This is one of our bucket list items. Sailing into Gustavia harbor on our Amel. I had the chills as we anchored and went ashore. Kirstin and I have been to St. Barths every year since 2003 when we came here on our honeymoon. We'd rent a villa for a week or ten days, enjoy the restaurants, beaches, etc. It was the best week of the year, and we always went on our anniversary week in November. The problem with coming to a place you love for just a week is that it takes a day to unwind from the travel, the last day is ruined when you are flying back home, and you are constantly thinking about how short the time is. Tick. Tick. Tick.
But this is weird. When we checked in, we asked the immigration guy how long we could stay. He told us we could stay as long as we want. It's about $20 per day to anchor in Gustavia. It's strange being here with a completely open end as far as departure. We're thinking at least 4 weeks.........maybe 6. We will have to cook more aboard because the restaurants are both really good and preposterously expensive.
Other than that, nothing has changed here. We were awakened by the Holland America liner Westerdam anchoring about 200 yards from us. Hearing a zillion pounds of anchor and chain go down that close to you (water is a great conductor of sound) is quite a shock. We moved into a fantastic anchorage spot where even our two horsepower dinghy outboard should be able to make it to shore in any conditions. More blog updates to come as we seem to have a good internet connection here!
