Visit to Saint Barthélemy (St. Barths) today!
Night
As we’d arrived at Ile Fourchue after dark and had been relegated to the outer row, it was a bit choppy and rolly all night. My cabin is aft and I had waves hit the hull with a resounding reverberations all night. But that’s a small price to pay for sleeping in a warm climate without needing heating or thick sheets.
Morning
We awoke long after the sun had risen over the horizon and, after the obligatory coffee, proceeded to set sail for the main island of Saint Barthélemy. Nobody uses the full name, everyone uses “St. Barths”. That was a fast sail, as it is only a couple of miles away.
As we approached Anse Colombier we could see that it wasn’t too crowded but that the anchorages off Gustavia were full of megayachts. For this reason we opted to anchor in Anse Colombier and then dinghy across to Gustavia for the clearance formalities and to explore the island from there.
Anse Colombier
We were able to wend our way past a big classic schooner and find a spot to anchor close in. The mooring balls we saw had “60 foot / 20 tons” written on them, so with Zanshin’s 28.8 tons we weren’t supposed to use them. But the bottom is good holding in sand so I personally prefer to anchor rather than trust my boat to the maintenance crew of the mooring balls. A large catamaran, with which we’d shared Ile Fourchue the night before, came in behind us and anchored in front of us. They were swinging over our anchor but as we had no intention of leaving in a hurry that didn’t bother me.
Gustavia
Next on the agenda is clearing into Saint Barthélemy (St. Barths) in Gustavia. After getting the boat ready and waiting for showers and rainstorms to pass by overhead we dinghied into Gustavia. This entails going outside the protecting rocks of the anchorage and entering the ocean swells. Although they weren’t high, Sandra didn’t like the feeling and that made for a long dinghy trip into town.
Clearing in was easy. I needed to be reminded what my password had been set to (many years ago). But this time I didn’t get any paperwork or have to pay anything. Not that St. Barths was going to be free. The payment was to made upon outbound clearance.
Afternoon
By this time is was afternoon and we stopped by at Le Select (cheeseburger in paradise) for some food. They were, unfortunately, in the process of shutting down the kitchen as we arrived. After a libation, we walked to Shell Beach but they, too, were quite busy. All the tables where one was allowed eat were reserved and the unoccupied tables were for drinks only.
We returned to town and ended up getting a snack at the bar de l’oubli across from Le Select. While not up to the superb example set at Anse Marcel the day before, it was still tasty.
Fortified from our meal, we proceeded to walk up the hill and to the roundabout at the airport. Despite the late hour we hoped to catch an arriving flight. They bump over the hill and land on the short runway – most of the time. We only had to wait a couple of minutes when a flight did pass overhead. When I saw the spectators leave I guessed (correctly) that this was the last arrival for a while and we returned to town.
We decided to clear out and depart for St. Kitts and Nevis tomorrow. The clearance process was friendly and quick and not expensive at all.
Dusk and Evening
There is a path from Colombier to the main road and Sandra thought she’d prefer the long walk versus a dinghy ride. It was approaching sunset but we have a powerful flashlight for the path. Then I could pick them up ashore after dinghying to Zanshin. We walked to the taxi stand but the two drivers managed to convince us that it was too late and even with a light the path wasn’t safe at night. So we returned to the dinghy and proceeded to return to Zanshin. I didn’t find the trip back too bad as most of it was in protected waters, but I’m sure that Sandra has a somewhat different take on that.
BBQ
I’d thawed out the hamburger patties and we cut up onions, tomatoes and prepared the buns. But I soon realized that what I’d thought were 4 small patties were actually just 2 thicker ones, so I had to get the others from the freezer and thaw those before we could eat. It was a late dinner by the time the burgers were sufficiently warmed up but it was very tasty. If I do say so myself.