The Start of a Caribbean Season...

On Jan. 20th, after 5 days at sea we finally arrived at St. Kitts. We traveled from Miami with 20 knots of wind and 4 to 6 ft seas on our bow the whole way. It definitely wasn't the most comfortable trip we have ever made. We came down the north part of Cuba, south of Haiti/Dominican Republic, under Puerto Rico, past some other Virgin Islands until we made it to St. Kitts. We had about a 12 hour "turn-around" period before we were welcoming our guests. Once they were aboard we stayed anchored in St. Kitts and traveled to Nevis, (a smaller island off St. Kitts but the same country). This season I am trying to find an island that some day I could see ourselves living on, and an area I would like to sail around. St. Kitts is not one of those countries. The island life is pretty rough. The people don't really take care of their property and is a bit run down. We had a tour of Nevis and found that there are some really nice resorts but as far as nice is concerned, it ends at the resorts. The water is crystal clear and great for swimming, kiteboarding, or sailing due to the high trade winds. My score for the island was a 3 or 4. We dropped half of the guests at St. Kitts and continued with the other half to St. Barts. It was about a 4 hour trip from the two islands. St. Barts is pretty much a page out of a South of France/European magazine. It reminded us a lot of our time in Europe with a bit of Caribbean feel. St. Barts is pretty ritzy and the people who want to be "seen" go there. Our 156ft boat was anchored around boats 70 ft. to 300 ft larger than us. For a "big" boat we were the little pip-squeak on the play-ground. It was refreshing being in an area that was well groomed but it comes with a price. If I was a multimillionaire and brushed up on my French it would be a great place to live. On my scale I gave it a 6. Currently we are in Antigua on the last day of our guest trip.

Tomorrow we drop off them off and have some long awaited down time. We have either been underway or at anchor for the past 2 weeks so its nice to be tied to a dock and have some down time ahead. We will be pumping up kites as soon as the guests leave and see what this island has to offer. I have heard so many good things about Antigua and have high expectations. This just might be the island we one day have a house on, good wind, great water, and great views.