Paul and Kathryn knew that I was a little nervous about our first NIGHT crossing from the BVI's to St. Martin. Marc figured it would take between 20 and 30 hours of sailing, and we had not sailed in the dark yet. They were heading the same way and offered to join us on our crossing. Now you may think that this is not a very big deal, but it was. You see they have a high performance catamaran (a Ferrari) and we have a factory produced cat that is built for a combination of comfort and performance (a Chevette), so they could literally sail circles around us, which they did.

We pulled up anchor at 6am and headed to Virgin Gorda to clear out of customs, and then were on our way to St. Martin. The sail started off great with a good heading and the wind in our favour. However after a couple hours the wind shifted 20 degrees east so we decided to start to the iron sails - the motors. Paul and Kathryn were always within site, they were sailing this way and then that way, they would come up behind us and then from the front. It was very comforting knowing that they were close by in case we ran into any trouble. It would have taken them about 12 hours to complete the sail to St. Martin if we were not holding them back. Instead they sailed with us for 23 hours, we arrived to St. Martin in the dark at 5am, set anchor and went to bed. Overall was a good trip with no trouble.

We spent the next few days exploring St. Martin with Paul and Kathryn. We rented a car one day and spent some time fixing and cleaning the boat and lots of shopping for the boat. We had been waiting in the BVI's for three weeks for an inverter to arrive by ship, which it never did. In St. Martin we were able to buy one off the shelf. St. Martin was a good place to get boat parts as well as to provision the boat.

It was a very different Christmas this year being away from home, our family and old friends. We spent the day with our new friends Paul and Kathryn. They joined us on Kyros for pumpkin soup and Mimosa's for lunch, accompanied by Kathryn's freshly baked soda bread with butter and honey. While we were having lunch we witnessed Santa doing a beach assault at a nearby resort in a dingy. Later that day we headed over to their boat for a delicious turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy and homemade butter tarts and key lime squares, not to mention the great company. Overall it was a fantastic Christmas on the water!

We met some amazing Canadian cruisers, Paul and Kathryn, that we are blessed to call friends. We spent a couple of weeks hanging out together in the BVI's - it was a nice break from just the two of us on the boat. I think of them as our guardian angels. They have given us so much sailing advice and have really helped us along this steep learning curve on the water. They are such wonderful, giving and loving people - the type of folk we hoped to meet out here on the seas. We read that when you are sailing you are an island and need to be as self-sufficient as possible on your boat (ie: spare parts, power, water). But when things go wrong it is nice to know that there are other cruisers out there willing to help you out in any way they can. Thanks again for everything Paul and Kathryn!!

A beautiful calm anchorage was recommended by Nic on Peter Island in Little Harbour. At this anchorage you back into shore, drop your anchor, back up VERY close to shore and tie the stern of the boat to the rocks on shore - kind of like house boating in the Shuswap in BC. It was so calm that some people were water skiing in the bay. Snorkeling was interesting in this area - there is a family of squid living in the area, about 15 of them. It was so cool to just hang out with them and watch their behaviour. They swim in a line largest to smallest in formation. Once they do not feel threatened the larger squid will stay in formation and the small ones will go and play.

Our next stop was at Norman Island in The Bite. This is a protected bay with a popular floating bar, Willie T's. This bar has no boundaries and can get out of hand some nights. We caught up to our friend Nic and closed the bar, but did not join the Austrian rowdies. The next morning we snorkeled some nearby caves.

Over a month has passed since my last log - we have been very busy (doing what I cannot pin point). When we first arrived in Puerto Rico it was difficult for us to slow down and get into island time. Now that we have been here for three months we have slowed down almost too much. The days go by so quickly and we are so busy, doing what I am not quite sure??? We left Virgin Gorda and headed to Jost Van Dyke - there was no wind so we had to motor. We spent the first night in Great Harbour and the second in White Bay. White Bay has a beautiful beach that attracts mostly day visitors that leave around 4pm. It is a little hard to get the dinghy into shore because there is no dock, so most people swim into the beach from their boat. The very popular bar is called the "Soggy Dollar Bar", because everyone shows up with wet money. This bar invented the Painkiller drink (Pussers rum, OJ, pineapple juice and a sprinkle of nutmeg). Marc enjoys them, but they are not for me.

Sailed out of Anegada in a small rain storm, weather was nasty for most of the sail, but had pretty good winds and made good time. Grabbed a mooring ball in front of Saba Rock so that we could finally get a decent internet connection. So we are back up to date with our travels!!

Sailed the next day to Anegada, the winds were in our favor and the passage went well. Almost all the islands in the BVI`s are mountainous volcanic formations - hilly and green. This is not the case for Anegada - it is comprised of coral and limestone with the highest point being 28 feet above sea level. The island is 11 miles long with mile after mile of sandy beaches. We stayed two nights at this anchorage. Rented a scooter and did our usual tour of the island, driving down each road, only to find a private driveway. The map provided to us was a postcard. It is still very slow here in the islands, their busy season starts around Christmas, so we saw few other travelers. I was hoping to see the pink flamingos, but we could not find them - Bummer! This was a wonderful anchorage with clear blue-green water, and a cool breeze.

After our hike, and morning swim at The Baths we headed north to a very secluded area called Oil Nut Bay. We thought we might be the only boat anchored in the area, but were joined by a second boat late in the day. They are currently developing this area so no tourists were around. It was a very quiet relaxing day, with some construction noise in the background.

We spent the night in Spanish Town Bay. Got up at 6:30am so that we could sail over to The Baths and be the only ones there. This is a place that everyone should visit!! It is so beautiful and such a spectacular place. There is no dinghy dock at The Baths, so we decided to swim from the boat to shore. After arriving at shore we realized that we swam to the wrong beach. So in our bathing suits and bare feet we decided to find the road and go inland and find The Baths instead of swimming around the boulders. After a small hike we found the entrance to The Baths. Then we noticed a couple waiting at the entrance, and realized that when you access from the land side there is an entrance fee. We did not bring any money with us in our suits, and did not want to walk all the way back to the beach that we swam to. Thank goodness it was still so early that the Park Attendant had not yet arrived, so we decided to just walk in and continue our exploring. I thought because of our inland delay that we might not be the first and only ones in The Baths, but I was wrong. We were the only ones there, it was fantastic. We did run into another couple on our way out, other than that we had the place to ourselves. The Baths are an unusual formation of large, no HUGE granite boulders. The sea washes in between these huge rocks and creates large pools of water.