Ile Fourchue TO St. Kitts: Full Moons and Big WAves

Sunset from Ice Fourchue mooring field. St. Barthelemy in the distance

View from Counting Stars in the Ile Fourchue anchorage (the boats full of naked men are NOT in the photo)

​On March 15, we left Grand Case to continue towards St. Kitts and Montserrat.  We needed to be in Antigua by March 23 for a flight back to the States on the 25th, but wanted to see a few places before then.  Our plan was to head to Gustavia, St. Barthelemy, for the night, then continue on to St. Kitts the next morning.  As we approached St. Barths, we passed an uninhabited island called Ile Fourchue and decided it looked like a good place to spend the night.  Since we were not going ashore and were continuing on the next morning, we did not need to check into the country.  We picked up a mooring and all jumped in the water to cool off.  The water was deep and super clear such that it looked and felt like you were floating in air.   We also enjoyed swimming with the yellow-tailed snappers that congregated in the shade below the boat.
 
Something we have noticed as we make our way further south is that it is not uncommon to come across people who have a rather loose commitment to clothing.  It is quite hot down here, after all.  Usually the spacing in a mooring field or anchorage is just enough for nearby boaters to notice someone is naked, but still not be able to see any…um…details.  “Hey, look, they are all wearing white bathing suits!”  Or, “Are the people on that boat all wearing tan swimsuits?”  Often people take showers at the stern, sometimes in a swimsuit, sometimes not.  We have observed others standing naked on the bow of a boat while it is underway, presumably enjoying the full effect of the cool breeze.  In the Ile Fourchue mooring field we noticed that two catamarans with about 8 men on each one had rafted up together on the far side of the field (rafting up means putting fenders out between the boats and then tying the boats together so people can step from one boat to the other).  We also noticed that they were all wearing tan swim trunks.  Just another day at a French anchorage.
 
After a peaceful night at Ile Fourchue, we dropped the mooring and continued south.  Our goal was Montserrat, but it was too far for a day sail and we decided to stop off in St. Kitts.  The wind was blowing about 20 kts from the ESE (close to our direction of travel) so we were close hauled the whole way.  One squall after another passed over us, some with gusts up to 30 kts.  The squalls kept us busy with the sails: putting in reefs, shaking out reefs, partially furling and unfurling the genoa.  The waves were also pretty big and nearly head on.  They were among the larger that we’d experienced so far on our journey and we took a lot of water over the decks.  Despite the weather and sea state, we enjoyed the view as we sailed past St. Kitts and Statia.  Just after 3:00, we anchored off Basseterre, St Kitts to check in.  Once formalities were completed, we continued a few miles south to South Friars Bay for the night.  We had a lovely view of both St. Kitts and Nevis and a beautiful sunset that evening and sunrise the next morning.

South St. Kitts and Nevis from our anchorage in South Friars Bay