The Baths, Nevis

We took our bikes to shore.  There is a road that runs almost the entire distance around the small island of Nevis.  It is about a 20-mile loop, with only a few large hills.  Nope, we opted NOT to tour the island on bikes.  Instead, we were headed to a place just outside of town called The Baths.  These were Hot Springs (fed by the dormant volcano). 

During its time, this place must have been awesome.  The write-up we found on them said that years ago, this was the most exclusive spa in the Caribbean.  How does something go from being that elite to the state of disrepair it was currently in?   There was a large stone hotel set just up on the hill that looked very well maintained..  Closer to the Springs was another stone building.  At one time, it was an elegant bathhouse.  Now, it was just another abandoned building.  Inside were the remains that gave you a glimpse of how it must have been during its prime.  Several large, claw foot soaking tubs were stacked on one side of the main room.  You could envision the elite and famous soaking in these large tubs while sipping cocktails.  Downstairs, there were separate little stalls with steps leading down to private pools of spring water.  Each stall had a window to allow fresh air to flow through the building.  It was in ruins but must have been very grand in its prime.

Outside this building were two more bath areas.  Dug into the ground with steps leading down to a cinderblock pool at the bottom.  The hot spring water came in at the bottom and flowed out at a vent near the top of the pool.  This allowed the water to remain nice and clean.  One of the pools had a small pavilion type roof over it to shade you from the sun.  This was the pool we used.

Yes, it was HOT!!!  Larry just got in as deep as his ankles … he doesn’t like hot water.  But I was really enjoying myself.  I submerged completely into the heated Spring.  The super hot water was really soothing on my back, hip and knee that have been giving me a lot of grief.  Unfortunately, I think I enjoyed it a little too much.  When I exited the water, I felt horrible.  I was way overheated and felt dizzy.  We’d gone to Hot Springs up in northern Canada but they were refreshing.  You exited the Hot Springs into nice cool air and it brought your body temperature back down.  Here, I exited the Springs into temperatures in the high 90’s and my body temperature just wasn’t dropping.  And we had still planned a lengthy bike ride out to the Botanical Gardens (uphill). 

We rode for some distance but the entire ride from the Baths to the gardens was an incline.  It started out gradual but soon was just too steep for me.  Had I been able to recover from the Hot Springs, we may have made it but not today.  Just as it started to rain, I decided to surrender to my weakness.  We headed back to town.  Actually, on the return trip, it was apparent how high we’d actually climbed.  For about 90% of the ride, I didn’t pedal once.  I actually had to use my brakes to slow me for the corners.

However, it was still a nice and successful ride.  We found a large (or relatively large) IGA Supermarket.  We stopped in and picked up (4) large chicken breasts and two packages of Grouper (2) filets in each pack.  The total coast was just under $20 … the prices are actually in Eastern Caribbean dollars so we gave the cashier $20 US and she gave us back 5 EC (and some change).

We took the food and our bikes back to the boat and brought our computer back to the waterfront bar for WiFi.  We were anxious to check the status of the condo repair.  They are going to have to get an electrician to resolve the problem.  Wonder how much of our cruising kitty will go to this unexpected expense?  We’re having so many ‘emergencies’ that I’m beginning to wonder if our savings will get us to California where we can work again!

While we had internet, Larry checked the marine weather reports.  Oops … we should have blown off our bike ride and left today.  Today, the seas were 4-5 feet.  Tomorrow, they will be 6-8 feet and by Friday, they will be 8-10 foot waves.  They will remain at 8-10 feet for several days after Friday.  Damn!  If we don’t take advantage of the 6-8 foot seas, we may be trapped here for days!  It’s always worse than they report!

We quickly cleared customs.  When we leave a country, we need to clear out and get clearing paperwork to provide to the next port.  We barely made it.  Larry took our paperwork to the customs office at 3:15pm.  They closed at 3:30.  Damn, that was close.

We rushed back to Soulmatie, readied her and by 4pm, we set sail.