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We are in St Martin - not our favourite place in the carribean so far! We are here to drop off Ian (Johns dad) for his flight. The airport here even has a dingy dock to make life easy. We are also getting boat stuff done here - it is a big yachting centre, we are anchored in a big lagoon which we entered through a lifting bridge (for various different fees all amounting to alot of dollars). It is a hug lagoon and is full of boats - there are 2 big chandlerys, 2 sailmakers and all the other services that one needs! We are putting our mainsail in to be patched, our alternator which has stopped working is with the alternator people, our toilet pump is now fixed again and the list of other jobs will be started on when Ian has left.
En Route here we stopped at Nevis, St Kitts and Saba. The trip to Nevis was good - the wind was a little too far behind but we jibed there - spotting a big whale on the way! We saw its blow and the whales back a few times before it dived down giving us a great look at its tail. Nevis was lovely - it reminded us a bit of Barbados, friendly and laid back. We visited some hot springs just outside the main town - a stream of incredibly hot water with a bathing house built in next to it. It was said to have incredible healing properties and to make you sleep like a baby - both true! There was a lovely beach with the added bonus of a trampoline and slide by a beach bar - it was all but deserted and a relaxing stop.
In St Kitss we anchored in the nicely named s***ten bay. The snorkelling was good and peaceful until the tourist boats turned up and plonked 20 other snorkelers next to us. We moved up to The main town in St Kitts to clear out of customs before heading up to Saba the next day. The sail to Saba was good and fast with plenty of wind and not too much swell, and we picked up a buoy (a long way from the landing place). Saba is very very steep to and there are only 2 possible landing places. I took the dingy a long way round the island to clear in with customs and register with the marine park. The sea around the island is a marine protected area and the island a conservation area. It is incredibly beautiful - looking virtually uninhabited from the sea and inaccessible as well. John and I went snorkelling and saw barracudas, turtles, and all kinds of big and beautiful fish - the water was incredibly clear. When back at Double Helix we saw a huge fish (later identified as a great barracuda) over 6ft long under the boat - Ian bravely went in snorkelling with it there still -bravely or stupidly?? About 3 minutes after he went we started splashing around and shouting help - John got to him in the dingy and pulled him out. It turned out the fish had been lunging at him and he thought he was being attacked by it - understandably scarry! We later discovered that it was trying to play with him!!
We did a tour of the island which was really interesting - Saba is the tidiest island in the carribean and the toughest terrain. The people are friendly and the island seems to be incredibly sensibly run! The road was built by hand after the dutch engineers had said it was impossible - it took them over 10 years. We did the Geocaching for Ian (a sort of treasure hunt fro grown ups - Ians hobby) and had lunch in a place with a pool and swing seats - perfect for the kids! Unfortunately Anna was stung by a Jackie a kind of carribean wasp - it was very sore for a long time! Anna is now fine although the red mark on her finger is still there 3 days later!
Our plan is to stay here in st martin while our sail is patched - our friends on Cenou who we haven't seen since Tenerife are here which is lovely, so we will see them a bit and get the boat a bit more ship shape after our month of visitors.
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