It was exactly 6 hours when we reached the lea of St. Kitts. We had planned to check in at the Island's Capitol, Basseterre about two thirds of the way down the Island going south. On the way we passed the Brimstone Hill Fortress, 800 feet up from the sea. The Fortress was constructed by the British over nearly a century to repel the French. However 8000 French overran 1000 Scottish troops that were defending it in 1782. The battle lasted 30 days and bought the British time they needed to prepare for the battle of the Saints which they won ending the French domination of the Caribbean.
We arrived at Basseterre around 1500 hours. In the anchorage just outside the harbor where you must anchor to check in customs, there was a two foot plus swell at about 90 degrees to the wind. Just before entering the anchorage we passed Slowdown, a 40 ft Caliber sloop, who ended up anchoring in front of us. As we started to launch our 1200 pound dingy from the fly bridge level, which was going to be a real challenge with the 2 ft beam swell, Slowdown hailed us on 16 offering us a ride into customs. We instantly accepted. Even though our davit crane is powered in each function, which Beth operates, it leaves just me to handle 1200 lbs of swinging dingy which is scary. Slowdown's lighter dingy is carried by two aft davits which hang over the stern with two lifting harness' and a shorter distance to drop.
Ed Carter and his wife Cheryl picked me up on our stern and we headed into the small marina toward what we thought was customs, there were no signs. There was also no dingy dock. We had to tie up in one of the few available slips and hope no one was going to try and use it while we were in customs. We had guessed right and a security guard pointed us to a building next to where we had tied up. Customs required a fee of $10 and I all I had was a $50 bill and customs had no change. Again Ed came to the rescue and lent me $10, which I was able to repay when we went to immigration in the cruise ship terminal to the south of the marina. Although we were planning to stay in St. Kitts for a few days, Ed and Cheryl needed to get to Antigua to meet friends flying in, and the seas for the next day were predicted to be the least painful of the seas for at least another week. We were planning to spend the next few days at White House Bay which was reported to be a calm anchorage at the south end of St. Kitts, and asked Ed and Cheryl if they could join us there for a drink to at least partially repay them for their kindness. They accepted.
Before joining us for a drink at White House Bay they checked the beach bar and restaurant out that was directly in front of where we had both anchored. They said the facility looked new and was open for dinner. After sharing adventures we all decided to have dinner ashore. The Salt Plage at White House Bay is without question the most exquisitely designed beach Bar any of us had seen. It's 82 ft long dock included not only a place to tie up tenders but day beds, lounge seating and an overwater hammock. The "White House" had been part of a salt processing facility and the Salt Plage artfully incorporated parts of the processing facility into its open air restaurant and bar. What a great place to enjoy lobster tacos with our new friends.
By the time we woke in the morning Slowdown had already left for what we later found out was an 11 hour upwind trip, tacking back and forth, as the seas were too tall and the period too short for them to motor directly into them.
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