It was sad to have Huston leave us at St. Thomas. We enjoyed our time with him so much. There is a quality to time together when there is no internet, phones, or any of the numerous other distractions of “normal” life.

From St. Thomas we had a tough ride east to St. Johns. The wind and waves were against us and it was messy traveling. We finally limped into Rendezvous Bay on the southwest side of St. Johns and had a fairly comfortable night. The next day we got off to a better start and made it to Tortola by noon. We cleared out of the British Virgin Islands in advance of our anticipated Friday departure.

From Road Town, Tortola we traveled to Virgin Gorda and did a drive by on the Baths. It was so crowded that a drive by was all we got. The BVI’s would be wonderful if they weren’t so crowded. You’d have to go off season to experience that and then you would be awfully far north in the chain to be safe in hurricane season.

After our drive by, we traveled to Savannah Bay on Virgin Gorda and tucked in behind the reef for a wonderful night. The water clarity was amazing and the beach was beautiful, too.

We snorkeled that afternoon and were shocked to see that the reef was all dead. I don’t know what happened to it. Sad.

The next day another couple started their day with an exercise routine on the beach. We were shamed into following their example. We swam to the beach and then ran or walked its length several times. Exercise has always been a big part of our lives until we started cruising full time. Since then we have walked and snorkeled but little else. We are vowing to get back to it—we will just have to learn how to be consistent given our wacky lifestyle.

That afternoon we pulled anchor and traveled a couple of hours and rejoined our friends Sherman and Judy at Leverick Bay on the north side of Virgin Gorda. We grabbed a mooring--$30 night with a free bag of ice and water fill up. We needed water desperately so it was worth it to pay.

The Chris Parker weather report said that either Thursday or Friday were our best days to go to St. Martin. Virgin Gorda to St. Martin involves an overnight passage through Anegada (often known as “oh-my-God-ah!” passage due to its often horrible wind, waves and current). Thursday, according to Chris, would be milder—probably a motor sail. Friday would be strong winds and large seas but better for sailing. Meyka and I opted for the milder day. Our friends were going to go Friday.

Thursday morning, Chris advised strongly that everyone should go on Thursday. We had a beautiful and comfortable passage. Friday the weather was horrible and folk were beaten up badly that chose it. The weather continued to be bad for crossing for a week after that. Some times you get lucky!

We arrived at Simpson Bay, St. Martin around 7:00 a.m. and entered through the Dutch bridge into the lagoon at 9:30. The boat ahead of us promptly ran aground. We were following him! Bad idea. We regrouped and found the channel and wound around to the French side, Marigot.

The French islands are preferred by many cruisers. I’m a convert to that school of thought now. Cheap and easy to clear in. Great food and wine. Marvelous bakeries. I like it!

The wind howled the days we were in the lagoon. It was a couple of miles from the boat to town and we had some spirited dinghy rides in the 30 knot gusts and wet splashes as we crashed through opposing waves. But it was worth it.

We used our time in St. Martin to address a few maintenance items—replacing the bowthruster battery charger, trading for a larger outboard motor for our dinghy, having a tear in our headsail repaired, etc.

I was claustrophic in the lagoon though and we finally escaped on Saturday, April 6th after eight days there. We got out of the lagoon and staged ourselves in a very rolly Simpson Bay to go to Saba. I learned how to do a bridle in the Bahamas and we were the only boat in the anchorage that didn’t roll that night. Some times you do good. I did good.

Saba was our adventure stop. Most cruisers don’t go there. I’ll write more about it in a separate post. We are glad we went but it was challenging. Once again, weather trumped and we only had two nights there.

A great 8 hour sail brought us to St. Kitts and we entered the Port Zante marina several days ago. It is cheap ($33 per night) and we get unlimited water for $15. Plus they have great showers. Life is good.

I’ll also write a post on St. Kitts. We are having a great time here.

OK…now you are caught up. I hope I’ll be able to keep my posts current from now on. Lack of internet or email access has been a real challenge recently. I’m hoping that it will be better as we go down island.

For friends and family, use our gmail email address until the HAM radio email gets up again. We’d love to hear from you.