On 6th March we set off for Nevis, where we anchored off Pinney's Beach. It was pretty rolly there with the winds coming out of the NNE and in those conditions there are no protected anchorages in Nevis, so the next day we went over to St Kitts.

We anchored in Deep Water Harbour, Basseterre so that we could clear in. We then went round to Port Zante marina, where we wanted to go ashore and do some shopping. There seemed to be nowhere to tie up a dinghy and get ashore easily; the docks were really high with no steps. I can only assume that most of their tourists arrive on launches from cruise ships, it was certainly not cruiser friendly!

So we didn't hang around there, and moved on to White House Bay, where we anchored in a picturesque spot with only 3 other yachts.

We stayed there for several days, sometimes having the bay completely to ourselves. It was lovely, with views over to Nevis.

We went ahore with our Brompton bikes, and cycled over to the other side of the island, where we enjoyed a cool drink and great views at the Turtle Bar and Grill.

view from White House Bay, St Kitts

On 11th March we moved back to Nevis, anchoring just south of Charleston so that we could clear in and out - Although St Kitts and Nevis are considered one country, you have to visit Customs and Immigration in both islands.

This gave us an opportunity to go ashore, where we appreciated their distinctive decorative architecture using sun ray motifs.

We also searched for a place we had read about that sold rotis, but sadly they had closed down.

Then we moved up the coast to just north of Four Seasons on Pinney Beach. Again, I had read in our Cruising Guide about a boutique which sounded interesting, but when we went ashore, that too had closed.

White House Bay and the southern tip of St Kitts, with Nevis in the distance

Next day we headed back towards Antigua. The wind was coming directly from - - Antigua, with a heavy swell. We made very slow progress and had to tack half way to Montserrat.

Then we saw a small open fishing boat ahead. The three guys in it were waving their arms and we thought they must have nets out, so we altered course to avoid them. They carried on waving, and it turned out that they needed help. Their engine wouldn't start and they had been drifting there for some time. There were so few boats around, they were lucky that we had difficulty pointing into the wind, or we would never have got close to them.

Turtle Beach, St Kitts

We took them in tow, and then called the coastguard. It took quite a long time to get through to the coastguard as we were barely in range of the VHF and we more easily got hold of them by telephone!

We had Ana Maria in tow for nearly two hours before the coastguard arrived to take over. That slowed us down considerably, and it was nearly dark by the time we got back to Jolly Harbour, where we found another boat in our berth, and had to tie up at the fuel dock overnight.

Flying the Q flag in Deep Water Harbour, St Kitts