Familiar Places

Sailing in the Caribbean Islands can be as beautiful as a picture postcard. When the weather turns stormy, however, it is more like a bad movie where even the audience can get seasick. We have learned how to avoid the latter and so for the next two weeks we hide out in this amazing lagoon on the island of St. Martin. Outside the lagoon the wind is blowing from the north/ north east and the seas are big and nasty. We are happy to be safe and sound.


The lagoon is sheltered from the north and it offers the best of two worlds: France and Holland. Want great coffee, chocolate and fashions straight from Paris? Visit Marigot. Want tasty gouda cheese, international grocery stores, cheap electronics, cheap liquor, good ribs (I can go on and on), visit Phillipsburg. We stay here for almost two weeks, weather not being the only reason.
Best of all, we have been here before on our trip south so we know all the good places to visit.

There are good boat repair facilities, good technicians and boat parts galore. We catch up on a few chores. Steve is up the mast replacing yet another LED anchor light. How come they only last 3 months? You would think the manufacturer would be tired of hearing from Captain Clean!

This island has limited WiFi in the lagoon but we have found a nice location to catch up on phone calls, etc. It looks like a department store because it is. This is sort of their storage area. They are well diversified. We see some of our friends anchored close by. This is Jim and Wendy at the end of the rainbow.
And then there is Adrian Pringle. We met Adrian last summer right here in St. Martin. We went south and he went east all the way across the Atlantic to the Azores. By himself. 15 days of solitude. He then continued on to the Canary Islands. By himself. 6 days of solitude. You might think Adrian likes being alone but that is not the case. We find out his return trip included a kitty and a woman. Smart guy. The kitty is still onboard but the woman is missing? Adrian is a good story teller and he entertains us with his stories of romance and breakups. He also knows the best rib places in town. He is a great friend.

We visit one of our favorite venues in St. Martin with Adrian. The plane, the plane.

The Sunset Bar and Grill sit at the end of the island's main airport runway. It suffered some damage last summer during Hurricane Omar but we are happy to see it up and running again.

It is never tiring to see the big planes come in to land right over our heads.

It just so happens the Heineken Regatta is in full swing. Planes, boats, beautiful water, what else could you want?

The Heineken Regatta also brings lots of people to the island. It can make it a bit crowded. Here our dinghy is buried in a mass of inflatables. We play bumper boat to get out of this maze.

There are lots of parties during the Regatta with good food and.....Heineken beer Great music

And most fun of all is watching the race boats when the race is finished. Returning to the lagoon from the sea you must enter through a very narrow bridge. The local yacht club is located right next to the bridge and as the boats pass through, crowds of people cheer the crews on. The crews entertain the spectators.

Soon it is time to head north. We leave St. Martin early in the morning. It will take us all day to get to the Virgin Islands. There is not much wind and the seas are behind us, not too big, just right.

As we enter the British Virgin Islands we see a familiar sight. Raising her sails, the Maltese Falcon is ready to get underway.

With all her canvas up, the 200 foot yacht quickly passes us by.

We find a nice calm anchorage at Peter Island and enjoy a beautiful sunset. The next morning we head north to the US Virgin Islands. It is a mere 10 miles away.
Soon we are in St. John. Back with our traveling companions, Makai, Salida and Leap Of Faith.

Steve and the guys take advantage of another north swell. Steve and Fred catching a wave. Surf photos courtesy of Kathy on Makai.
St. John is one of our favorite places to hang out. Most of the island is under the jurisdiction of the US National Parks. It is clean, pristine and well managed. The water is crystal clear and there is plenty of sea life to enjoy.

Eye to eye with an octopus

A Remora befriends Steve as he feeds him leftover pancakes. The flat area on top of his head is a suction cup used to attach to other fish. Free ride, free food...he is a freeloader.

A few days later we see our first whales (Humpbacks)up close.

We keep our distance and are rewarded with lots of jumping and cavorting

Another great day in the Virgin Islands. Think we'll stay awhile.


Our daughters will soon join us. Can't wait.

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line