Having confirmed with Chris Parker that the best opportunity for heading to St Kitts wthin the next week or so was on Monday, we left Penns Landing, after an errand in Road Town, and headed straight to Virgin Gorda, checked out at Gun Creek and then departed around 4pm for Saint Kitts.  So, we rounded Prickly Pear Island, passed between Necker and Eustacia Islands, then having rounded the north end of Virgin Gorda, we bade the BVI farewell just as the sun was setting (photo above) and set our course for St Kitts.

We sheeted in our sails on a fairly comfortable port tack without too much pounding as the sea state was fairly good and were able to head slightly above our rhumb line for most of the night.  We had plenty of company along the way in the form of cruise ships, coming and going between the Caribbean islands.  We had plotted our course to go south of Saba, which in hindsight may have been a mistake because after we passed it, not only did we have to head up a little, but also the wind shifted from ENE to about ESE so the wind was on the nose for the last leg of the passage past Sint Eustacius to Basseterre where we cleared into St Kitts.  We motored the last leg, which at least brought our batteries back up to full charge and gave us hot water for our much needed showers before retiring that night.

First impressions of St Kitts have been quite favorable, even if we were boarded by the Coast Guard before we had finished setting our anchor in Basseterre!  They very pleasantly took information about our boat, crew and intended itinerary and wished us well but told us to call them on VHF should we need assistance.  The checking in process was a bit slow, mainly because the Customs officer was not available initially, and involved going to 3 different buildings. Since the anchorage in Basseterre was a bit rolly, we decided to head to Whithouse Bay, a beautiful tranquil bay at the south end of the island, where we shared the anchorage with about half a dozen boats and had a wonderful undisturbed slumber all night long.

Today, feeling much refreshed, we dinghied ashore then walked up the road a little to see the salt pond which has recently been opened up to the sea and a new major marina is under construction.  Today, this southerly end of the island is beautifully unspoiled but I fear that is changing now that there is a good road connecting to the rest of the island and developers (including Robert Redford; Sundance Ridge) are moving in.  We got lucky and found a taxi with a lovely driver named Ester who ended up taking us for a tour of the whole island.

img_1067img_1073img_1075

Photos above show black volcanic rocks on the northern shore, ruins of a sugar mill on the Wingfield Estate that used an aqueduct to feed the overshot type of water wheel that powered the mill, and some of the Caribatik that is made at the Romney Manor. We also learned a bit about the island. While sales tax is high (17%) and there are no unemployment or health benefits, kids attend school (in uniform) for free through high school and at much reduced cost in college. However, the medical and veterinary universities are mainly for US and Canadian students. Tourism is the main industry on the island with 2-4 cruise ships (with up to 8,000 passengers per ship) in port most days throughout the high (i.e. Winter) season. Marriott has a very large water-front resort complex, including an 18 hole golf course.