Goodbye Antigua, Hello St Kitts and Barbuda

17.14.362N 62.39.581W

6th March 2023

5416 miles since leaving Sandwich.

We actually managed to leave English harbour more or less on schedule which was nothing short of a miracle considering our track record of late.  The more or less caveat comes from the plan to leave at 0800 against our actual departure of 10:30 but with customs and harbour dues to negotiate, and pay respectively, it is still nothing short of a miracle that we managed to get out before lunch time. I am pleased to say that the propeller behaved itself, under motor we couldn’t detect any undue vibrations. Later in the day when we were sailing there was a knock as the propeller rotated but my thinking is that this is more to do with the cutless bearing beginning to wear than anything more sinister. Another thing I have to add to my things to do list is to buy a new rope cutter for the next time that we are lifted as the one we have was smashed up by the chain that damaged the propeller. Believe it or not I am actually beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, I would have been better off not winning the race against the French boat for the mooring Buoy in the Isle de Saintes.

The journey over to St Kitts was pretty uneventful which was a blessing and we managed to sail the whole way, right up to our chosen anchorage. Unfortunately, the day ran out on us and it was 2100 before we dropped the hook in the first location. After 20 minutes at anchor in Shittern bay St Kitts we decided that neither of us were overly happy to spend the night in that local. The bottom was weedy and took two attempts to get the anchor to bite plus a swell was working its way into the bay around the headland making things decidedly uncomfortable. . To top it off we were also joined by a boom, boom, party boat complete with the obligatory woo, woo girls screeching on deck. By unanimous decision we decided to pull the anchor in and move around the corner to give it another go. This was much better, the anchor dug in first time in a flat calm bay, 22:00 hrs and we were done for the day having sailed 54 miles and finally put the propeller drama behind us. 

Up with the larks the next morning we were greeted by the sight of two big cruise liners moored up on the dock in St Kitts. Having been in St Kitts before when the cruise ships dock and not wanting to get killed in the rush we decided to move ourselves over to St Barts. Highlight of the trip over was a really big shark, or maybe a small shark with a really big dorsal fin, which passed about 10 meters in front of us. Apart from that it was another pleasant day sail with no fish caught but plenty of weed snagged. We went up the East coast and then cut between St Kitts and Statia where we got our first sight of St Barts low down on the horizon. Total distance was 47 miles, and we were anchored up by 1530 in the afternoon. The actual main town approaches to St Barts were literally chock a block with super yachts, buzzing launches, a large resident population of cruising yachts and even a helicopter or two just to add to the mix. The end result of this was that the only sensible parking spot was nearly a mile outside of the harbour entrance.  On the bright side though it was wonderfully peaceful tucked in under the cliffs and we spent a relaxing afternoon watching the Frigate birds soaring back and forwards from their nests on the cliff face. Later in the evening we were joined by a properly beautiful 150 ft sailing yacht in our anchorage which promptly dragged its anchor on the first attempt which made me feel a whole lot better about our recent spate of anchor dragging. He got it dug in on the second attempt and we even got a wave from the foredeck crew which is pretty unusual to be honest as most super yacht crews have blinkers on and rarely seem to acknowledge us lesser mortals. Emboldened by this show of friendliness I tried to encourage Norma to paddle over and borrow a cup of sugar, but she was having none of it.  Another peaceful night ensued only broken by the high pitched calls of the Frigate birds and the gentle lap of the waves on the small beach which was barely 50 meters away.

The next morning while sitting on our aft deck under Normas new sunshade we gave St Barts a good hard stare. The harbour in the distance was in turmoil as dinghies, yachts and launches from a cruise ship all jostled for a space to get into the dock area. We decided that we really couldn’t be bothered with the hassle and so after a leisurely breakfast while we watched the beautiful people on the super yacht next door do calisthenics on their football pitch sized foredeck, we pulled the anchor in and pointed our nose towards St Martin.

The crew and owner of the super yacht (I really wish I had got its name), all gave us a wave as we crossed their bows and pulled the spinnaker up for the next leg. As always it didn’t stay up long but we did make a fine sight for a while. The wind was incredibly fickle all day and it wasn’t until 1700 that we completed the 23 mile journey and dropped anchor again, this time in Marigot bay St Martin.

I’m going to leave this one here as I am currently waiting ion a delivery of spare bits for Spectra from Island world marine. It was due between 0900 and 1000 and as it is now 1200 it should be here soon. We have been here for nearly a week now and have made good use of the time but more of that in the next rip-roaring episode of Paul and Norma bimble about a bit in the Caribbean.