Cheeseburger in Paradise

Mural in Octagon, local bar/resto, Charlestown, Nevis

Warning:  this blog entry may be characterized as having too many pictures!  Yet Volver has had some fairly photogenic days since our last entry!

We left Grand Case and went around the corner to Anse Marsel.  The guidebook did little justice to the quiet beauty of this small anchorage, which was replete with turtles, and where we could check out with customs and immigration.  It did have two big hotels and the beach was dominated by their beach bars but we enjoyed our night there, despite sleeping little, because there was so little wind the boat kept riding noisily on top of her anchor chain, right beside our heads!

We woke at 5 am, unsure if we were going to make the trip to Nevis or not, and left in the dark, shortly after 6.  The seas were much closer to 7 ft than 5, and we decided to stop into St. Barth's after watching this beautiful sunrise!

Sunrise over St. Barth's

St. Barth's was not really our cup of tea.  We only went to the capital city of Gustavia, and think the anchorage around the corner, Anse du Colombier, would be more our speed, as it is a marine park, where there is no anchoring and more turtles than people.  The anchorage in Gustavia is really crowded, and rolly, and the shops have nice familiar names, like Gucci, and Dior.  Not the kind of shopping we prefer, like good bakeries and produce stands!  And after our very early lunch in the anchorage, and considering our plan to get up at 5 am again, we wanted an early dinner in town but could not find a resto that was serving food before 6:30.

Jam-packed anchorage in Gustavia, St. Barth's

There were some creative shops, including this one, with manical mannequins that we enjoyed!

HaHa

Pucker Up, Baby!

Double Exposure?  No, the mannequins went inside to join Bob for lunch break!

New City Hall, Gustavia

Yesterday, another day of wakening at dawn and leaving in the twilight.  We left the "renaissance" islands, heading to the islands that Chris Doyle, author of a popular guidebook calls, the "islands that touch the clouds.  These are Saba, St. Eustace, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat.  Of these, the only island that has a GREAT anchorage is Nevis, hence our choice.

We lost the race to St. Kitts to this 115 foot sloop, the Manutara, shown here stealthily passing us, although we put up a good fight, and the Cap'n says we checked their PHRF rating and he is convinced we won on corrected time.  St. Eustace is in the background.

St Kitt's:  hiding in the clouds

Approaching Nevis (it peaked out of the clouds once since our arrival yesterday!)

View from our new home #1:  the Four Seasons Beach Bar

View from our new home #2:  not one but 5 beach bars for us Plebes!

The Cap'n has fallen in love with Nevis and is ready to move here!  Unfortunately, last night, there was a big fire in town, and it turns out it was the treasury building that burned down.  No job for Cappy!  Haha, he does not want one anyway! 

We feel the same as this taxi driver

We'll sign off for now.  Plan to stay for a week or so, will likely make some day trips over to St. Kitt's before heading south.