After two weeks it was time to head home with a stop in Sint Maarten.
Thank you to Lin, Robert Joseph and Kerstine for making our stay at Cleopatra Villa - The Harbour so enjoyable. Thank you to Tony and George our taxi drivers and to Endless Summer Catamaran Tours.
Rodney Bay
We leave St. Lucia with many fond memories.
We returned to Sint Maarten via LIAT airlines which now has two nick names. Leave Island Any Time and Left Luggage In Another Town…..
We had heard about the Leave Island Any Time saying! ! which we discovered when both in St. Lucia and Antigua our flight left ahead of schedule….. 20 minutes on one flight and 15 minutes on another… Air travel in the Caribbean … always an adventure….
We spent five days in Sint Maarten putting Bergy to Bed and saying our farewells.
Thank you to the Turquoise Shell Inn - Carter Polly and Marcus for always making us feel at home - ‘GO CANADA GO’!, to Bobby’s Marina for taking good care of Bergy, to the ‘Coffee’ Ladies for the lovely Birthday Lunch and gift and of course to Mirjam Jan and Anna - what can we say….
This years farewell to Mirjam and Anna was bitter sweet as Mirjam and Anna will be returning to Holland permanently in July 2010. We will MISS them………
It was a tough year, but we enjoyed some wonderful times!
Will we return????
God Willing, we hope to return in 2011 and enjoy some time sailing in the BVI (British Virgin Islands)!
So Until Next Time
Thanks for the Memories!
The Admiral and Gilligan - Signing Off
In the Land of the Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Teams!
One of the places we enjoyed visiting on St. Lucia was Pigeon Point which marks the entrance to Rodney Bay, a favourite anchorage for boats visiting St. Lucia. Canada was well represented - with several boats from the East Coast but we did see one boat that had an Edmonton registration.
Pigeon Point is a National Park and part of St. Lucia’s National Trust as it is the location of the remains of an 18th-century British fort - Fort Rodney, where the Admiral for which it was named spied on the French ships from the Fort’s strategic viewpoint.
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Pigeon Point
Because of the current drought we weren’t able to hike to the highest point but did hike to one of the viewpoints and had a great view of both the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean and were able to get a good view of the island of Martinique.
The park is a popular place for school field trips and each time we visited there were at least 3 or 4 school groups.
On one occasion as we walked through the park we crossed paths with a couple of teenage girls who quickly stopped running, put their hands behind their back, nodded and said “Good Afternoon”. They waited until we had passed before continuing on their way.
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Atlantic Surf
The Caribbean side of Pigeon Point is generally calm with lovely white sandy beaches. The Atlantic side is wild with lots of surf rocky shores and the occasional sandy beach.
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Chillin' by the bay
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On our second visit we rented beach chairs and enjoyed a lovely afternoon by the sea.
Bob and Donna
Getting ready to Cruise down St. Lucia
After a wonderful visit to Basse Terre we moved on to Whitehouse Bay, a favourite anchorage of ours on St. Kitts. 
Bergy Bit on anchor in Whitehouse Bay St. Kitts
I am always amazed by the country in this part of St. Kitts - it reminds me very much of the hills around Kamloops. Does anyone agree??
We enjoyed our time in Whitehouse Bay and were disappointed to learn that this whole area has been purchased by an American company that has plans to turn this part of the Island into some thing like Myrtle Beach. In one sense it will be good for tourism but in another will completely change the landscape of the island but it will mean eventually there will be a marina in White House Bay.
One day we went ashore and walked over to Cockleshell Beach - a popular destination for day trips/charters. It’s about a 6 mile walk (round trip) but thanks to some good Samaritans - a taxi driver who gave us a free ride part way there and an American family that gave us a ride most of the way back we only had to walk a total of about 3 miles - long enough in the hot sun..
From Whitehouse Bay we sailed to Nevis. This sail was our worst sail this year - luckily it’s only 10 miles. Leaving Whitehouse Bay we attempted to sail off anchor - unfortunately The First Mate zigged when she should have zagged so we did have to use the ‘iron tiller’ to get us into the channel.
In the channel the wind was 20 - 25 knots with seas 6 - 8 feet. We sailed with only our main (which had one reef in it) and at times were heeled over 20 degrees. We were Rocking and Rolling….. Now we know how the competitors of the 2009 Heineken Regatta felt. Not our favourite way to sail.
We arrived in Nevis to calmer conditions and picked up a mooring ball at Pinney’s Beach. 
A View of Pinney’s Beach from Bergy Bit
Pinney’s Beach is a one of the most photographed beaches in the world,it’s used often when you see pictures of Caribbean beaches. In fact, a calendar we have at home called ‘Life’s a Beach’ features Pinney’s Beach on the front cover and in the month of July.
Little did we know how brief our stay in Nevis was going to be.
Next time
A Quick Visit to Nevis
The Admiral & Gilligan
SV Bergy
