New Web Site Coming!
We have a new web site coming! Maryann completed a first pass at it a couple of days ago and we should be going live with it momentarily. Meanwhile, in the process of uploading the new web pages I managed to screw up the old blog, which means if you're seeing this, then you're either fairly clever about the web, or it's gotten fixed. Let's hope the latter.
And yes, the new site has lots and lots of pictures.
Meanwhile, you're stuck with my text.
Last Thursday we ordered a replacement part to fix the aft head (our toilet). Maryann asked them to send it overnight. When it hadn't arrived by Monday afternoon she called. Apparently they sent it US Mail. We have no idea when it might arrive, but once it does we'll have to have the outfit on St Maarten forward it on to us, wherever we happen to be.
Tuesday morning we pulled the anchor, fueled up, cleared out with customs and immigration, and caught the 9:30AM bridge opening to leave Simpson Bay Lagoon. We set a course south for St. Eustatius, about 30 miles away. Wouldn't you know the wind was enough out of the southeast that we ended up close-hauled the entire way! The wind was up and the seas were up, so we spent a fairly uncomfortable 5-6 hours motorsailing into the wind, yet again. Not fun being heeled over, getting pushed about by "confused" seas, with the wind gusting over 20 knots. By the way, "confused" seas means the waves come from more than 1 direction, giving a very rough and uneven ride.
One reason we motorsailed is because the generator isn't working well and we needed to make water the entire time we were in the open ocean. We can't (rather we don't want to) make water in polluted harbors like Simpson Bay Lagoon on Sint Maarten, and we generally wait for passages between the islands. The new salinity probe for the watermaker had failed soon after installation, but power-cycling the watermaker had it working well enough to make water the entire way between St Maarten and St Eustatius.
St Eustatius, more commonly known as Statia is another of the Netherlands Antilles. During the 1700's it was the busiest port in the world! It was a duty-free port, whereas the French, British and Spanish ports all levied very high taxes, so little Statia served as a trans-shipment point for cargoes of all kinds. In 1776 an American warship showed up in the harbor and, as was the custom, saluted the island with a 13-gun salute. The Dutch governor made the dreadful mistake of returning the salute, albeit an 11-gun salute. It was a memorable moment for the very young United States - its first formal recognition as a sovereign country. It was a dreadful mistake for Statia, because the British fleet under Admiral Romney came along and blasted the hell out of the place. Romney occupied it, looting absolutely everything they could. That was the beginning of the end for Statia. A couple of nasty hurricanes, an earthquake or two, and 22 changes in European owners in the last 200+ years, and that was it for a once very rich little island. Nowadays there's not much to see other than a nicely restored Dutch fort, a church or two, and some reportedly very nice scuba diving. Later edit: forgot to mention that Statia is the oil reshipment terminal for the Caribbean which had us dodging huge tankers, one that was more than a thousand feet long. The island also had a large tank farm up on a hill and an off-shore oil transfer buoy. Strange to see amid all these island paradises.
We grabbed a mooring in the harbor, with a lot of ruins and restored ruins on shore, immediately below the fort. We cleared in with customs and immigration (even though we had just left Sint Maarten, another of the Netherlands Antilles!) and walked about the town and the fort. It seemed like every few feet there was yet another plaque commemorating the First Salute. Nice place, actually, but definitely on the quiet side.
That evening we suffered what was probably the most rolly anchorage ever. The boat went from side to side, often rolling through arcs of 60 degrees. Sleeping was way difficult and come morning we couldn't wait to go on to St Kitts, another 20 miles south. It was a near repeat of the previous day, though this time the seas were slightly less confused, the wind was even more on the nose, and the wind was up to 23-26 knots consistent, with gusts to 28 and 29! We really only had an uncomfortable ride the first 10 miles, as once we got into the lee of St Kitts the seas settled nicely. The wind, however, howled the whole way.
We arrived in Basseterre, the capital of St Kitts yesterday in the early afternoon. Clearing customs and immigration and the harbor authorities took its usual couple of hours. The harbor here at Basseterre had swells to rival those on Statia, so with the boat rolling wildly, we decided to try the marina. The marina cost here is only 75cents/foot/night (marina costs are based on how long your boat is). That's considerably less expensive than we've seen previously. The most expensive we were ever quoted was in Newport, RI, $4.75/foot/night! Aurora is 46 feet, so marinas can get pricey. Anyway, the marina here, Port Zante, is small, inexpensive, and nice, having been originally built in 1995 and then re-built with a new cruise-ship dock and shopping area after hurricane Georges in 1998.
We spent the day doing a bit of cleaning (not me), and catching up on internet and getting the new web site ready. We've been without internet since Tuesday morning, horrors! :-) Tomorrow we expect to do some touring of the island. There are apparently no cruise ships scheduled in here until the end of hurricane season in November, so the local taxi drivers should be amenable to some bargaining for taxi tours. Last night we had a wonderful dinner at a place called Rock Walls, a restaurant in an open courtyard, surrounded by lush plantings and the eponymous rock walls. Tonight's more mundane, probably a sausage and cheese omelet on the boat. Can't be eating out all the time.
We'll send out a note when the new web site goes live.
And yes, the new site has lots and lots of pictures.
Meanwhile, you're stuck with my text.
Last Thursday we ordered a replacement part to fix the aft head (our toilet). Maryann asked them to send it overnight. When it hadn't arrived by Monday afternoon she called. Apparently they sent it US Mail. We have no idea when it might arrive, but once it does we'll have to have the outfit on St Maarten forward it on to us, wherever we happen to be.
Tuesday morning we pulled the anchor, fueled up, cleared out with customs and immigration, and caught the 9:30AM bridge opening to leave Simpson Bay Lagoon. We set a course south for St. Eustatius, about 30 miles away. Wouldn't you know the wind was enough out of the southeast that we ended up close-hauled the entire way! The wind was up and the seas were up, so we spent a fairly uncomfortable 5-6 hours motorsailing into the wind, yet again. Not fun being heeled over, getting pushed about by "confused" seas, with the wind gusting over 20 knots. By the way, "confused" seas means the waves come from more than 1 direction, giving a very rough and uneven ride.
One reason we motorsailed is because the generator isn't working well and we needed to make water the entire time we were in the open ocean. We can't (rather we don't want to) make water in polluted harbors like Simpson Bay Lagoon on Sint Maarten, and we generally wait for passages between the islands. The new salinity probe for the watermaker had failed soon after installation, but power-cycling the watermaker had it working well enough to make water the entire way between St Maarten and St Eustatius.
St Eustatius, more commonly known as Statia is another of the Netherlands Antilles. During the 1700's it was the busiest port in the world! It was a duty-free port, whereas the French, British and Spanish ports all levied very high taxes, so little Statia served as a trans-shipment point for cargoes of all kinds. In 1776 an American warship showed up in the harbor and, as was the custom, saluted the island with a 13-gun salute. The Dutch governor made the dreadful mistake of returning the salute, albeit an 11-gun salute. It was a memorable moment for the very young United States - its first formal recognition as a sovereign country. It was a dreadful mistake for Statia, because the British fleet under Admiral Romney came along and blasted the hell out of the place. Romney occupied it, looting absolutely everything they could. That was the beginning of the end for Statia. A couple of nasty hurricanes, an earthquake or two, and 22 changes in European owners in the last 200+ years, and that was it for a once very rich little island. Nowadays there's not much to see other than a nicely restored Dutch fort, a church or two, and some reportedly very nice scuba diving. Later edit: forgot to mention that Statia is the oil reshipment terminal for the Caribbean which had us dodging huge tankers, one that was more than a thousand feet long. The island also had a large tank farm up on a hill and an off-shore oil transfer buoy. Strange to see amid all these island paradises.
We grabbed a mooring in the harbor, with a lot of ruins and restored ruins on shore, immediately below the fort. We cleared in with customs and immigration (even though we had just left Sint Maarten, another of the Netherlands Antilles!) and walked about the town and the fort. It seemed like every few feet there was yet another plaque commemorating the First Salute. Nice place, actually, but definitely on the quiet side.
That evening we suffered what was probably the most rolly anchorage ever. The boat went from side to side, often rolling through arcs of 60 degrees. Sleeping was way difficult and come morning we couldn't wait to go on to St Kitts, another 20 miles south. It was a near repeat of the previous day, though this time the seas were slightly less confused, the wind was even more on the nose, and the wind was up to 23-26 knots consistent, with gusts to 28 and 29! We really only had an uncomfortable ride the first 10 miles, as once we got into the lee of St Kitts the seas settled nicely. The wind, however, howled the whole way.
We arrived in Basseterre, the capital of St Kitts yesterday in the early afternoon. Clearing customs and immigration and the harbor authorities took its usual couple of hours. The harbor here at Basseterre had swells to rival those on Statia, so with the boat rolling wildly, we decided to try the marina. The marina cost here is only 75cents/foot/night (marina costs are based on how long your boat is). That's considerably less expensive than we've seen previously. The most expensive we were ever quoted was in Newport, RI, $4.75/foot/night! Aurora is 46 feet, so marinas can get pricey. Anyway, the marina here, Port Zante, is small, inexpensive, and nice, having been originally built in 1995 and then re-built with a new cruise-ship dock and shopping area after hurricane Georges in 1998.
We spent the day doing a bit of cleaning (not me), and catching up on internet and getting the new web site ready. We've been without internet since Tuesday morning, horrors! :-) Tomorrow we expect to do some touring of the island. There are apparently no cruise ships scheduled in here until the end of hurricane season in November, so the local taxi drivers should be amenable to some bargaining for taxi tours. Last night we had a wonderful dinner at a place called Rock Walls, a restaurant in an open courtyard, surrounded by lush plantings and the eponymous rock walls. Tonight's more mundane, probably a sausage and cheese omelet on the boat. Can't be eating out all the time.
We'll send out a note when the new web site goes live.
posted by Ken at
1:24 PM |
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