Double Deuce on Pinney’s: 5 Jun 09
Are there times when you think our Cap’n has had just a bit too much sun? Well, he says he saw a giant stingray leap out of the water on our way into Charlestown Harbour. Of course he did…but it could also have been from listening to all those curious tales as we sailed past the Kingdom of Redonda....
His current subjects are curious brown boobies who flew quiet closely around our rigging as we sailed by. Still no fish to share! Only a few nasty barracuda have taken our lure and the Cap'n is sick of pulling them off the hook and returning them. No nice kisses for these guys!
Nevis is a little laid back and very friendly. Just a bit behind the times perhaps. We scoured town to find a shop capable of scanning a couple of documents for us. It was a lesson in patience. “What?”, said the smartly dressed girl. “How do you expect me to get these” as she waved our sheets of paper at us, “in to this?” (a pen drive). GS drew a short, sharp breath and surveyed the shop. It was a modern communications shop – full of good minimalist design and little else. It was an “Alice” moment and the GS was seeing red…. Cap’n suggested coffee to relieve the tension…. Despite this, we had the best and fasted broadband internet connection we’d ever had since being in the Caribbean. Still no scans, but great internet... So there you go!
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| Island Kingdom of Redonda |
Let’s get this straight! Redonda is a rock. One mile long and 1000 feet high. In the middle of nowhere. It did at one time have a post office – that’s about all other than a few hardy phosphate miners. (Well now, isn’t that just the Brits for you.) Its history started with an Irishman – one who had 8 daughters and one son. He claimed Redonda in 1880 in the name of his son (so who needs daughters??), the first king. His son is perhaps better known as English writer of Gothic romance, MP Shiel, whose writing has been described as dark and trippy...
Subsequently, the island passed through successive literary ownership; more to satisfy gambling debts it seems, rather than any serious reasons of bloodline. Today however, it’s abandoned and mostly a curiosity. Although present day King Robert (Bob the Bald), resides in near-by Antigua. He still bestows annual honours & awards – literary, of course!
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| Friendly or curious? Brown boobies circle us on our voyage |
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| Nevis is in sight |
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| Old but not historic |
Charlestown itself has a long and interesting history dating from 1600’s, involving slave traders and plantation owners. Lord Nelson was also drawn to the island, where in the 1780’s, he met and married the Governor’s daughter, Fanny Nesbit. The Bath House (1778) was the first hotel built in the Caribbean. Its springhouse (now closed) attracted many a fashionable spa-goer. The town is a setting worthy of a Jane Austen novel.
From: Little Bay, Montserrat Lat/Long: 16 48N 62 12W Date/Time: 5/6/09: 0705
To: Charlestown, Nevis Lat/Long:
17 08N 62 38W Date/Time:
5/6/09: 1315
Time Taken: 33nm (6hrs) Distance
(this year): 447nm (89hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 1296nm (267hrs)
Fastest Speed: Not noted**
Weather: Winds ESE 10-12kts;
4-6ft waves; E swell;
(**A pleasant day sail past Redonda, skylarking with brown
boobies on the way. Pinney’s Beach shows
a slow recovery from recent hurricane damage.)
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