Wednesday, 18 March: St. Kitts
We spent the morning anchored offshore, near Basseterre, the capital of
St. Kitts (technically, St. Kitts and Nevis). Since we had been to Basseterre before, we slept late and spent the morning on the ship.
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| A view of Basseterre |
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| I think a phone book would help |
As I mentioned in an earlier post, passengers can "help" the crew raise and lower the sails, but the help consists mostly of gathering the ropes. Below is the extent of our crew experience.
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| The machine is doing all the work |
There were a couple of megaships docked at Basseterre (Celebrity and Royal Caribbean), another reason why we decided to forgo a trip into town.
Another reason we stayed on the ship was that this morning passengers had the opportunity to climb to the crows nest, about 30 feet up. They provide you with a harness, so unless you have a real fear of heights (which I don't), it's a pretty easy trip.
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| Getting strapped in |
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| Ready to go |
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| On my way |
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| Nice butt! |
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| Almost there! |
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| A view from the crow's nest |
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| My staff photographer |
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| Coming back down |
We then sailed down the coast a bit.
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| A more distant view of Basseterre |
Lunch on board was an international buffet, complete with flags.
For the afternoon we took a tender boat to a beach club a few miles from Basseterre.
After the beach break, we had one of the highlights of the trip, the "photo tender". Since the sails can't be up while the ship is in port, the passengers don't get a chance to see what the ship looks like under full sail. For the "photo tender", the passengers get in tender boats and sail around this ship while it's under sail. Enjoy....
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| The tender boat |
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| And later that evening.... |
Thursday, 19 March: Iles des Saintes (Guadeloupe)
Our next stop was in Iles des Saintes, which are a set of islands that are part of Guadeloupe. We stopped in the village of Bourg des Saintes. Unlike the previous islands on the trip, Guadeloupe was formerly a French colony, which made for a much different atmosphere.
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| On the dock |
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| The harbor at Bourg des Saintes |
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| The fish market |
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| On the dock, with a view of our ship |
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| More of the town and the downtown beach |
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| In front of the town hall |
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| The local church |
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| Inside the church |
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| View of Bourg des Saintes from our ship |
Back on board, we had a Caribbean buffet for lunch.
After lunch, we visited the ship's bridge, which was open pretty much all of the time.
Finally, evening cocktails and a sunset.
Next--Days 7 and 8: Martinique and back to Barbados
