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| Last edited:04/21/10 |
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UPDATES to the
2010-2011 edition February 2010 - The Caribbean is having the worst drought I have seen since I arrived in 1969. The use of water for washing down is likely to be restricted and in some places you may have a problem getting water. This is likely to continue till the rainy season which could come as late as July. ST. MARTIN Chris, Linda
and I enjoyed visiting with you in Marigot Bay, St. Lucia. We are now
in Simpson Bay and have bought the 2010/2011 Guide to the Leeward Islands.
We read the information on Rick’s and want to give you this update. On
October 5th 2009 Bryan and Bonny Tyrell took ownership of the
restaurant and have renamed it Bonita’s Cantina. Bryan is form
Kansas City and Bonny is from South Africa. Bryan has owned several
Barbeque Restaurants and serves excellent barbeque here. His slow
smoked ribs are some of the best I have ever had and I am from Texas.
They also still serve good TexMex. The restaurant is open for
breakfast, lunch and dinner and they have both lunch and dinner daily
specials along with happy hour from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. A second bar was
added in the front part of the building with widescreen televisions which
usually show sporting events. Regards, s/v
Kool Kat
ST. BARTS St. Bart’s customs and Immigration started using a new system January 2, 2010. They have computer terminals that must be used to enter all required information on their forms. No longer can you bring in a preprinted Crew or Passenger list. Good news is that if you show up with a flash drive (usb drive), they will download the forms on it and you can fill them out on your own computer (excel format I believe) and then bring in the completed forms and they will download them from your flash drive and print them out for you. The forms and downloads are not available on the internet. Nevis – Four Seasons still closed. Information current as of January 7th, 2010 S/Y Malucat Thanks, it seems like all French territory customs are going over to the do-it-yourself computers. I was told about the USB drive and the excel format but I have not received it yet. Shame they don't just go with eseaclear which is a simple and good system and applies to other islands..
ST. KITTS/NEVIS From: Renee in St. Kitts. Spice Mill is a good new restarurant that has opened in the middle of Banana's Bay. They opened too late to get in the guide, but it sounds great, so check them out.
ANTIGUA From: Bob and Susan Brickman, s/v
PEREGRINE 24 Nov 2009 FALMOUTH HARBOUR, ANTIGUA: New Garbage Disposal Procedure On going ashore after arriving in Falmouth Harbour in mid-November, one of the first things we noticed was that the Garbage Disposal Area was GONE – having been replaced by an extension of the rental car lot and a large sign “NO DUMPING OF GARBAGE HERE”. I inquired at Jane’s Yacht Services, who called the Park Service and was told there would be a truck stationed behind the fuel station twice a day for collection of garbage, however, that did not occur until today. Yesterday, 23 Nov 2009, a flyer was delivered to us at anchor with the following information regarding the new Garbage Disposal Procedure for Falmouth Harbour: LOCATION The new pick up point for Garbage is the parking lot behind the fuel station in Falmouth Harbour. There is a small dock at this location. SCHEDULE: 7 – 9 AM and 3 – 5 PM HANDLING OF GARBAGE: Garbage should be securely bagged; brought in during the hours of collection and deposited directly into the Mobile Disposal Unit (white truck). PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE GARBAGE ON THE DOCK!! The Mobile Disposal Unit does not collect bulk waste, scrap metal, used fuel/oil or chemicals. For special arrangements and/or further information, please contact the National Parks Marina office at 268-481-5033/5035. JOLLY HARBOUR, ANTIGUA Excellent new Italian restaurant, AL PORTO, in the new building on the north side of Customs and Immigration. Wood-burning pizza oven. Great food and live jazz on Thursday nights. Dinner only. PH: 268-562-7848 for reservations – or drop by. Tie up at the Customs dock.
Updates 2008-2009 these will be removed in a month or so... I have posted most of the
previous comments below my updates. MY UPDATES to the 2008-2009 edition UPDATES TO THE GUIDE YOUR UPDATES, MANY
THANKS Antigua Island
Motors in St. John’s and the Yamaha dealer in Jolly Harbor no longer do
any Yamaha business as listed in your guide. The
new Yamaha dealer is: If
you’re in St. John’s a bus can take you to automotive Art for $2.50 EC Thanks
to: Jimmy Peters, S/V Bluewater Cat
You can now download immigration forms from: http://www.abma.ag/ Barbuda The Lighthouse Bay resort (Palm Beach hotel in my guide) at Low bay is open to visiting yachts and very nice. 24 hours notice needed for meals. Barbuda Outbar, further down the beach is local and opens for the day when ferries come up. St. Maarten Tuesday,
January 06, 2009 New
anchoring fees Marigot St. Martin From Pierre Boudreau (many
thanks Pierre) New fees for French St.
Martin, Marigot Bay as of January 1, 2009. 8 to 13 meters: 20 euros 13 to 18 meters: 30 euros 18 to 23 meters: 40 euros 23 to 28 meters: 50 euros 28 to 33 meters: 60 euros 33 to 38 meters: 70 euros 38 to 43 meters: 100 euros 43 to 50 meters: 120 euros 50 to 75 meters: 130 euros more than 75 meters: 150 euros
Days 2 & 3: 0.25 euros per
meter per day Days 4 and thereafter: 0.35
euros per meter per day (they might change this to all
days at 0.25 euros/m/day)
0.13 euros per meter per day
On the plus side,
they do not mind if you sail to
another anchorage, or go into the lagoon and then come back by land to
clear. The fee in this case is 5 Eu. Also port captian clears you in in
Port Lonvilliers. Chris. This is in addition to the old
rate hikes mentioned on the Dutch side below. Compass
just got a letter they passed on to me from Gerrit N. Hemken saying that
the fees in Simpson Bay Lagoon had gone up. Everyone pays to go through
the bridge now: $ 10 under 12mtrs, $30 under 15 mtrs,$60 under 18
mtrs, $120 under 22 mtrs on upwards. Fees
for being in the lagoon have also gone up: $20 up to13 mtrs,$40 up
to18mtrs,$60 up to 23 mtrs on up.
I have had a couple of letters from people saying they have had problems accessing the wifi in Simpson Bay Marina. Philipsburg. There are also some temporary dredging operations going
on it Philipsburg (rebuilding the beach). They mark a channel as
appropriate with red and green buoys. If you anchor among the other boats
you should be ok. It should also be noted that since my last guide most of
the passenger traffic is now from the cruise ships to Bobbies, so you have
to anchor further out in the middle of the bay. St Barts
for
some boats has got a rather more expensive all the rates now work by the
square meter (length times beam). Outside the inner harbor, charges are
0.2 Eu per m2 per day, for private yachts and 0.25 for charter yachts.
There is usually room to go stern-to, where in season charges are 0.8 Eu
per m2 per day for private yachts, and 1Eu for charter yachts. From June
to November the rates are 0.3Eu m2 per day for private yachts, 0.5 for
charter yachts If you manage to get a mooring, charges are 0.5 m2 for
private yachts and 0.7 m2 for charter yachts. Aldo the marine park has raised its rates - ruisers do not pay, only charter yachts: "As
expected, the fee to pay to the So,
you have to count starting the first of March 2009, 2€ per guest per day
and 2€ per diver per dive. We
would like to remind you that this fee has to be paid at the little kiosk
on Gustavia’s harbour before entering the park. Our
office is now open from Monday to Saturday _8am until 12.30am. You
can also leave a message on the phone or on email. Thank
you for your understanding." The
Hi Chris St Kitts… Port Zante Marina cannot supply diesel right now. Their current contract has expired and they are looking for a new supplier. If you need diesel at the dock you have to go to a service station in Bassterre, pay in advance and they’ll send a truck down. I would guess you may have to wait a while if all you want is 40-50 gallons or so. Nevis… The new moorings outside Charlestown have had so little use that the lines and mooring eyes are barnacle encrusted. These are sharp enough to cut hands so thick gloves are needed for handling. Mike, S/V Jeannius Nevis from Thierry VAN KONINCKXLOO In Majors Bay of St KITTS, there is now a concrete ferry dock built right
at the end of the road on the eastern part of the beach and linking to
Nevis. Anchoring in the eastern side of the bay is no longer permitted because
of the ferry “channel” to Nevis. At the middle of the bay but close to the beach there is a Wreck
visible on Google Earth. The best place for anchoring is now on the west of the wreck. On the western rocky side of the bay stand a small fishing boat
wreck named “Désiré” from St Vincent. Both wrecks are visible on Google Earth but the ferry dock is today not
visible yet. You do have to leave a clear channel, but you can still
anchor on the east side of the bay. There is room between the big wreck on
the beach and ferry channel. On the west side it is either shoal or rough.
Chris Hello, Chris. The moorings seem good and very reasonable to me. Chris
If
you anchor in Tamarind/Cades Bay or
Major’s Bay you will notice the new Sea Bridge Car ferry docks.
On the Nevis side, the moorings have left a gap for the ferry. In
Major’s Bay you have to anchor outside its channel in. St Kitts Just
spent 5 days in St. Kitts waiting for a weather window. There were
no slips availiable in the marina due to the ongoing construction of
slips. The fee to land a dinghy in the marina is now $10 US (not
$5 as reported in the 2008-2009 cruising guide). The marina is
charging $10/day, regardless of the amount of time that you leave your
dinghy at the wall (there is no actual dinghy dock). That
includes visits to Customs and Immigration to clear in and clear out. S/V
Kuta True, the alternative is to beach your dinghy down by the fishing
port. Monohulls and one
cat can still get in. In a few months they should be building a long new
dock. Chris Guadeloupe Deshaies. Good news, David Lavaud of the Pelican boutique and internet cafe has just told me he is now authorized to cehck people in and out through customs. This will be a big improvement. The people on Alumine alerted me to a a great coastal walkway
that goes both south and north from Port Louis in Gadeloupe. The southern
one includes fascinating mangrove pathways on wooden planks. You can see
some photos here. Chris, We
thought everyone would want to know that the dinghy dock that was in
Deshaies in February was gone in April 2008. Unfortunately our
French isn't good enough to find out why they took it out, but it is now a
lot more challenging to get ashore there.
Morgan
and Wilbur Chapman s/v
On the Wings of the Wind Yes, Omar took the dock I doubt it will be rebuilt. Since most of the
fishing boats have moved to the fishing harbor,
some yachts are tying their dinghies up near the bridge in the
canal. Others seem to be using a small dock inside the fishing harbor to
the left. Chris
Marina Riviere Sens Also Web@rt the interntet station is dead but the chandlery has wifi. Guadeloupe - the Des Hayes river can be walked
but is dangerous especially near the top, you cannot see the road you
mention when heading up only if you look back. Breaking a leg here
would be very easy and getting help very difficult. You really
need to warn people that this is not an easy walk at all. Larry Jeram-Croft,
SY 'Tiger Frightener' Jeanneau 42 Quite a few
people seem to feel like this. Others, like me, have done it many times in
sandals…Chris Security in Portsmouth in the region of the Purple Turtle on the Cabrits side has been, and continues to be excellent. PAYS, a local group has security patrols through the night. However, Prince Rupert Bay is some 2-miles wide and this security cannot extend way over to the Coconut Beach Hotel, which is now defunct. Sadly some long-term staying cruisers, moved over to that side and were attacked, beaten up and robbed. I wish the police good luck in catching these violent robbers and hope that when they do, they will not see the light of day again. In the meantime, if you are visiting Prince Rupert Bay, do anchor in the northeast corner of the harbor that has the security. Until these robbers are caught, I would not even recommend anchoring off the Portsmouth Beach Hotel, also on the south side of the harbor. May 09 Update July09. I am happy to say two of the three men who committed the crime above (and one other) have been caught and sentenced to 6 years or so in jail. The third one is still on the loose, but he is a hunted man, and has probably moved to another island. Congratulations to the Dominica police force! Dominica Sea
Cat in Roseau, tells me he no longer has any connection with his former
helper Roots. Concact Sea Cat Directly: 245 0507. Dominica
security in Portsmouth has been excellent since the local group PAYS
started nightly patrols. This will finish at the end of May. However,
the culprits from the violent robbery at the beginning of the season are
in jail for three years, so this does not mean because security patrols
end the situation will be bad. In Roseau there have been no incidents so
far this season. (April 2007). Dominica
Marine Center and Anchorage Hotel now both have fuel and water docks for yachts. Moorings are now available for rent in Portsmouth. You may still
anchor if you prefer - anchor a little to the south of the mooring field.
Charges are $10US night $50US a week, $170US a month. Moorings are now available at Al Dive about half a mile south of Anchorage Hotel. The offer: "Besides the moorings being secure, 24 hour monitoring will be placed on every vessel using the system. A dinghy dock is accessable for coming ashore to use the shower, washroom facilities and or meals at the restaurant. Wireless Internet is available. We offer private diving services." NEWS FROM ALDIVE - THEIR MOORINGS (OUTSIDE ALDIVE) WILL BE FREE FOR
THE FIRST YEAR. Dominica - the 'new' moorings need to be
treated with care - ours pulled free in the middle of the night. Castaways The Castaways Hotel is closed and for is Sale.
Connie’s Beach Bar is open and active. In addition, there are four
moorings placed between Connie’s Beach Bar and what used to be the dock
for the hotel with four more to the south of the old hotel dock. I
talked with one of the locals and he told me that these moorings were
installed with EU Economic Development Funds. We stayed on one of
them the middle of June 09 and it was in good condition with just some
growth on the painter.
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