Saturday, December 15, 2012

18 degrees, North

We ducked out of Nevis this morning as a storm completely obliterated the lights of St. Kitts but fortunately were able to sneak just behind it as it blew out to sea. The water behind St. Kitts is still as a millpond and we are enjoying it immensely. After clearing the island, we find seas about 1 meter, and light winds, 8-10 knts all the way to St. Martin. It was a lovely and peaceful motor sail, and we arrived in Simpson Bay just after 3pm...to find it nearly deserted compared to when we were here in April. We find a perfect spot to anchor in 15 feet of water and then take care of our many boat chores in order to be ready to depart at 3am for the BVI's!

Snorkel Anchor...check
Bag mainsail...check
Inspect engines...check
Top off fuel tanks....yeah - check. Jim was certain that the port fuel gauge was now malfunctioning (as the starboard one has for some time) and not reading accurately...as it turns out, we just haven't been burning that much fuel and so oddly enough...the gauge was right! Well...we are topped off anyway!

The waters here in Simpson Bay, which can tend to be rolly are quite nice tonight and there is so much action here to watch....the airport is just behind us, with large and small jets landing and taking off every few minutes. The bridge to the lagoon is just in front of us, and on its timetable outgoing and incoming boats transit the channel (except for that one boat...who left it a little too late and found himself backing out of the channel as the bridge was coming down) The cruise ship port is around the corner to the south, and one cruise ship has already left steaming into the sunset, which put on a fine show itself sneaking out from a dark cloud to drift into the sea in a blaze of color. All in all, a wonderful place to be tonight.