restaurant in a garden setting in the heart of Basseterre. The food was excellent!
Friday – Farewell dinner on Jacumba. Yes, we really had to leave but it was hard. We had a wonderful time and we’ll miss hanging out with Mike and Renee. Thanks for everything guys!

Sint Maarten Carnival 2009!

Another year, Another Carnival!!!

Everyone seemed to enjoy last years’ pictures so we thought we’d treat you to a few from this years’ parade, the 40th Anniversary.

"The Waterford Incident"

Just the Facts Ma’am! “The Waterford Incident”

It was a cool, fall day, a brisk breeze in the air. Sweater weather is what we called it back home in Milwaukee. I remember it as though it was yesterday. In actuality it was more than 2 years ago.

We were headed east on an early leg of this great adventure of ours. The captain and I had just completed “The Flight”, the final locks at the east end of the Erie Canal. Our destination was the free dock in Waterford, N.Y.

The canal can be a tricky temptress with her cross winds and currents. Merengue was moving smartly downstream, gliding with the current. Her mast was still lying in its’ cradle on deck making her look more like a knight with a jousting pole rather than the beautiful little sailboat that she is. I was enjoying my turn at the helm.

The captain was on the foredeck, his eyes combing the dock for a berth for the night. “There’s one”, he shouted and pointed to a spot between a big trimaran and an Endeavor 42 out of Toronto. I steered Merengue past the spot and then swung her around to portside to point her up into the current. I moved her slowly towards the open spot along the face dock being careful to judge the winds, current and her speed as I approached the small opening. Just as I was sliding her in between the two yachts the unthinkable happened. The current pushed us back slightly before we were parallel to the dock. Before I knew it Merengues’ solar panels were catching on the anchor of the Endeavor 42. We were snagged! I let out a yell to the captain that I needed his help as I lunged back toward the solar panels in an attempt to free them. If we caught hard we would rip the panels right off the davits. We would also be carried backwards in the current slamming into the Endeavor’s bow. My cry for help brought 2 heads popping up from the Endeavor and they rushed forward to protect their boat. Would we crash? Would we be sunk before we had hardly begun?............

OK, enough dramatics. I did start to snag Merengue’s solar panels on the anchor of the Endeavor 42. I did yell for Jim’s help and 2 heads did pop out of the Endeavor, Pat and Geoff of the S/V Beach House. They helped us fend off and get Merengue docked. We introduced ourselves, I apologized for the excitement and 2 ½ years later they are not only still talking to us but we’ve become friends. So we were very excited when we heard they were heading out to cruise the Caribbean. They caught up with us here in St. Martin a few weeks ago and we have enjoyed drinks and dinner on each others’ boats, trips to Phillipsburg and the carnival parade. They will also be heading to Grenada for hurricane season. Geoff dubbed our first meeting as “The Waterford Incident.”

Now, Jim tells a different, more exciting version of our first meeting. He tells everyone he was thrown below deck hitting his head on the galley stove when Wendy T-boned their boat! Hmmmm, maybe he should do the writing. He could have a career in fiction!

More Friends in St. Martin

We love it when friends come to visit us. This time it was Angela, Jill and Jill's son Kyle.

Kyle storms the Bastille! Oops, it's just Fort Louis overlooking Marigot Bay.

There isn't much left of the fort but the view is beautiful!

A stop at the market for fresh fruit, bread, meats and cheeses, our favorite lunch.

A picnic on the terrace of the Hotel Beach Plaza.
Wendy, Kyle, Jill and Angela.

Kyle with some of the local kids.

This is what happens when an 11 year old hangs out with 4 adults. We buried him in the sand and stuck a coconut on his head!

The next morning we were off for a day of sailing when suddenly Kyle committed mutiny and took over the ship!

Actually, Kyle got his first lesson in steering and did a great job. We headed northeast towards Anguilla and then tacked back to Creole Rock near Grand Case for snorkeling, swimming and lunch.

Jill & Kyle's Great Adventure!

Jill and Kyle spent a morning at the Loterie Farm, an adventure park with zip-lining. They had to walk through the treetops on a tightrope, rope ladders, swinging logs and more and then zip-line down trough the canopy. Wendy and Jim followed along on the trails below. Wimps!

Here's Chester, one of the residents at Loterie Farm. He quickly lost interest in us once he realized we didn't have any food.

Then it was off to Orient Beach where Kyle hit the surf!

We had a great time with our friends. Thank you Angela, Jill and Kyle for spending your vacation with us. Who's next? Come on down, the weather's great!