Whether you are conservative in your beliefs, remaining convinced that the world is flat or take the more progressive stand that it is, in fact, round, it is clear from this picture that at sea the world can be at quite an extreme angle.

We did a lot of beam reaching on this passage. No major complaints with that – it is certainly better than beating into wind and waves. However, when the winds build first to 25kn then 30 then start gusting to 35, even a beam reach can be festive and, with spray and more solid water coming over the bow and beam, a bit wet. The smiles that Stephen and I are so easily exhibiting in this picture would have been a bit harder to force on the third day of the passage.

The good news is that by dusk on that day the winds had moderated a bit and, more importantly, clocked a bit more northerly allowing us to bring KR onto a broad reach and still lay a southeasterly course. It is amazing how quickly the smiles, jokes and misc banter returned with the wind now a bit behind the beam.

The rest of the passage was really pretty benign. We did end up motoring a total of 42 hours – 36 in one stretch – in calm seas. Not exciting but certainly easy and comfortable and with the added benefit of allowing a bit of drying out and a good bit of “kip” (American English translation: “sleep”) for the crew.

When the winds reestablished themselves they were ENE and varied from 12-22kn for the rest of the passage – a fast and lovely beam reach. Fairly prolific showers moving through did keep the crew on its toes and in foul weather gear – but were never truly threatening.

The biggest problem on the trip turned out to be the significant language barrier that existed between Stephen (Irish born and England raised) and the Captain. Little by little, I came to understand that when Stephen was “peckish”, it was time for a light snack, when he needed a “bit of kip” it was time for him to get some sleep etc etc. Many other bits of English and Irish slang were translated for my benefit and communications maintained and restored.

Seriously, Stephen turned out to be both a great help in handling the boat, a diligent and focused watch-stander and a very interested and willing student of sailing in the big ocean. He also seemed to deal reasonably well with my many (not always completely reasonable) obsessions. I very much enjoyed his company throughout the seven days that we spent together at sea – very high praise in my book. Being at sea in very confined spaces in a not always comfortable environment is a true test of interpersonal relations – Stephen and I did well together.

I have positioned the boat approximately in the center of the lagoon (but still in French waters) which makes both Marigot on the French side and Cole Bay on the Dutch side as convenient as possible. In each case, however, it is still a good 15-20 minute row or paddle. I have been complaining about not getting enough exercise but no longer feel the need to do so. Hopefully, the winds will come up a bit and it will make sense to rig the sail on Katerik making getting about a bit easier.

I’ll post more about St. Martin over the next week or two but expect this to be mostly a staging location before beginning my island hopping down first the Leeward Islands and then the Windwards. St. Martin is a commercial center here in the Caribbean. I will be taking advantage of that fact to do some heavy provisioning and to get the pieces needed to once again get the To Do list under control.

Best to all.