Ahhh....the Ides of March!

Note to self - do NOT check out of a country at a commercial port! We went to the capital, St. Johns, to check out of Antigua yesterday and after attempting to clear out in town, I was directed to the Port Authority office out of town where the freighters tie up. To make a very long ordeal shorter, after getting bounced between Immigration and Customs two times each I finally got all the signatures and clearances I needed. The guy at Immigration, to stamp my six copies of clearing out forms, had to go to a file cabinet, retrieve a stamp, and then place the proper names and dates onto the stamp machine using forceps. He then reversed the process to put it all away. I was flabbergasted!! Obviously they don't get many yachties clearing out at the freighter terminal!!!!

Today started ominously when the windlass stopped working with the anchor still on the bottom. At 0630 I was left to haul the thing up by hand. (The windlass has a way of bringing up the anchor manually - without the electric motor - but I forgot and I didn't want to wait. It is a very slow process. Now I wish I had remembered and waited.

As we left St. Johns harbor no fewer than three cruise ships were on their way in - stacked up like cordwood. There is a narrow, dredged channel in and out of the harbor, so passing was 'tight'. Man, those things look scary when coming right at you from only a couple hundred yards away!! Fortunately none of them did a "Captain Hazelwood" and ran us over!

We caught yet another barracuda within a couple of hours of setting the lines. I learned from Jim Wood, who will be helping us transit the Canal and deliver the boat home later this year, to be careful of these creatures. I guess the bigger ones (over 4 feet) eat fire coral or eat something that eats fire coral and the net result is pretty ugly. Fortunately this one is only 3'11", so we should be OK! (Actually, it was only about 2.5 ft. long.)

The handheld GPS would not work in the cockpit and then Will noticed a batten in the lazy bag making its way out. I couldn't do much to fix the GPS right away, but I got the ole duck (sic) tape and taped up the batten and it held nicely. Five minutes later I noticed a HUGE bulge in my right elbow! I didn't hit it or traumatize it in any way, so I am befuddled as to how it came about. Raising the anchor in the morning perhaps got something started? Anyhow, I look like the Hunchback of Ridgemont High or something with a bulge on my right elbow protruding about a full inch above the skin surface! My preliminary diagnosis is a burst artery or vein and internal bleeding. Jerry Valeske experienced the near identical thing a couple of years ago, so I will ask 'Doc' Valeske for his diagnosis. Then, I suspect, it is off to some Dutch hospital on Sint Maarten to get it drained or something.

St. Martin is divided into two halves. The larger, French, side is St. Martin while the other Dutch side is Sint Maarten. Since the Heineken Regatta is on the Dutch side, that is where we are headed. We made it across the 75 nm from Antigua to St. Barts in 11 hours and now we are at a quiet anchorage at the west end of St. Barts. Jimmy Buffet likes to hang out here, so we'll keep our eyes peeled! (Right!) Tomorrow we will leave the anchorage fairly early (0800) so we can make it the 15 nm to Sint Maarten. The Simpson Lagoon Bridge opens at 0930 and 1130. We are hoping to enter the lagoon at the later bridge opening, drop anchor in the lagoon in the general area of the Sint Maarten Yacht Club and prepare for the Heineken Regatta. However, with my elbow all screwed up, all of these plans are on a "need to know" and "subject to change" basis, so who really knows what is going on? I sure as heck don't!!

Ahhh....the cruiser's life!!

Quick Update: When I awoke the next morning, the swelling was down 75%. So not to worry, Mom!!!