26hrs
25 March 2012 | Simpson Bay, St Maarten
Friday morning we set sail from Dominica to St Maarten @ 7am. The journey was 178miles which in a car is only 4 hours whereas by boat it was 26. We were counting on 30hours with 6knots/hr so we did pretty good.
Captain Jim put out a watch schedule and I got 4-9pm & 3-6am hence got to watch the sunset & the sunrise. Pretty sweet gig and I did not have to cook dinner. I mean how is one suppose to be below deck to cook when they are suppose to watch the traffic?
At 3am there was no one else out there but us...and 5000 others. Okay, so they were on a very slow moving cruise ship but it was a comfort to know someone else was out there. It is a big ocean.
This journey was much more enjoyable as the winds were at our beam and the seas calm hence not crashing on over our bow. Nevertheless, I put on my rain gear (pants too this time) because I refused to be cold and wet again. I even went below and took a nap while underway which is huge for me. Guess I am finally getting my sea legs? No worries Dr Frank and Bob - you still get to do the long passages!
We arrived at a beautiful little day spot and picked up a mooring, snorkeled for a few hours and then Stephen finished cleaning the bottom of the boat. To our surprise a Maxi boat race was happening from St Bart's and passed right by our spot - more than once. We have seen these rather large vessels but never under full sail. They were absolutely graceful and fast. A treat
We fly home Tuesday for family festivities on both sides - Our nieces wedding and my dad's 80th birthday!! With this said, I will not be posting until our return to Dominica in early April. Yikes, that is another 30hr journey.!? Maybe I can convince the captain of a hop down. Land Ho!