4/24/2026 Oranjestad Bay, Eustatius
A little sprinkle in the morning quickly gave way to
sunshine and light breezes. We got underway at about 0800 and sailed close
hauled from Eustatius to the north end of St Kitts. Once in the lee of St Kitts
the wind died and we motored down the coast to Basseterre to check in. There is
a small anchorage at Basseterre and there were already 6 boats anchored. I
found a spot in the middle and we dropped the hook. Satisfied with our anchor
we enjoyed lunch before heading into customs and immigration.
I read so many reviews about how terrible the check in
process was here. They have 3 different websites to go to in order to complete
your paperwork online and the fees looked high as well. I did my best with the
forms, one in particular was very difficult. They wanted you to use the ISO
3611-1 five letter port codes for your port references. It is like the 3 letter
airport codes, ie LAX, but for shipping ports. The first stop was customs; they
were very nice and made no issues with my forms and only wanted $35.00 to check
in. Immigration was next and they were very nice and helpful. They made no
issues with my forms but they did tell me I needed to do the ISO form when I exit,
and they gave me the ISO codes I needed. They showed me online how to fill in
the exit form, and we all had a laugh about how difficult it is to find these
codes. They said that there are over 10,000 codes. They stamped my passport and
my fee of $34.00 had already been paid online. The last stop was the Port
Authority who handed me yet another form to fill out manually, all the same
information, but he was very nice about it. He collected $30.00 and we were on
our way. These offices are all within a short walk of each other, the whole
process took less than an hour. The best part is that each office is air conditioned!
The area we were in is a cruise ship town within the town of
Basseterre. It is the typical array of Souvenir shops, tee shirt shops, duty
free shops and an array of eateries, modern and colorful. Always on the lookout
for our hard-to-find liquor choices we went into one of the duty-free shops.
They had a good brand of Amaro, but we had never tried this one. We took a
chance and bought 1 bottle to try. The wind was light and the sun was high,
hanging out in air-conditioned stores felt good. We stopped for a cocktail at
the only place with indoor seating and AC.
Back on the boat we decided to move down the coast to an
anchorage off the beach, South Friers Bay. The water was much clearer in the anchorage,
enticing us in to snorkel. Lots of sea grass on the bottom, cushion stars, some
fish and a few conche. The breeze was light and it was hot, but the water
always refreshes. In the evening we watched the California Governor’s Debate,
no revelations on who to vote for but easy to eliminate a few.
4/25/2026 Shipwreck Bay, St Kitts
It was a calm sunny morning. Suzette had been reading up on
St Kitts and discovered that at one time they grew cotton here. It was unique
in that it was very long strand cotton and made very fine fabric. The morning
mission was to find some of this fabric. We took the dinghy back to town and
made a couple stops and inquiries, but it seems that this cotton no longer
exists. We stopped at the chandlery for a couple items, then back to the boat.
As we approached, we found a new neighbor flying an American flag so we stopped
to say hello. They were based in St Thomas and out for a couple weeks on their
Lagoon Cat. They invited us aboard and we traded sea stories and knowledge.
They commissioned their boat in La Rochelle France, just south of Le Sables
d’Olone where we commissioned. They took possessions a few months after we did.
They sailed their boat across the Atlantic to the Caribbean where we sailed the
Med. They had lived in DC and in LA as I did, lots to talk about.
A lazy afternoon back on Raffaellesco. Evidently the Coast
Guard came by while I was napping in the cockpit but did not stop. The boat was
hot, so we did pizza on the grill to keep the heat outside. In the evening the
bugs were coming around, no wind. We retreated below and closed the boat up
with the AC on! Later in the evening we had front row seats for fireworks on
shore at the beach club. There was a wedding celebration going on, a perfect
night for it.
4/26/2026 Shipwreck Bay, St Kitts
A quiet night and a sunny morning with a light breeze. We dinghied in to check out the beach club and go for a walk. The beach club was a huge venue, with indoor and outdoor party spaces, lounge chairs and umbrellas and a natural swimming pool of sorts where guests could swim and snorkel. We walked the beach, it was heavy with Sargasso at the tide line. We headed inland to see the other side of the island; this was a narrow isthmus in the island.
Back on the beach we checked out the Shipwreck Bar, a
hodgepodge of buildings and decks that looked like they floated up from the
sea. It was not open but that did not stop the monkeys from making themselves
right at home. They are African Green Monkeys that were brought by the French
settlers in the 1700 as pets. They outnumber humans on the island. We are told
that the government wants to shut down these beach bars and develop the beach
into a resort. Tourism is the number one source of income here as they don’t
really farm or export.
Back on the boat the wind picked up, and some clouds rolled in making for a much more comfortable boat. It was a very lazy afternoon. We decided to move south to Ballast Bay and protection from a swell that was sneaking in. This was just outside of a brand-new marina that is being developed along with 2000 home sites. A very quiet night.
4/27/2026 Ballast Bay, St Kitts
Up early and underway south for Nevis, only 7 miles away. We
motored the short distance and anchored in the only anchorage on Nevis, off of
the town of Charlestown. We headed in after lunch to check out for an early
departure the next day. They were very accommodating and happy to take a few more
of my dollars for anchoring overnight.
We walked the town, a bit run down but kind of typical. We
were in search of the home of Alexander Hamilton. Surprisingly he was born and
raised here then moved to St Croix with his mother. The slavery he witnessed
here shaped his views against slavery in the future. We found the house and
Museum at the north end of town, a small clap board home on the water’s edge.
The museum was interesting; slavery was the good and the bad of the islands.
Good in that the white man could not have prospered as he did without them, yet
bad in that they were human beings treated like animals. I am reading Michener’s
Caribbean; you can see very clearly where our prejudices against blacks came
from. Hamiltons home told his story, most interesting to me were the volumes of
papers and books he had written, a brilliant man. One day I guess I will need
to see the play.
A quiet night on the boat at anchor.
4/28/2026 Charlestown, Nevis
Up early enjoying the cool morning, I heard what sounded
like big drops of rain on the dodger but did not think much of it. As the sky brightened,
I went below and noticed that the walls and steps of the companion way had been
strafed with bird shit through the open dodger isinglass. Upon further investigation,
a huge tridactyl must have perched on my boom and let her rip! There was shit
everywhere, dodger, bimini, cabin top, even the window to the laundry room and
in the laundry room. We spent a good hour cleaning and scrubbing just to get it
tolerable, more work required.
We pulled up the anchor at about 0730 and headed south to
Montserrat. We were in need of water and the wind was not favorable, we motored
the 30 miles to Rendezvous Bay and made water. We anchored with 3 other boats.
Our checking may have been the fastest yet and we were back on board. By late
evening several additional boats had arrived in our little bay. A quiet evening on the hook before a long
haul in the morning.
4/29/2026 Rendezvous Bay, Montserrat
The day began with partly cloudy skies, a light breeze, calm
seas and the most spectacular end to end rainbow. A double rainbow in fact,
with vibrant colors. We pulled anchor and motored around the North end of the
island where we met wind and sea on our nose from the southeast, exactly on our
course to Guadeloupe. The wind was predicted to clock to the east, we
unfurled the sails and made a few tacks across our rhumb line. After about 2
hours and very little progress the wind started to clock east and increased to
about 15 knots. I stayed on port tack and eventually the wind clocked enough to
get on course for a fabulous close-hauled sail. We were hitting hull speed and
on course. Suzette is not happy sailing to weather, but she did not complain,
she went below and curled up on the leeward side and read her book. We sailed
like this for about 5 hours but as we were getting close to the island the wind
continued to clock and the sea was getting bigger.
Our destination was the reef strewn north end of Guadeloupe. Knowing that we had about 7 miles of reefs and shallows to negotiate I wanted to be there while the sun was high. I could see that we were not going to make it in time, we diverted south and sailed a much calmer route to Grand Anse, a bay we had anchored in before. The admiral was happy and reappeared on deck to finish out the passage. We anchored at the north end of the bay in 25’ of clear calm water. I was very happy with the boat’s sailing performance today, maybe the sails are just getting broke in.
4/30/2026 Grand Anse, Guadeloupe
Another beautiful day. We took the dinghy into Dasheas to explore the town and the botanical gardens. Stopping at the tourist office we discovered that there was a free shuttle to the gardens, be here at 1315 to catch the shuttle. With time to kill, we walked the little town, like so many there were still signs of the 2017 hurricane damage. The architecture did reflect the French influence. We were back at the tourist office at 1300 bur waited for about an hour for the shuttle to return, island time. At least the tourist office was air conditioned.
The Botanical Gardens were fabulous, well curated and easily navigated. Probably not the peak time for flowers but beautiful none the less. At the end of the tour, we bought a bottle of water and enjoyed a shady spot with a view of the harbor. The shuttle brought us back to town where we stopped at the grocery store and a very fine Rum shop. They offered tastings and I found one that was unique and to my liking, dark and smokey from aging in charred barrels. It was made in Guadeloupe.
For dinner it always a function of what needs to be eaten, Nachos! The chips were a little stale; we put them on the grill to crisp up. In the process I managed to drop the silicon hot pad overboard, guess I will be diving in the morning.
5/1/2026 Grand Anse, Guadeloupe
Up with the sun, calm wind and seas. After coffee it was
into the water to find the silicone pad. I quickly spotted it in the clear
water but a 25’ free dive is pushing my limit these days; I tried but could not
get there. Part of the problem was that my ears would not clear. I tried a boat
pole and a net hoping a few extra feet of arm extension would get the job done,
nope. Next the grappling hook type anchor from the dinghy. Now I am swimming
around dragging the anchor on the bottom, I could hook the pad but not get it
to stay on the anchor. After about 20 minutes of this I was ready to give up. I
returned the anchor to the boat. Still determined I was able to preclear my
ears and I made the 25’ plunge. I grabbed the pad and watched my life pass
before my eyes as I swam desperately to the surface. You would think this was
an irreplaceable piece gold jewelry, its claim to fame is that we bought it in
Les Sable d’Olone when we first outfitted the boat and I do not give up easily.
That chore done it was time to get underway and head south
along the coast to a new anchorage and jumping off point for Dominica. I was
surprised that we had enough wind to sail, the island of Guadeloupe casts a big
shadow for wind and seas on its west coast. We had a very relaxing broad reach,
but the wind stalled about 3 miles from our intended anchorage, motor on. Upon
arrival we quickly surmised that the anchorage was too small and offered no
protection from a developing swell from the south. We checked a few spots
further south but decided to head south to All Saintes islands.
All Saints is a small group of Islands about 10 miles
southeast of the southernmost tip of Guadeloupe. It is presently part of
Gaudalupe, France. All Saints was traded with France, by Britain for Canada!
All Saintes is about 303 square miles spread over four islands and a few
uninhabitable rocks, what a deal. Britain seized it back a short time later,
but the French eventually took it back.
With wind and waves on the nose and it was getting late in the afternoon
we motored across the straight to All Saintes.
Arriving shortly before sunset we settled into the anchorage and enjoyed a fabulous sunset and a glorious full moon rising over the island. The anchorage was reasonably calm with a good breeze blowing to keep us cool. We did a wash down of the boat, we were pretty salty from the last few passages. Suzette whipped up a plantain, coconut milk and rice dish for dinner.
5/2/2026 The Gillet, All Saintes
Up with the sun and with a clean boat we set about waxing
and polishing the top sides. We have enjoyed drier weather in April, but it
means that we have to do the cleaning. It was a good morning to take care of
some of the little chores, maintenance mostly.
At 1400 we headed to town to do our check out, the French
Islands make it so easy. We were in and out in 15 minutes. We walked the very
picturesque town, colorful houses and colorful boutiques. We were enticed into
the ice cream shop, lemon sorbet for me, mango for Suzette, nothing more
refreshing. We stopped at the grocery store for plantains, rum, more French
cheese and a fresh baguette. It was a smorgasbord for dinner.
5/3/2026 The Gillet, All Saintes
Another beautiful morning. We were not in a hurry to leave,
but it is best to be sailing during the warmest part of the day. We fired up
the generator for laundry, water making and battery charging. We have not been
in a marina since the beginning of this trip. While all that was going on we
finished our waxing of the top sides.
We got underway Options y about 1000 and headed south toward Portsmouth, Dominica. The wind was 10-15 from the east making for a beautiful beam reach as we headed south. There was a cat that headed out just ahead of us so of course, now we are racing. We took different paths to the exact same place. We only kept up with them and ended up anchoring next to them.
A good firm anchor set in 23’ of not so clear water but I
always like to check the anchor. With stainless steel chain it is easier to
follow even in murky water. The anchor looked nicely buried in sand, ready for
25 knot gusts predicted for overnight. Dance music was blaring across the
anchorage from 3 different directions and 3 different sources on shore into the
evening. Eventually it settled into one source behind us, a live and very
enjoyable sound akin to Gipsy Kings. A light breeze and good music as we
reclined in the cockpit.
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