Happy Birthday Jenni! We are thinking about you.

Today dawned pink and gold with the sunrise. And I was up to see it, after a rough (for me) night's sleep. I guess I'm still apprehensive about making passages, and there is quite a bit to do yet to get ready. Jim and I dingy'd over to L'lle Budget Marine to pick up some jerry cans for diesel and an extra chart cartridge, etc. Charlotte was her ever helpful self and we found just about everything that we needed. Then we dingy'd to shore to check email and windguru and check out from St. Martin on our way south. On our way out of the office we ran into Serge and followed him back to his office to say hello and goodbye. He is planning to move to Miami so hopefully we can catch up with him there.

Then back to the boat to make a stop at the fuel dock where we topped off our tanks and filled our 4 jerry jugs and by 12:00noon we cleared the fuel dock and headed north to round the island. Although the wind guru predicted light winds today and diminishing swells we still had 20 kts within 30 degrees of our course heading to St. Barts, Anse du Columbier (( )). The swells were from the northeast 6-8 ft, and waves were coming from the east. This made it a fairly choppy ride down here, but the boat handled just fine with Jim taking over for the auto helm, who was just a little too slow to react to the swells and I spliced a mooring loop in the new line we picked up this morning. We picked up a free park mooring in this beautiful protected harbor on the north end of the island about 3:30pm. The only down side is I lost my favorite pair of sunglasses when working on mooring the boat - darn it!

Yesterday we had a small medical emergency...Emily sliced the tip of her finger practicing with the food slicer... well, actually, she WAS trying to slice a carrot, and figuring out the various settings on the machine and got just one fingertip too close. So we had to break out the medical kt and bandage her up. . Jim also cut his toe on something or other and so had a small bandage on his foot.
When we got here, although it is still a bit cloudy, we decide to go for a swim and snorkel as this looks like a prime place. Immediately after jumping in we spotted a sea-turtle, about 15 feet off the stern, just feeding in the grass. Then a ray passed underneath us, and then Emily swam back following another sea turtle. The one we stopped to watch fed for a while and then, with a grace you would not expect from such an ungainly animal it swam up to the surface to take a breath. Incredible...not more than 12 feet from where we swam, and we could see his big head out of the water as he took his breath. What an experience. The guide book said the sea turtles had returned to this place since they were reclaiming the sea grass beds, so I was hopeful to see one...this was beyond my expectations!

We continued on toward the shore and saw plenty of fish and spiny urchins, and the coral is recovering here as well, however as the sun was not out the colors were dim..that's OK the turtles and ray were pretty spectacular. So we head back to the boat, and on the way Jim and I visually inspect the mooring line ot ensure we are on a good can..float looks good, line looks good, down to the broad concrete anchor....WHAT THE HECK IS that? Right underneath our boat is a 5 foot shark lying on the sea floor. Unbelievable, immediately under the boat! And I think to myself, Emily has a cut finger, Jim a cut toe...my chances of getting back to the boat are pretty good! Although he barely twitches, we can see the slight movement of a fin (so Yes Dean - it IS alive! I don't care what the discovery channel says!) and we all decide our sea baths will need to be abbreviated for tonight! One more look...and Darn it...I think he is wearing my sunglasses!

After pina coladas and tuna-mac for dinner...Emily wants to know 'Where do turtles sleep?" and "Do fish sleep at night?" I'd get tired if I had to swim all day, she says. You'd be amazed at what can entertain you when you are on a boat all day, all night, all day!

Tonight the moon is up and about ¼..and bright. The northern portion of St. Barts is sparsely inhabited and the only island lights we can see are from St. Martin...15 miles away. A few mooring lights from the boats we are sharing this lovely, peaceful anchorage with...maybe 15 others, and otherwise it is pitch dark, like we never, ever see it in the city or suburbs. The hills of the island make a darker outline against the dark sky, and the moon and stars burn bright. A lovely nite for star gazing.
Tomorrow we head out again, destination tbd based on the weather at dawn. The choices are Antigua, or St. Kitts/ Nevis...more to come.