Islands in the Clouds

Antigua, St Kitts & Nevis – Jumby Bay Antigua

After a restful few days in Barbuda, we headed back to Antigua to see the North side of the island. We anchored off Long Island in Jumby Bay. Long Island has a very nice resort (Jumby Bay) and some very exclusive homes. Rumor has it Robin Leach of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” lives here. We had stayed at the resort in 2002 and it we enjoyed returning for a great dinner ashore. The bay is extremely shallow so we anchored out, but still managed to bump the bottom as we lifted the anchor on the way out.

Jolly Harbor Antigua

As we needed to check out of Antigua (clear customs and immigration) before heading to our next destination, we sailed down from Long Island to Jolly Harbor. The anchorage is mid way down the West coast of Antigua and while there was not much ashore we spent a few days catching up on paperwork online.

St. Christopher & Nevis

We sailed to St. Kitts, a 40-mile downwind run, in moderate wind with a good following sea. The passage between St Kitts and Nevis, called the Narrows is thin and very shallow, but we had done it once before so were comfortable sailing through it in less than 20 feet of water at over 8 knots. We headed up to Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts, but the anchorage was very rough, so we opted to anchor in White House bay in the South. We took a taxi back to Basseterre the next day clear in and walk around. The center of town is modeled after Piccadilly Square in London.

St. Christopher, better known as St. Kitts, is a long island with the north being very lush and volcanic, while the south is dry. St. Kitts is joined with Nevis as the smallest island state represented in the United Nations. A railway that runs around the north part of the island was originally used to move sugar cane from the fields to the port and now provides scenic tours of the island.

While every island has many beach bar/restaurants we found a great one just North of White House Bay, the Shipwreck Bar. This very rustic bar serves great food at very reasonable prices and makes great rum punch.

After a few days in St. Kitts we had seen the island and decided to move across the narrows to Nevis. As we approached the anchorage at Oualie Beach the water depth dropped quickly and we found ourselves at anchor in 7 feet 6 inches, which is the draft of the boat. A little shallow for our liking so we decided to move south and spend the night in Tamarind Bay, which is 12 feet deep. We spent the afternoon snorkeling and had an excellent dinner ashore at the Gallipot restaurant, known for great local seafood.

While part of the same state, Nevis is significantly different than St. Kitts. From our view, the people where friendlier and the island was much cleaner. We took an island tour with Barry, who showed us the old plantations (most now turned into small hotels) and scenery followed by a nice hike through the rain forest.

Our hike was led by a naturalist who teaches a course on Poisonous Plants, Fatal Foods, and Murderous Medicines at the local university. Needless to say the hike was very interesting and informative.

One of Nevis’ claims to fame is that Alexander Hamilton (the 3rd US president) was born there and there is a museum dedicated to him. While he left the island at the age of 7, the locals are sure that his time in Nevis provided the basis for Alexander’s policies once elected to the presidency.

While moored off Pinney Beach, we ran into a couple of boats from the Caribbean 1500 (Cambio and Rigel), so we shared stories and caught up on what had happened since our departure from the US in November.