The islands that brush the clouds are just becoming visible on our starboard bow. True to form the clouds hide the mountain tops. Saba is the first. Jules and Sarah visited Saba earlier so we will keep her to starboard as we head for St Eustatius (Statia) Dutch Antilles and then onto St Christopher (St Kitts) and then Nevis. We will eventually visit or at least pass the smoking volcano on Monserrat, the southern most island in this little group of very high islands. Most have peaks of about 1000m so the trekking will be wonderful.

It is a grey old day with up to 25 knots. I have one reef in the sail and we a doing a comfortable 7 - 8 knots (10 was the top speed). I'm now sailing just with Jules (Sarah has now headed home and will be missed). So the two of us are negotiating a 20 ton yacht from country to country. It's all becoming automatic now. No words are spoken while setting or weighing the anchor. Docking and preparing Ooroo for a passage is a sinch. She always closes the hatches. She has a gift with making Goat Curry.

Departing St Maarten for what could be the last time for Ooroo was also an escape from the job of provisioning and fixing stuff, for now. Amongst other things I have installed Rope Clutches and also fixed the sliders and track on the mast. The little1/4 inch ball bearing used in the sliders are without a doubt the most expensive item by weight on board. 60 cents each and they slipped through your fingers like coins into a poker machine..if one hits deck you can say goodbye 60 cents. We replace more than 120 and the probable weight was less than that of a biro. However my job pulling up the sail is now a little easier. On the provisions side....when a carton of Heineken is $17 bucks you buy five. When rum and vodka cost $15 per litter you just stock up.

We grabbed a mooring ball at Oranje Bay, Statia. Five hours sailing in this part of the Caribbean takes you to other worlds. It is all so very different. Once the largest trading port in the world, it has had 22 changes of ownership by the Dutch, English, French and Spanish over the 400 years since the Spanish killed off all the local Caribe people. Its charm is based on its violence. The stone road to the fort is called the "Slave Road". Built by them and used by them as they disembark shocking conditions on a stinking ship to be sold into something worse. The fort is well preserved and you can wonder around it at will. We watch kids play hide and seek.

The lack of prosperity over the last century means that the old ruins of warehouses, stone roads, the fort and lovely homes remain (I.e. no bastard has turned them into a Hyatt or Casino).

We climbed to the rim of the volcano that made this island. Her name is Quill...a British version of the Dutch word Kuil, meaning "Pit". It is strange that you can see Hermit Crabs 500 meters above sea level. What a journey they have when shell upgrades are required. We also came across two Red Belly Racer Snakes who didn't race away. They were happy with us approaching up close to have a good gawk. The view into the crater was awesome. Alas, while we took the camera the battery was back home charging.

Exercised and relaxed we are just now happy to sit on deck, red wine in hand and watch the sun go down and the full moon appear.

So off to St Kitts. A 25 nm sail. The wind is predicted to gust from the east to only 19 knots. So with one reef in, and the sail already set...we proceeded to drop the mooring, only to find it tangled around our line. So with engines on idle I dove in with the bridle and clipped it to the mooring and then preceded to duck and dive until I had unravelled the mess. Once released it was a quick swim to the stern, a clamber up and off we sailed...to cries of "Ooroo" from another Aussie boat.

Once we passed the lee of the island the winds developed and our speed was touching 10 knots, great. But with some rain cells up ahead we now expected stronger than predicted winds and in a few minutes hit 30 knots. Our protocol is that a second reef goes in after 28 knots so with a quick brief to Jules we furled the headsail by a third and let out to main to set the reef. We proceeded to tack into a flukey wind.

Now across the channel and in the lee of St Kitts the wind dropped and turned on our nose. So now I write a few words with the smell of deisel wafting around.

My winching, swimming and hauling muscles have got a great workout when all I want is to work out my fishing muscles. That's sailing.