We left the Rodney Bay marina on December the 6th, fueled up at the fuel dock, and then motored around for about an hour before dropping anchor in the outside bay. We were now confident in the fuel system, and set off the next morning for the 45NM trip to St. Pierre, Martinique. We had a great sail, only needing the motor for the last bit to get to the mooring. Figures it would work when we didn’t need it!
We stayed in St. Pierre for a few days, listening to the incredible notes of opera performances at a local venue as they floated over the water. It was magic. We met another couple from Nova Scotia who had sailed there on a tiny, maybe 20 foot boat. They were on their way to St. Vincent to help establish a sailing school. We gave them all of our sailing books and the old sextant that Doug had been given by his uncle and we had never learned to use. We figured it would be a fun historical artifact to show kids, to demonstrate how easy sailing is now compared to BE – before electronics.
On December 10th we pulled out of Martinique and had a very sporty 55 NM sail to Dominica. The forecast was for 15 knot wind, with 20 knot gusts. We didn’t see wind less than 20, and the gusts were up to 35. We were reefed well and had no issues. As we were watching a catamaran fairly near to us with all its sail out, I saw a squall coming and bore off the wind a bit. A few minutes later the squall hit the catamaran and just about knocked it down. They spun around into the wind, with every bit of those full sails beating on the rigging. They got it under control and turned back in the right direction eventually. A good reminder to reef early, before you need to be reefed.
Still conscious of trying to make good time, we only stayed in Dominica for a few days, despite the fact that it is one of our favorite islands. We did get to catch up with our old friends Omar and Abbey one night, and finally got to meet the famous Cobra who we had heard about from other sailors. Cobra helped to establish the co-op that runs the mooring field at Portsmouth. It is an amazing community led organization that provides moorings, barbeques and other services for sailors, including island tours.
From Dominica we made the 20 NM jump to Guadeloupe on December 12th, with a very brief visit to another of our favourite islands, Terre de Haut, for french patisserie. Then on to Deshais on the north coast, the next day. We moored for the night there to stage for crossing to Antigua, since we missed it on the way down the chain. I was stoked to see a new country, but we knew with the weather that we wouldn’t have a long time there before we had to move on. We wanted to be in St. Martin for Christmas.
As soon as we arrived in Antigua we arranged a tour of the island for the next day, and got to work provisioning and visiting the marine store. Provisions were good; there was a decent, but expensive, grocery store and a bunch of fruit vendors on the street near our marina. Our tour of the island was very nice, and included a stop at a local fundraising event where locals were selling traditional breakfast in the streets. We also visited the Nelson Dock yard, a very old dock yard from the colonial era. It felt like a whirlwind visit, but at least it was a new country to add to my list!
Keeping on schedule, we left Antigua on the 17th of December and motor sailed 48 NM to Nevis. We really liked Nevis when we visited before, but one disappointment had been that their first brew pub was in the process of opening and hadn’t been making beer yet. The owners are from Canada and we really wanted to see how they were getting along, and if their beer was good! We moored near the brewery and headed there after checking in with customs the next day. It was great; the vibe was fun, the food was good, and Douglas loved the beer. Well worth the sail to check it out!
We stayed in Nevis for a few days waiting for the waves to die down before heading out. We had originally thought we would head directly to St. Martin from there, but the wind and waves would have been too uncomfortable, so we looked at other possible destinations and came across St. Eustatius. We did a little research and it looked cool, so we decided to go for it.
We left Nevis on December 20th and had a beautiful sail while being protected by St. Kitts. However, when we got out of the shadow of St. Kitts and into the open water between the two islands it became very gusty and the waves were unpleasant. What should have been a big hint, but we missed, was that the waves and wind didn’t stop after we reached the coast of St. Eustatius. If anything the wind picked up and the waves continued on. It was not fun weather to get the sails down and anchor in, but the worse was yet to come.
We dropped anchor at about 3PM in what could loosely be called a bay, but is really just a small indent in the landscape. We had never been in an anchorage that was this rolly before. We called into shore and found out that customs was already closed so we were stuck on the boat. Making dinner was nauseating, eating it wasn’t much better. We decided to go for a swim after dinner to get off the boat. The current was so strong that I felt like I was getting carried away and got Douglas to rescue me. So much for that. Back on the boat we tried to let out more scope and adjust the bridle, and then Doug hung buckets over the side. Nothing worked, it was miserable, and it went on all night.
The next morning we were both exhausted and seasick. We went into land without breakfast or even coffee. We just wanted off the boat. While waiting for customs we talked to other sailors who had arrived the night before, and had planned to spend a week, but were leaving because of the roll. They also hadn’t slept all night and said it was the worst roll they had ever had on anchor after sailing around the actual world!
Douglas and I had to make a decision. We wanted to see the island, but we needed sleep, so maybe we should leave. But on the other hand, sailing in rough seas after a terrible night of no sleep was going to be miserable. We decided to think about it over breakfast and found a beautiful hotel restaurant down the street. Breakfast was divine. When we finished eating we watched our boat rolling from side to side, and I came up with an idea. We went to the front desk of the hotel and asked if they had rooms. They did.
We never thought that we would leave our boat on anchor in a strange place and stay at a hotel, but boy are we glad we did. We had an amazing day of snorkeling and exploring the town and historical sights. For dinner we went to a nearby 5 star restaurant and had one of the most memorable dinners of our lives. The dining area was right on the beach with waves splashing just feet away from our table. And through the whole meal we watched our mast light rolling back and forth in the bay. We were so glad not to be on the boat!
We only stayed at the hotel for one night, and then did a very cool hike to a dormant volcano the next morning before heading back out to the boat to prepare to leave. We found that the companionway panels had jumped the track and the dodger had come apart during the night. Easy fixes, but show how crazy the roll was the night before. It must have been terrible, thank god we were not on the boat that night, what a good choice.
Setting off from St Eustatius at midday on December 22nd, meant we wouldn’t have time to make St. Maarten before dark. We decided to head to Forchue instead but had to make speed, so although the wind was okay, we used motor assist for the 30 NM trip. Forchue is a tiny island owned by French St. Barths, but you can stay here without checking in if you put up a quarantine flag. We picked up a mooring at 5:30PM, in time to watch the sunset and turtles swimming around the bay. The next morning we made the short jump to St. Maarten in time to get the 11:30 AM bridge opening to enter the inner harbour. We had made it to St. Martin for Christmas!
