Anguilla and then BVIs

In a previous post I mentioned that we sailed to Anguilla after leaving St. Maarten. We only had a couple of hours there so we had a few drinks at a beach bar and then supper at a beachfront restaurant before heading out. I think this is a place that I would like to come back to.

We motorsailed overnight to Virgin Gorda and cleared customs as Spanish Town. As always, this was followed by a trip to a beach bar, or in this case a marina waterfront bar. The picture is blurry, but that's the bartender's fault and not because we had too much to drink.

Here is a picture I got at sunset in the anchorage.

Next day Stuart and I had a great sail from Virgin Gorda all the way to Jost Van Dyke. Downwind all the way with about four gybes along the way. Mark managed to sleep the entire way. We tried to spend some time at Foxy's but since it was Good Friday, no liquor was being served until 6:30. Mental note for next time.

Saturday was a Soggy Dollar Painkiller day. Rum in the sun. Nothing like it. We finished the tour with a night in the bight on Norman's Island and a day in Sopers Hole back on Tortolla.

Where we have been

The last two posts were kind of quick so here is a bit more detail on what has been going on for the past few weeks.

Stuart and Mark arrived as planned and we spend a few days hanging out in St. Maarten. Did the usual touristy stuff like a visit to Philipsburg and a trip to the Sunset Bar and Grill. Nobody should vist St. Maarten without doing those two things at least.

Before we left I arranged to have the boat hauled at Bobby's boatyard to clean the bottom

Check out the pictures. No wonder we were so slow through the water. Amercoat is great bottom paint in Nova Scotia, but it does nothing to inhibit growth in the warm water down here. Bobby's charged me $230 to haul and clean the boat. And the cleaning was down by their staff. Pretty reasonable.

Back in the BVIs

Currently in the BVIs with Mark and Stuart. Having a blast. Spent a night in Spanish Town after crossing from Anguilla, then a night in Great Bay, home of Foxy's followed by a day at the Soggy Dollar, home of the Painkiller. Painkillers are good. Last night we took a mooring here in Sopers Hole and likely will head to Norman's Island today.

Next week (Wednesday I think) the boys home and on Tuesday Max arrives for a couple of weeks. Looking forward to that.

I'll try to post more when I have a few minutes and am not paying for the internet time.

Leaving today

We will be leaving St. Maarten at the 11:00 bridge today. The plan is to sail up to Anguilla and have a quick look around and then sail to the BVIs tonight.

Still looking for crew to help sail the boat home to Halifax so if you are interested or know anybody who might me, feel free to e-mail.

Getting caught up

It's been a while since I posted and update. Sorry about that. On Sunday I left Statia and sailed to St. Maarten. Actually "sailed" is probably not the right word. I left the mooring at 0700 and motor sailed from under the lee of Statia and then shut down the engine. Sailing was good for about 2 hours with autohelm working perfectly on a beam reach. Then the wind dropped and dropped and finally died almost completely. That left six hours of motoring to St. Maarten. I arrived in Simpsons Bay around 4:30 and entered the lagoon at the 5:30 bridge opening.

On Wednesday I flew home to Canada for a short visit. Due to some issues in the flights I didn't get in until mid afternoon on Thursday. Now it is April 1 and I am sitting in JFK airport waiting for my next connection on the way back to St. Maarten.

This weekend Stuart and Mark arrive from Halifax. We will hang out in St. Maarten for a few days and then do an overnight passage to the BVIs.