St Kitts & Nevis, St Martin and broken window leading to a scary passage

Nevis Island

We had an uneventful 6-7 hour crossing to the beautiful island of Nevis and landed in Charleston. It is a beautiful town with numerous stone buildings from the 1800s that still stand today. The island is only about eight miles long, with a striking extinct volcano rising from its center.

We did a hike through the rainforest to see a small waterfall and the local monkeys. There are actually more monkeys than people on the island. Nevis once had many rivers and waterfalls, but a changing climate has left the island with no remaining rivers and only a few springs.

Nevis is also known as the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton, one of the United States’ founding fathers. They have an excellent museum that follows his life and covers the history of slavery in the Caribbean. At one point, almost all enslaved people in the Caribbean passed through this port before being sent to other islands. The island itself also had a huge enslaved population supporting sugarcane production. Saint Kitts and Nevis once produced some of the best sugarcane in the world and at one time provided about 20% of the import revenue for Great Britain. Hamilton’s time in Nevis helped shape his perspectives on slavery, and he later played a key role in the early abolition movement in the United States.

A visit to Nevis would not be complete without stopping at the famous Sunshine's Beach Bar & Grill for their world-famous Killer Bee rum punch. We enjoyed a great dinner there before heading on to St. Kitts the following morning.

St. Kitts

Saint Kitts is best known for Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, one of the best-preserved forts in the Caribbean. It sits high on a hill that allowed the British to defend the island from French attacks. The fortress is enormous and took more than 100 years to build.

After seeing the fort, we visited an old distillery from the 1800s that still produces rum today (now at a new site on the island). We finished our tour at a beautiful botanical garden where artisans make batik fabric, using natural dyes and wax to create amazing patterns by hand.

Passage to St. Martin — and the Broken Window

The passage from St. Kitts to Saint Martin is about 60 miles, or roughly nine hours. It is also close to the wind, so the boat has to head about 45 degrees into the waves. The day we traveled, winds were 20–30 knots and waves were 7–9 feet.

What many people don’t realize about wave forecasts is that the stated height is the average. About 20% of the waves will be larger—or smaller. In our case, a much bigger wave hit us broadside. It was so large that it washed over almost the entire boat and struck with enough force to break one of our porthole windows.

We didn’t realize it immediately, but about 15 minutes later I went below and noticed water on the floor in the master cabin. I ran down to find water pouring through the open window every time a wave hit. I can assure you that you never want to see water pouring into your boat especially when you are 30 miles from shore.

I suspect the window had not been properly closed and the pressure of the wave shattered the glass, leaving an open hole. I quickly started the pumps to drain the water and then had to figure out how to seal the opening.

I couldn’t put anything over it from the inside because the force of the waves would simply push it out again. Then I realized we had other porthole windows. I went to one at the back of the boat that wasn’t being hit by waves, removed it, and crossed my fingers that it would fit.

Amazingly, it did although installing it while getting hit by waves every minute or two was no easy task. After about 45 minutes, the window was repaired and we continued on our way.

The incident shook Sue up a bit, as the reality of the risks of sailing, though very small, became more tangible. We were never in danger of sinking since the hole was above the waterline, but seeing large amounts of water inside your boat definitely makes you reflect on what could happen.

St. Martin

We both slept very well after that passage we were exhausted from the conditions and the adrenaline of the window incident.

We landed on the French side of the island and stopped at Grand Case, which has a beautiful sandy beach. We found a beach club and spent much of the next day relaxing and recovering.

The following day we headed into Marigot Bay, where we rented a car to explore the island. We started with a tour of Topper's Rhum Distillery, which turned out to be one of our favorite tours perhaps helped by the ten different rum flavors we got to sample.

From there we went to Orient Bay Beach to relax and enjoy an oceanside drink. We finished our final day before the trip home at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the harbor.

Home Again

The trip from St. Martin back to the British Virgin Islands was the longest of the journey—92 miles and about 12 hours. Once again we faced challenging conditions, with 20–30 knot winds and 7–9 foot waves. Fortunately, this time the waves were behind us, which made the trip less stressful.

About an hour into the journey, I was at the helm and happened to glance ahead. I noticed what looked like breaking waves a few hundred feet in front of the boat. I immediately became concerned that it might be a submerged shipping container and took abrupt evasive action to avoid hitting whatever was ahead.

A few seconds later, I saw water shoot into the air and realized it was a Sperm whale sitting directly in our path. We successfully altered course, and the whale swam by about 50 feet away.

About an hour before we arrived, we encountered the strongest squall of the trip, bringing heavy rain and 40-knot winds. Land was already in sight, and at about 6:00 p.m. we arrived in the BVI to clear customs.

Reflections

It’s hard to believe the trip is over.

We visited 10 countries, sailed over 1,100 miles, and made 37 stops in 9 weeks on the boat. To say it was a whirlwind tour would be an understatement.

It was an amazing experience that Sue and I will never forget. We’re already looking forward to returning next year to revisit some of our favorite places—this time with friends and at a much slower pace.

I’ll write a final blog in a week or so sharing some of our lessons learned, favorite destinations, and overall reflections.

Thanks for joining us on our journey.