Chilling in Nevis

We left Antigua early in the morning, but not quite early enough - we arrived in Nevis in the early evening darkness. The lights from their stadium shone out toward the sea, robbing us of our night vision and we made the turn in toward the harbour earlier than we should have. So when we suddenly found ourselves in an (uncharted) mooring field we decided to drop anchor, made sure we were clear of everything around us, and went to bed. Better to figure things out in the morning.

Early morning light showed us that we had anchored on the town side of the Charlestown pier among local boats, within sight of the anchorage we had picked on our chart. So we upped anchor and made our way past the town pier to a spot off Pinney’s Beach under Nevis Peak before Richard dinghied back to town to look after the formalities of checking in. Clearing in did not take long. With Into The Blue swinging on her anchor just a short dinghy ride from shore we tidied up and by afternoon were heading for the beach to take a look around and begin to get the feel of this island.

It did not take long to walk in to Charlestown, Nevis’ capital. And we found that walking through Charlestown does not take long either - unless you stop to visit the museum, or to see the pictures in the Cafe des Arts, or browse through some of the stores for clothes or souvenirs... Two supermarkets lay at the other end of town, and there was a Chinese grocery store in the middle; there was less expensive internet access close to the supermarkets, as well as an air-conditioned internet cafe closer to the beach (internet access came in the more or less expensive categories - no free wi-fi here). And on the beach itself was the Double Deuce Beach Bar - music all day, pleasant and cruiser friendly, offering cold drinks and good food (though not breakfast, no matter what the sign says - opening late for dinner and drinks and karaoke night makes it a little difficult to get up in time for that). We took notes from the cruising guide they kept on the counter, a great source of information particularly when combined with the knowledge offered by other cruisers, but found out too late about the fresh water outdoor shower we could have used. Next time we’ll know.

Double Deuce is where we met Paul Johnson, who at eighteen sailed across the Atlantic in a dinghy. Now eighty-two, he was aboard Cherub, a double-ended gaff-rigged boat of his own design. He built her to be fast and stable at speeds above theoretical hull speed. Because, he said, he liked to sail fast and enjoyed sailing along the fronts of storm systems where he could whip along at twelve knots or so. The only disadvantage was that sailing like that was a little rough, and his crew tended to leave ship after these episodes. We will remember Paul Johnson, but he probably won’t remember us - we would have been among the many faces at the bar where he enjoyed telling stories and downing largish amounts of alcoholic beverages.

PInney’s Beach was a very nice place to swim and walk and just generally relax and unwind. Other cruisers came and went, charter boats visited, the local fishermen came through a couple of times a day - the route of some of the local boats seemed to vary depending on whether there were any clothing optional boats at anchor at the time. From time to time small cruise ships visited, anchoring out at sea and ferrying their passengers in to Charlestown. Even the Maltese Falcon made a brief stop, as you’ll see from our pictures.

Our trips ashore were very pleasant - friendly greetings, friendly faces, people who welcomed and were glad to help visitors. Our visit to Golden Rock, a former sugar estate in the hills, confirmed this feeling. We went on the recommendation of cruisers we met - a chance to see a little more of the island and perhaps get a picture of the monkeys there. We took the bus from Charlestown, making sure to ask if it was the bus (otherwise it might become a taxi, our friends told us). Knowing we were visitors, the driver went out of his way to drop us closer to where we wanted to go (with the agreement of his passengers). An uphill walk along a winding tree-lined road took us to a pleasant restaurant, where we enjoyed a cold drink and caught a glimpse of the monkeys thanks to the kind ladies who served us - but no pictures, the monkeys never came close enough for pictures. The ladies told us that the monkeys, once pets of the well-to-do, are now pests that raid gardens and garbage for food.

Later we caught the bus back from the local gas station where the lady proprietor also sold cold drinks and snacks from a small store, including home made coconut pastries she made herself. They were very good. She helped make sure we caught the right bus back to Charlestown, and wished us a good journey as we left. Her wishes must have stayed with us right up to our sail to Sint Maarten, since it was one of those fast beam reaches the Alberg 30 seems made for.

The weather changed. A surge developed, the waves making it difficult to land the dinghy on the beach and risky to tie up at the town dock. We were coming to the end of the time we had meant to stay anyway - everything suggested it was time to move on. Checking out formalities were quickly and efficiently completed the afternoon before we left, even though the power went off and forms were filled out in the dim light of an unlit office. The next morning we watched Paul Johnson leave, hauling up his anchor and raising his sails by hand before sailing off on his way south - maybe to Curacao, he said. It was a pleasure to watch Cherub under way. There is something very graceful in the lines of those gaff-rigged sails as they fill with the wind. After he vanished into the distance we pulled up our own anchor and set off ourselves for an overnight sail to Sint Maarten and the prospect of new places to explore.