26/04/2014
18 02 32’N 063 05 60’W
We up anchor from deep bay at 3am giving the wreck a big clearance as the night is as black as pitch a mere shaving of a moon giving very little light. There is very little wind and we motor for what seems like hours. We turn off the motor at 10am and put the sails up which get us going at about 4 knots until the swell knocks the wind out of them and they slat and bang until they fill and we have drive again. This is torture and I feel every scrape and slap the sails endure, I actually feel the abuse, so after a couple of hours we stow the sails and resort to Mr Beta.
This is a slow trip, usually there is plenty of wind and we have motored only to charge the batteries or make water. It is going to be very dark before we get in to St Martin and with no moon to speak of, landfall would be nerve wracking, we have learnt not to rely on the plotter. So we divert to St Barts and do a sneaky overnight stop, we are up with the light and onto St Martin.
Pampero swings at anchor in Simpson bay as I dinghy ashore to check in. We catch the 11:30am Bridge into the lagoon which is about 12 square miles of flat protected water, bliss. We enter the lagoon and are immediately overwhelmed by the size of the boats here. Four sets of Spreaders’ are normal here and five not uncommon, the gin palaces are starting to resemble ships. Within a day of anchoring we had a huge boat trying to place its anchor in our cockpit before backing onto the quay. One slip of the button could send the anchor through our boat, a sobering thought.
Today I was reading in the fore cabin when Karen asked me to get dressed and come out on deck as the coastguard would like a word. There were eight of them on the Rib and two came aboard and asked questions, giving the boat a search. They were polite and filled out their forms which is difficult as they normally want to know when you are leaving or when you are going to arrive at your next destination. The answer we give is weather dependant and a 2200 mile journey dependant on wind and waves is hard to predict. They did a cursory search ignoring the mountainous stash of karens cigarettes and my slight overstock of rum. When questioned what they were looking for in the way of illicit items the young man replied, Firearms, illegal’s and drugs. I explained that unfortunately the only drugs we seem to take is ibuprofen especially as I had a had a bad trip on a rennie I dropped in 85! 25 years on I think that he will understand!
A great time has been had shopping in the two chandleries on this duty free island, we have bought a new head torch which is brilliant, literally and a new cockpit seat.
There have been some wicked rainstorms and also some thunder and lightning which prompted us to put the sat phone, handheld VHF and GPS in the sealed metal box to protect in case of a lightening strike. At times like these it is heartening to have one of the shortest masts in the anchorage.
We have had some exciting nights when the squalls come through as there are invariably boats that drag through the anchorage. Everybody must drag occasionally but it is watching how it is dealt with that amazes me. Denial seems to be popular, that is doing nothing but watch the boats go by like a rabbit in the headlights of an oncoming car. We have even witnessed an American boat exclaim that he had not dragged but had been rear ended by the yacht behind and this is in thirty knots of wind! Panic also seems to be popular with much excitement on deck but nothing really happening. It is not the hardened cruisers who seem to drag but the newbies in the larger plastic boats. My humble technical views on anchoring will be outlined in the boring technical bit so no need to suffer them at the moment.
Both Happy Hour and Sarah G are now anchored over on the French side so the next couple of nights are spent catching up and socialising, some of the details are but a sketchy vignette but good times none the less.