The Baths – Virgin Gorda

The day after arriving BVI, we went exploring The Baths with s/v Sea Walk and s/v Serephin. Charlotte was in her element leading the trail for the other 4 kids (ages 2,3,4 and 5). Despite have been to the Baths many times before, we are always amazed by the beauty of the rock formations. The Baths consists of huge granite boulders not seen anywhere else in the Caribbean. There are many pools, grottoes and caves, with a trail running through them – in many places the water rushes in and out like a natural hot tub. A beautiful natural child’s playground – and the adult love it too.

That afternoon we headed up to Virgin Gorda Sound with the other 2 boats. Perfect wind conditions for a nice comfortable sail. After arriving Charlotte made pina coladas for everyone (virgin of course). We saw the Maltese Falcon (largest sailing boat in the world) again sailing into the same anchorage - they must be on the same circuit as us!!

British Virgin Islands

The BVIs consist of the main island of Tortola, surrounded by many smaller islands. It is a British Colony, with its own government, and is a growing international offshore business centre (similar to Bermuda and Cayman Islands).

If anyone was looking to charter/bareboat a boat for a week, we would always recommend the BVIs. It’s probably one of the best cruising grounds worldwide, with steady easterly trade winds, great physical and geographical make up, numerous sheltered harbors, great diving and snorkeling. The sailing is not too challenging, with the outer islands providing some protection from the seas, and plenty of different islands to visit within a very short range. Day sailing can consist of a short one hour sail to another nearby island or a few hours sail to the other end of the island chain. Each time we get back to the BVIs it strikes us again how beautiful the islands are.

Sailing St Martin to British Virgin Islands –Thursday 19th March 2009

2.30 am the alarm went off and by 3.15am we were on our way, sailing out of the anchorage at Simpson Bay. Light winds so we put up the main sail before picking up the anchor. The bay was well lit, which made it fairly easy working our way though all the boats at anchor / moorings in the dark –Jimmy up front with a powerful light if needed (which it wasn’t), me on the wheel and us conversing though our headsets.

About 10-15 knots of true wind from directly behind (5-10 knots apparent) so we motor-sailed all the way, keeping up a good speed of about 8 knots. Unfortunately conditions weren’t quite right to fly the (A-symmetrical) spinnaker but we did get everything charged, made lots of ice and had a very easy trip! Two other boats that we had recently got friendly with (s/v Sea talk and s/v Serefin, each with 2 kids aboard), also did the trip that night, leaving at midnight – we thought we might catch them up but with no real sailing involved, not the case (more a question of how many revs on the engine!) however, we did have VHF radio contact with them on the way. The seas were relatively calm at only about 3 feet.

By 4am we were well on our way and started to take watches – I went on watch 4-6am so Jimmy could get some sleep and then he took over from 6am and I got a couple of hours sleep.
Night time motoring is mainly just a case of keeping an eye out for other boats. The cruise ships light up the horizon and are usually playing around, zig zagging back and forth, trying to kill time, when they have about 12 hours to do a trip from one island to the next, that would take them 3 hours or less. By looking at the navigation lights of the other boats you can work out which way they are going (and using the radar to see how far away they are, as it’s very difficult to judge distances at night). With the ipod playing in the cockpit, it’s quite a relaxing time (until Charlotte woke up at 5.30 am, coming up in time to see the sun rise). We passed about 8 boats going in the opposite direction during the trip.

The majority of the motor sail was in the daytime. We put the fishing lines out but as per usual, no luck again (although we did remember to take the cork off the hook this time!) Interestingly a lot of people (that do often catch fish) have mentioned about there being fewer fish around to catch this year. And we have definitely seen far fewer dolphins (none so far) than prior years (although Jimmy and Charlotte did see a whale about 50 feet from the boat on a prior trip.). Effects of global changes? – Definitely been cooler this year (I’ve been using a blanket at night, with the hatch close – normally it’s no sheet and hatch open).

Just over 80 miles later, we arrived 1.30pm into Virgin Gorda, about 10 hour trip and picked up a mooring at the spectacular Baths. Once again we were reminded how beautiful and spectacular the British Virgin Islands are. We took the dingy and cleared in at Customs and Immigration in Spanish Town, popped in to see our friends who had also sailed up, and were back at the boat by 5pm enjoying a sunset drink with the beautiful back drop of the Baths. By 8pm we were all asleep! It’s very dark here and so a fantastic star show.

Leaving St Martin

After two and a half weeks, we are leaving St Martin about 3am tomorrow morning (Thursday 19th March) to sail to the British Virgin Islands. It’s about 100 miles and this will give us the optimal daylight sailing time, whilst still ensuring that we will arrive before dark on Thursday. We are heading west so with any luck we will be able to fly the pink spinnaker tomorrow on one of our rare down-wind sails.

We are now doing the last bits and pieces before leaving:

• Jimmy is doing the regular engine checks before doing a passage;
• Relevant emails sent to the “emergency contacts” in case we have to abandon the boat (we have an EPIRB on board that, if set off, will notify the coastguard of our position to come and find us!);
• I’m doing the last bits on the internet (not sure how long before I get a decent connection again) – including trying to update this blog;
• Last bits of USA mail given to Paul and Leonor to take back to USA (to avoid the 6 weeks it took Jasmine’s birthday card to reach UK from here last year!);
• Last bits of shopping (prices and availability here significantly better than many islands in BVI);
• Charlotte is having a last play with Harmony, and we will soon head to the beach with some of the other kids she's made friends with.

Below are some pictures of our time in St Martin:

We had a good time in St Martin, although never made it over to the French side. Highlights included:

• Getting Charlotte’s cast taken off;
• a visit from Tommy, Lisa and Haley – always a lot of fun;

  From 2009-03 St martin

• Catching up with Paul and Leonor from NY, on their annual 3 week trip to their timeshare (we seem to always be here at the same time and almost feel part of their “timeshare” regular group!);

  From 2009-03 St martin

• Annual Heineken Sailing Regatta;
• Charlotte catching up with her friend Harmony and making new friends with kids on other boats (some also going to BVI tonight so will meet up again) – a favourite meeting place was the jungle gym at McDonalds (One of the few islands with McDonalds) – very good WiFi meant the parents could catch up on internet / banking etc while the children played. Below Charlotte with Katie, Haley and Harmony:
  
  

About St Martin

St Martin is an interesting, unique island as it is shared by two nationalities, using 4 languages, 3 currencies, 2 electric systems (110 and 220V), 2 governments etc. It is barely 7 miles in each direction, 37 square miles, with a population of about 75,000. There is a charming story, completely unsupported, that the French and the Dutch were so civilized that, rather than fight over the island, they had a French man armed with a bottle of wine walk in one direction and a Dutchman equipped with a flask of gin take the other. Where they met became the boundary and the French ended up with a bit more because the gin was stronger than the wine!

The “Treaty of Concordia” signed in March 1648 allows the free movement of people and goods across the borders. However, if you are on a boat you are officially meant to check out of one “country” and then into the other “country” if you decide to sail around to an anchorage on the other side of the island. In prior years not too much notice has been taken of this, but in the last couple of years they have become stricter on this, in particular the Dutch, who have started charging much high check-in and anchorage fees.

The fluxuating US$ / Euro exchange rate continues to cause mismatching in pricing within the island. The French side operates in Euro, the Dutch side on US Dollars (or the Dutch Naf which are linked at a constant rate). So how does a supermarket etc, that has stores on both sides, set their prices with the ever changing exchange rate!!?

St Martin is one of the most touristy islands, in particular with regards to the American market. (Due to lack of direct flights, there are few visitors from the UK, who tend to frequent islands serviced by BA and Virgin such as Antigua, St Lucia and Grenada). There are casinos, many condos and hotels, nice sandy beaches and is a duty free (well now 3%) shopping centre. St Martin is a favourite place for boaters to hang out for a while due to availability and pricing of boat parts, provisions and services. Some seem to never leave though …..

Slide shows - Pictures taken in Antigua, Barbuda and St Martin

Still trying to get to grips with this Blog stuff ....
Now I think I've managed to sort out slide shows of our photos.
Also been updating some of the prior logs so even if you've looked already, you may find some changes that i made today (Sunday 15th March).
We are still in St Martin and looking to head up to the British Virgin Islands towards the end of this week (about 100 miles) - mid week looks like a good weather window, although as it is a (rare) down wind sail, wind speed is not such an issue, as we will be going with the wind. With any luck we will be able to fly out (pink) spinnaker.

I have now moved all the slide shows to the relevant blog update.

Off at Last!!

The long awaited day finally came when the cast came off! 6weeks after the fatal fall!! Here is Charlotte, outside the clinic in St Martin, with her friend Haley who was visiting from New Jersey.
We had an X-Ray taken 2 days later, on the French side of St Martin and all looks OK

Arrived St Martin

Now anchored in Simpson Bay, St Martin, watching as all the boats arrive for the Heineken Regatta which starts tomorrow (Thursday). Had an easy passage from Barbuda to St Martin on Monday. Not too much wind so we motor-sailed - left 5.30am and were anchored in Philipsburg by 3.30pm - 10 hour trip.

Charlotte has already hooked up with Harmony again, her South African friend who lives in St Martin. This is the third season they have known each other and, despite the age difference, they play very well and enjoy each others company.

The winds on Friday are going to be 10 knots or less and on Saturday and Sunday its going to increase up to 25 knots so looks for an interesting weekend of racing, with very varied conditions.

Sitting down here its hard to believe about the economic downturn with all these mega yachts (200 feet plus) all around us.

On Thursday Tommy, Lisa and 6 year old Haley arrived for a 5 day visit. Charlotte enjoyed Haley's company and we are finally getting over Tommy and Lisa's company!! (all good!)

Home schooling







The Heineken Regatta was crazy as ever, lots of winds and swells - they kept changing the courses - 6 boats were dis masted, there was a couple of T bones, dozens of blown out sails. We had one boat drag down on top of us one night - no damage just a 3am wake-up call - Jimmy went ballistic with the guy.