Our last day in Statia, we hiked into Mt. Scenery, the dormant volcano - very nice (and again, sorry no camera - no pics), and later snorkeled the old seawall.  We saw a large sea turtle tucked under a shelf, and several rays.  I was looking for slave beads on the bottom, but found an old ceramic piece with hand painted design - I think it's ancient Dutch.

We left in the morning, after being nagged by the marine patrol about fees again - seems they can't coordinate things between the boat and office ("it's too early mon, the office isn't open now"), so they just keep coming around in the early morning to check your receipt.  Arghhhh! 

It was a tough slog to windward and the 19 mile trip to Basseterre, St. Kitts took 9 hours with the last hours motor sailing.  The wind wrapped around the south end of the island and blew lots of steep chop at us in addition to the sloppy swells bouncing around.  Along the way we caught our first tuna!  Well...half a tuna.  Seems I didn't reel him in fast enough and a shark (presumably) ate all but the head.  Our secret weapon was that I loaded some of Christine's nasty stinky dried shrimp on the hook with the lure.  I can't wait to try again.

St. Kitts and Nevis form the smallest nation in the Americas both by size and population and are two of the Caribbean's oldest European settled territories.  St. Kitts was named Liamuiga by the Indians that settled there, which means "fertile land".  Nevis was named Oualie, which means "land of beautiful waters".

Ok, so how nice are these islanders?  It just is truly amazing.  Three people (in 24 hours) have driven me around town, in Basseterre, so far without me even asking.  First, I'm on my way to check in to Customs and stop at an insurance company (Advantage Capitol Management) to ask directions.  Before I know it, Austin Julius is driving me around town.  (We ran out of propane so no cold drinks nor hot food aboard).  He took me to two markets looking for ice, and three food stops looking for something to eat (first two were closed), finally getting some Chinese food and waiting for me for 20 minutes.  I was insisting he didn't, and he insisted on taking me.  Thanks Austin!

The next morning I noticed that we had no dinghy!  Gone!  After checking the lee shore,  I went ashore (caught a dinghy ride with Terry and Elaina who we met in Statia) to check into Customs and report the missing dinghy.  After checking in with the super-friendly Customs and Immigration officers, Ludel Harvey, "Harvey", one of the "Pilots" (Captains) that drives the cruise ships into the port, overhears the dinghy situation.  Minutes later he is driving me around to the Coast Guard and offering to help me with picking up propane and supplies.  Thanks Harvey!

Then, I go to Port Zante to inquire about fuel.  Well, the Dock Master, "Trucky" stops what he is doing, takes me to Gypsy Cat, (by dinghy), to pick up my jerry can and 2 propane bottles, and back to his car where he drives me to the fuel station.  They arrange to fill it and deliver the propane to the dock (it was the cheapest fill on propane that we ever had).  Later when the propane was supposed to arrive, I asked the security guard where Trucky is.  He went home, but before he left, he delivered the propane bottles to Gypsy Cat and left them in the cockpit!   I tipped him earlier, of course, but wow, what service!  Thanks Trucky!

After seeing Basseterre, provisioning, and visiting the beaches, and anchorage at White House Bay, we went to the sister-island Nevis.  Their best beach, Pinneys, is a beautiful stretch under the volcano - this is where we dropped anchor.  Only problem with the beach is that there are now 120 mooring balls littering the waters and "uglifying" the area.  They are Nevis' newest idea on how to make more money.  But, duh.....there are only a few boats at a time visiting, and even fewer who want them.  So, now they just force you to pay for them. 

There are hot springs here - we love hot springs.  The Bath Hotel nearby is the oldest hotel in the Caribbean where people like Lord Nelson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Prince William Henry, who was the Duke of Clarence visited.  They are now turning this into a government building.  Yuck!

Anyway we are having a great time.  Went to the local Saturday Fruit and Fish market this morning.  Great!  Got some fresh beef tenderloin, fresh made carrot juice, ginger juice, homemade Indian snacks, and of course, really delicious fruits and vegetables.  While we were there, some friends were showing Christine a recipe that she tore out of a boating magazine.  On the back was a picture of Christine and Gypsy cat.  We thought she tore out the picture to show us.  What a coincidence!

February 25th, St. Martin

So, here we are back in St. Martin (or at least I am).  As our dinghy was stolen, and our port steering went out, we thought it best to get the new dinghy and do the steering repair here.  As there was major work to be done, Christine thought it was a great time to slip away and go back home for a couple weeks.  Well, she is picking up some needed items, so she is actually helping. 

So, we were able to get an outboard motor right away - a very nice 8HP 2-stroke Nissan, and borrowed an old hard shell dinghy from our neighbor.  But the motor was too big (heavy) for the little craft sitting only about 3" above the water in the back.  It's like a little bathtub, only with barnacles and algae.  Christine got a dinghy ride with her luggage to the airport, and I followed her in the little "bathtub" boat.  We are in the large lagoon and go back and forth from the French side to the Dutch side - about a two mile ride.  Well, after she left, I TRIED to get back to Gypsy Cat safely in the bathtub - but this was not to be.  The winds were up and I had to battle the wind chop.  I was taking in a lot of spray filling up the bathtub but didn't notice how much until it was too late as I was concentrating so hard on holding the course and trying to keep things under control.  I looked behind me after awhile to check and realized that the rear of the boat was not about 3" above the water but a few inches UNDER the water and I was sinking fast!  My shoes and things floated away, and the gas tank was upside-down outside the boat but still attached by the fuel line.  I wasn't concerned with myself as I am a good swimmer and could have swam to a nearby island.  But I was afraid of losing the borrowed dinghy and our new motor.  It looked hopeless, but I knew it would go down instantly if I stopped, so my only option was to keep it moving and head to the island.  If I could at least get to waist deep water I could hold onto the boat and bring it ashore.  So, I altered course and held onto the floating fuel tank, trying to keep moving and upright while the boat rolled side to side due to the heavy water in it and the chop.  As I was going down, I figured that the motor would die, of course, but it held on even though it was mostly underwater - due to, I think, the tightly sealed case.  When it did die I was close enough to the island that the water was shallow enough to stand and I jumped out and saved it.  A couple hours later I got some help from another boater and got towed back.  Yep, Christine sure did pick a great time to leave.

Realizing the necessity of the right dinghy, and with some luck, I got the "Cadillac" of dinghys - a 10 1/2 foot AB rigid inflatable.  I was lucky to find a really nice used one (new, they are $3,400!).   NOW, it is a joy to ride around with the 8HP on it.  I can walk all around in it even when I'm zipping along.  It came with a stainless steel anchor and chain, and even has a locker.  Oh, you better believe I have this sucker locked up tight.

Well, I'm busy with work on the boat, so no more new sights, and my fun is cruising around in the dinghy getting parts, propane, doing laundry etc.  Each day I spend hours on this major steering project and other minor projects.  As this is too boring for words, I will spare the details.

All is well here (except for the riots down-island in Guadeloupe).  It's a good thing we are here as we would be in Guadeloupe right now if we  didn't come back to St. Martin.  Some friends emailed us and said everything is closed there, and riot police are in the streets.  They immediately left, as did most boaters.  Hopefully, they get that settled soon - we are not allowed to pack heat (guns) in the islands and I would rather not have to defend us with our "guns" aboard (flare guns, pellet gun, spear gun). 

Next post will have pictures!!!!

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