Splash
29 January 2013 | Sint Maarten Dock Yards
Richard
Ooroo spent her first full day on the water on Australia Day. We dressed her in new sails with black trim to match the black anti-foul on her bottom. The smoky saloon windows look like wraparound sunglasses. A little black makes my rather dirty decks look positively white.like bleached teeth on a tanned face. She is prettier than the average 1996 Fontaine Pajot.
The Bimini will be repaired and will have a dodger added along with drop down shade cloth to keep that pesky sun off my afternoon beer.
We even have a new dingy that although not much bigger than the deflated old one, she does seem to have heaps more room.....and is much lighter.
I'm not the most powerful guy and so to avoid having to continually disconnect the 15hp outboard every time we go sailing I now have a dinghy that can stay mostly connected to an engine. Rough weather and long passages excluded.
Spending money on the boat is one thing.....but we have needs too. We have socialized with my old mate the boat broker, Tony Brewer and his family. He is still my recommendation if anyone is buying or selling a boat. Today Sarah, Jules and I spent the day circumnavigating the island by car. We discovered Grand Case....and will no doubt sail back there. It's a turquoise bay on the French side, surrounded by quaint restaurants selling the likes of espressos, Grant Mojitos (with champagne added instead of soft drink), escargot and frog legs. We have been swimming at Orient Bay, drinking at the Sunset Bar while watching the world come in and land at Princess Juliana Airport. Jules thinks it was named after her.
Now two days latter Jules, Sarah and I are running halyards and lines in the mast and boom. Replacing halogen with LED lights and just basically sorting Ooroo out for a very long voyage.
It seems so doable though. Our first two destinations are clearly visible from the shores of Sint Maarten. Anguilla (British West Indies) and Saint Bart's (French) are less than a days sail away. We could spend weeks in these islands alone and still not have gone 100nm.
But lets take a day at a time....tomorrow we are casting off the lines holding Ooroo to land and heading out of the Dutch West Indies....to travel a huge 150 meters to the French side of the lagoon. Under the lovely motion of the anchor we will do the last of our prep with the aim to start sailing for real on Monday.