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He said: Last night was a busy one once we got settled into the anchorage at Virgin Gorda Sound, taking things apart, lashing things down, putting everything away that might go flying… we had decided to take this cruise on very short notice (6 hours!) and we knew from the forecast that while the wind would be down, the waves were going to be lumpy from the wind howling out of the East over the past few days. It took a while to get the dinghy motor off, the lock had become rusted inside and wouldn’t accept the key… it’s amazing how fast things corrode down here! Finally got that undone and stowed the motor, then hoisted the dinghy and tied it off with lots of strapping to prevent it from swinging when the boat pitches… you’d be surprised how much damage a swinging dinghy could do! Terri made us a great pasta dinner to fill us up and keep our strength up for the trip, then off to bed at about 9pm! Had to go to bed early as I had my alarm set for 2am to get up and get going. Took me about a half hour to get everything ready onboard, then Terri was up and helped me weigh anchor and head out between the reefs that line the sides of the channel leaving Gorda Sound… not much margin for error here!! We safely navigated out under the light of the full moon, it was very brilliant indeed! We were actually supposed to be partying with our friends under that same full moon at the Bomba Shak party on Tortola but after checking in with them on the long-range radios this morning, it’s probably better we didn’t go as it sounds like they had a little too much fun! I felt bad for Terri and Ashley on this trip, there was no warming up to the waves at all, it was just ‘whooop – there it is!’, lol. We rounded the corner past Virgin Gorda and once we peeked our bow out from behind the reef at Anegada we were getting hit by waves coming from several different directions causing the boat to roll pretty badly… ‘Sophisticated Lady’ handled it no problem, it’s just the kind of waves that are hard on crew! I had a great watch from 3am to 9am, the full moon was hanging over the Caribbean Sea in all its glory! The sun came up over the horizon and just as it cleared a lower of cloud at the horizon I noticed something big and square right under it… it took a few minutes but as it got closer I could make out a tall ship coming over the horizon heading straight for us! It grew and grew for quite a while then passed slowly on our starboard side heading somewhere deep into the Caribbean… it was beautiful and several pictures were taken! The Schooner that passed by during the sunrise… those waves don’t look big, but if he was falling off that one on the right, imagine what we were doing!! Lol Land Ho!! At 1pm the distant but distinct outline of St Martin came into view dead ahead… we’re 12 miles out and right on course and schedule! Terri is feeling better and Ashley is back to normal and now we’re behind the ‘shadow’ of the islands so it is breaking the bigger swells that were making us roll so badly… Lucky on the other hand is still up in the cockpit going ‘Woo-Hoo’ every time a wave crashes over the bow… for a parrot, she’s hilarious! ‘Lucky’ dancing with the waves and St Martin appearing on the horizon. 3pm… dropped the anchor in Marigot Bay on the West side of St Martin facing the British Island of Anguilla only a few short miles away. The water is beautifully clear, the entire anchorage is less than 15 feet deep and is capable of holding a great many boats! The lush green mountains surround us now and we are just getting settled in… and spraying all the salt off the boat!
View from our bow at 4pm today (Sunday) Hope everyone had a great day! Tomorrow should bring all kinds of new and fun things to discover in Saint Martin… we’ll keep you posted! Cheers, She said: Ashley and I had a rough trip. I stayed up late working on something on the computer, not realizing Rick was going to want me to get up on the first shift with him. I heard him say he was going to power nap and then get us under way at 2am. So when the alarm went off at 2 something I actually felt sick to my stomach from lack of sleep and we hadn’t even left yet!!! Oh oh, not a good way to start the voyage. We headed around the corner of of Virgin Gorda and slipped in between the reefs on both sides of us. Rick said he was fine so I went back to bed to try and get some more sleep. That was the idea anyway. There was not a lot of sleeping going on. The waves were very rough and from on my bunk they seemed to be coming from every different direction known to man and tossing me around in the meantime. I seriously kept trying to wedge myself into corners and against the sides but I just kept bouncing around like a piece of popcorn. On top of that I knew I had to get some rest because Rick would be tired soon enough and I would have to do my shift. Of course this thought made sleep very elusive. Poor Ashley was getting tossed around at the foot of my bed and she was even sick in the night. Poor little thing, she looked rougher then me when we crawled out of bed in the morning. Rick seemed to have had a great night and wasn’t feeling sick at all. The waves were still very choppy and big and coming from all over. Ashley and I still felt really sick and I was even taking nausea stuff but I guess it didn’t have enough time to kick in properly. Rick went to bed and Ashley and I snuggled in the cockpit and felt sorry for ourselves. Eventually it got calmer and we ate some pretzels and both felt better. We saw the massive schooner and it looked like something from Pirates of the Caribbean – very impressive and massive. We saw a few other sail boats and had to steer around a big Catamaran that was on a collision course with us. We all waved as we zoomed past each other on the big waves. It was a nice sunny day and I saw a lot of small flying fish launching themselves out of the water in sparkly arches across the surface. I wished and hoped to see some dolphins but they didn’t come. I also saw a lot of birds that seem to be so very far from any land. Brave souls. Rick got up and after a bit I decided to try and lay down again. I managed to fall asleep for a bit and Rick woke me up when we got to St. Martin. It looks huge and colorful and exciting. We settled in quickly and lowered the dinghy so I could take Miss Ashley to shore. She really needed to go!!! On shore I came across a huge open air market closing up for the day with a wonderful steel drum band playing in the background. The architecture is very ornate and very different from the Virgin Islands. I saw a lot of good looking French people walking around and many carrying baguettes. Yummy, I love bread and I heard the food here is spectacular. I can’t wait to explore this city tomorrow. Our friends Cindy and Rick from Dragon Fly popped over in their dinghy to say hi and welcome. It was great to see them; we haven’t seen them for about 5 weeks. They have been here for a long time and are sharing all their tips and impressions. It’s nice to have knowledgeable tour guides handy! Our friends on Lulu, Gary and Louise and another boat with a French Canadian couple on board made the crossing just a bit behind us and we all anchored close together. We were going to go out to dinner tonight but half of us felt not quite up to par, so we are going to all go out tomorrow night. Something to look forward to! I am off to bed early to catch up on missed sleep and to feel more myself. More to come on our adventures tomorrow. Cheers, |
