The Caribbean Poker Classic - Cruising on a Catamaran

Author: Simon Dexter

The thing I love about these ‘all inclusive’ resort deals is you quite literally can go completely over board with your alcohol consumption and somehow you can put the blame firmly on the shoulders of the hotel bar. I’ve heard myself muttering “Well I suppose if it’s free…” on a number of occasions so far this trip, and genuinely felt that I was somehow being subjected to some kind of unnecessary hardship. I’m being forced to drink cocktails in the sun with poker players from all around the world. When you talk it through it really does sound awful.

So, with a fairly delicate stomach from the night before (I think it must’ve been something I ate) I awoke on Wednesday morning like a vampire being thrown into a sun trap. We had an exciting day of sailing ahead and I was looking forward to pretending to be Johnny Depp aboard our very own pirate ship in the Caribbean Sea. O.K, so it wasn’t exactly a pirate ship but a catamaran would do as a fine substitute.

After climbing aboard with Team LittlewoodsPoker.com and some of them most relaxed looking West Indies crew-men you’ve ever seen in your life. The trip out to sea was beautiful and the weather, as usual, a solid 85 degrees. Our destination was St.Kitts’ sister island Nevis, a smaller and much more remote island. Drinking coconut rum and Carib beer all the way we all got to know each other as we lay about the deck. It’s always nice to have your ‘bad beat’ rant as you dangle your feet in the water and gaze at the palm trees in the distance… It really seems to put your busted top set in perspective.

After laying anchor in a quiet cove just to the South of Nevis we were issued snorkels and thrown overboard for some tropical fish / human interaction. Now, not being a seasoned snorkeller (that’s another way of saying I’d never done it before) I had a little issue with putting my face in the water and breathing at the same time. I choked and gurgled my way about for 10 minutes then finally got the hang of it. The sea was fairly devoid of activity however I did see a lot of yellow and black stripy fish and a big school of sardines (I don’t think they were sardines). Happy with that and feeling pretty snorkeled-out we climbed back aboard to be hosed down by a gorgeous young Kittitian lady and re-beered by the Captain’s first mate.

Nevis appeared out of nowhere and just as well it did because I could hear my stomach over the sounds of the ocean. We were stopping at a beach restaurant for a West Indies-style BBQ and the thought of jerk chicken with rice and peas was making me drool. Exiting through a hatch in between the catamaran’s two hulls we set foot on the most postcard perfect beach I’ve ever seen. There was even a palm tree wilting over the shore. Amazing.

Up we went to the BBQ and ate and drank for an hour or so. We recorded all of the Littlewoods players atop the angled palm tree and then shot their “Video Postcards”, a friendly hello and “wish you were here… but you’re not… so, unlucky” to any friends and relatives back home. I took the opportunity to hop on a jet ski and fly about for 20 minutes with Emile Petit (’MattDamon’) firing past me in the other direction at 600 mph. We raced up and down the bay at a terrifying speed and I definitely got the better of him until I tried to take a corner with the throttle down and was thrown into the sea like a skimming stone.

As the sun set on the bay we climbed back aboard our boat, pulled anchor and headed back for St.Kitts on the horizon. With the reggae drifting from the boat’s stereo system I fell asleep on the deck with a rum and coke in my hand and the wind in my hair. A fantastic day was had by all.