We did not expect much from St. Bart's but we are really enjoying it. We are in a delightful sheltered bay with no commerce, no roads, no crowds and NO mosquitoes (it is very arid, with no standing water). It is pretty much the first time we have experienced this since we left the Bahamas several years ago. Most of the anchorages in the Eastern Caribbean are long roadsteads in front of towns, villages or beach bars. This is very unusual and very much appreciated.

Despite the shelter, the beach is a bit too rough to safely land a dinghy so we are getting plenty of exercise swimming a quarter mile to the beach with our clothes in drybags, changing, going for a hike and then swimming back. You know you have had a workout by the end of that lot.

If we want 'civilization' the delightful town of Gustavia is a (wet and bumpy) twenty minute dinghy ride away but we have only bothered once. We will spend a couple more days here before heading over to Statia. Like Saba, it is a tricky spot to visit and the forecast looks promising for next weekend. After that - who knows? We shall look at the all governing weather and decide.