Monday, December 14th, 2009

Gail Bowdish of Gaiamar has provided this update.

Gaiamar left Antigua in a squall, headed west toward Nevis, where we would meet up with Hud, whom I had met with the Caribbean 1500 in 2005.  After cruising in the Caribbean for a couple of years he and his wife Lynne had purchased a home on Nevis and I was curious to learn what had attracted them to this island instead of another.  Initially the wind was dead astern, the slowest point of sail, and then we decided to head to the north side of Nevis which gave us a better angle on the wind.  Halfway to Nevis Barry noticed the cloud above Montseratt looked suspiciously like an eruption.  We took a series of photos that documented the cloud of ash that looked very different from the usual pattern of clouds. An eruption on Montseratt would certainly explain the tremors that had been felt on Dominica for the past week.

We reached the Narrows separating Nevis from her sister island of St. Kitts (St. Christopher, named by Christopher Columbus for his patron saint) about 1500, still with enough light to see the shoals.  We navigated carefully in 20 feet of water with numerous coral heads after sailing in deep water after we left Antigua.  Barry had set the hand line with a Cuban Yo-Yo as soon as we left Antigua. When the depth sounder was finally reading depths again I heard the line tense up and suggested he check the lure.  Sure enough, the
lure and leader were gone, so it must have been a big one that got away.

I called Hud as we approached Charlestown, and he advised me to take a mooring for the night since mooring use is compulsory.  After a quiet dinner aboard, we launched the dinghy the next morning and headed in to clear in with Customs. We had to go to the Police Station for immigration, then we had to wait for the Port Captain to return to clear us in.  Barry wandered over to the Jamaican bakery for a sweet bread while I waited outside the port office. After all our papers were in order and fees were paid, I called Hud who had offered to give us a tour of his adopted island.  I had forgotten to bring my hat ashore, and Barry suggested I check out a store across the street where he had seen a hat he thought I would like while he would wait for Hud to arrive.  A few minutes later I walked out of the store wearing the exact hat he had chosen for me.

Hud showed us the highlights of Nevis and then we stopped for lunch at one of the old plantation houses that had been converted to a restaurant.  I indulged in the lobster salad sandwich while Barry had the chicken roti.  We watched as a rain squall approached the island, but it was over within a few minutes and then we had a rainbow.  Hud dropped us off then we explored Charlestown until just before sunset.  On the way back to Gaiamar we stopped by a catamaran called Hands Across the Sea which I recognized from the 2008 Caribbean 1500.  Tom and Harriet had adopted several schools throughout the Caribbean and had even formed a nonprofit corporation to help provide school supplies.

We beached the dinghy in front of the Double Deuce where we went for dinner and internet.  It was Karaoke night so after dinner we moved closer to the action, and I was surprised to see Ed and Heidi from Shearwater whom I had met on Dominica and in the Saintes. It's definitely a small world.  It was after 0100 by the time we were back aboard and we woke up the next morning to more rain which caught up with us during our short sail to White House Bay on St. Kitts.
 
Gail