When the swells, that did not turn out to be much, settled down we watched for a weather window to head to Statia. The forecast was calling for favorable winds so we made a plan to head out. We moved out of the bay and under the 5 pm bridge on Friday. We enjoyed a nice evening with the family of Seas The Moment, some friends the kids had made in Tortolla. The boys met up with the kids at a cruisers dinner on Wednesday. The next morning when we awoke we were disappointed to find the winds right on the nose for our trip to Statia. We decided to go any way and just motor. The trip was not uneventful. About half way over to Statia we had a pod of dolphins racing and playing in the wake at the bow of the boat. There were at least ten of them and they hung around for awhile before heading off to play elsewhere. Not long after that, we had a great surprise. Something we have been watching for but have not seen yet, whales! We had two not to far off in the distance breaching out of the water. It was amazing to watch. That was big on our list of things we wanted to see. We even have a photo.
When we arrived in Statia we cleared customs and checked out the island. The people were very nice and Statia has some beautifully restored historic buildings. We spent some time on foot exploring the old churches and buildings. We had dinner at Win's King's Well. the owners, Laura and Win, were great. Very friendly and informative to talk with. Their restaurant and hotel was a really neat place. Two great danes, macaws, cats, hummingbirds iguanas and bananaquits. They had it all including a great view.
The next day we did the hike up to the top of the extinct volcano. The hike was called The Quill. It was not as hard on the legs as the hike on Saba. Not one million stairs to the sky and not straight up. We did go to the top to look down into the old crater of the volcano. We were amazed at the amount of growth here. Giant trees and green plants were everywhere. We came back down the mountain to a burger and shakes.
Statia is a fueling port for large tankers. There were anywhere from 6-12 just outside of the area we are anchored in waiting their turn to fuel up. Tug boats were running back and forth constantly.
The swells are coming from the south right now and that means we are rolling around quit a bit. We are ready to move to more protected waters. We will head to St. Kitts and Nevis next.