Ahhhh St. Barts. The French now speak English, take
American dollars, and are friendly. What a lovely
island with lovely beaches and lovely lovelies on the
beaches. The town of Gustavia is filled with sailing
yachts and a cruise ship or two. Fine French
restaurants and boutiques are everywhere. And gorgeous
secluded beaches to work on your all over tan are
abundant. A rented skooter is all you need to get
around, just don't run off the road. A day of drinking
wine, with bread and cheese, working on my all over
tan, and trying not to get run off the narrow hilly
roads.
If you go to St. Barts, you must go to the Anse de
Grande Saline or the Anse de Gouverneur, two of the
most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. The French do
know how to get a tan. Walking the beach, I met a
British lady who obviously was just starting her all
over tan(well almost all over) and the smile on her
face as she walked along was unbelievable. It said
something like, "I've not done this before and this is
great. I've found new freedom!!". I, of course, have
my over all tan.
While I rented a skooter for the day, Barry and the
skipper rented a car. When we met at Le Sellect(a
local bar) around 4 pm, Barry was completely
nackered("tired" for the American readers). It seems
the skipper had wanted to go on a hike. He had
forgotten Alastair's love of hiking to forts and other
things which are always on the tops of hills. And
these hills may be quite high and strenuous unless
you're used to it. I understand the view is quite
nice up there, but I'll take the skipper's word for
it.
It seems we are traveling fast now after staying in
Antigua so long. We are now in Anguilla after sailing
around St. Martin from St. Barts yesterday. St. Martin
is just too commercial and too many cruise ships to
stop. We counted 3 in port as we sailed by. I remember
Phillipsburg from 15 years ago and it isn't even
recognizeable now..... all the large hotels on the
beach now and the cruise ship dock. Last time I was
here was on the cruise ship Norway, and the tenders
had to offload us directly onto the beach. There was
no dock or pier at all.
Anguilla is British and only developed a little. There
are some nice small hotels and restaurants on the
island but none of the big chains. It's a very nice
friendly place without a lot of people and lots of
quiet beaches. A nice vacation spot for those that
don't want a lot to do and avoid the crowds.
The islands are getting lower now. We are in Road Bay,
Anguilla. It rained this morning, and we're taking a
slow day. Not doing much. Last night we had a very
good meal on the beach(literally). Whole red snapper
with nice vegetables and quiet jazz music. The
restaurant had set up tables on the beach with lamps
and table lighting which was quite nice. Today, for
lunch, we ate at the same place and listened to Diana
Krall while we drank strawberry daquaries. My kind of
music.
Tonight we sail to Virgin Gorda. 80 miles. I wonder if
Barry can stay awake on his watch. ..lol...I do think
he's recovered from St. Barts now. We leave Anguilla
about 6 pm and arrive at Virgin Gorda sometime
tomorrow morning and later in the week to Tortolla
where Barry leaves us.
The rest of the journey after Tortolla will be just
the skipper and me it seems. Raising the anchor is
difficult with two people and the first time we tried
without someone to flake the chain, the wind caught
the boat(while the skipper was below deck). I tried to
hold it with the anchor winch, and broke the winch in
my hands. I didn't know I was that strong. And I have
that same type winch(the red ones that float) on my
own boat.
I have suggested to the skipper that we find some crew
to help sail the boat through the US Virgins and back
to Trinidad with us and have made it my priority to
convince him to find someone before Barry leaves. He
asked me who I thought would be good. I told him that
a young Caribbean girl who knows how to flake the
chain, can possibly help in the cooking, can assist in
other things around the boat, looks good, speaks good
English, and fucks like a rabbit would be nice. The
skipper has failed to reply yet so I may have to alter
my recommendation somewhat.
New editor in chief
Dave
