Entertaining trip to St. Martin

With the Trades dropping to 5 to 10 knots we left Eustatia Sound at 2.50 am and arrived here at 5.20 pm just in time to catch the 5.30 bridge-opening on the Dutch side. After waiting around for ten minutes a local came by in his dinghy to tell us “they” had changed the bridge opening times and we had missed it – the opening was now at 5pm! Oh well, I guess “they” are the same the world over. But at least we had enjoyed a less than boring motor-sail.

Leaving in the dark is not so tricky as arriving blind: you know where you are, have seen it in daylight, and can calmly plot your exit: and by leaving early morning we were fairly assured of arriving 75nm later in daylight. Even so we did have two chart plotters going to help us out of the reef strewn waters between Eustatia and Necker Islands.

This normally boring passage under motor turned out to be quite entertaining.  We had a beautiful sunrise

Then the engine revs dropped, signaling a dirty fuel filter.  We pulled out some jib and hove-to

 

 and John changed both the primary and secondary filters.  We are hoping this is the last of dirty fuel problems.  We are down to a quarter tank and will fill with fresh diesel here in St Martin.

By mid-morning large convection clouds were all around and yet we dodged all of them: but they were quite impressive

and produced Rainbows

On the trip we had passengers fly in: two Martins resident in Eustatia had decided it was time to see the island named after them. Early on we saw them flying astern, and later one decided to hitch a ride. He perched in various places topsides before flying down below for warmth and a rest.

We wondered what happened to the buddy, and then a couple of hours later, there he was, clinging to the helm seat sheltering behind Nancy. He cuddled up close to her and fell asleep: John decided that he was a very discerning bird. Nancy was able to gently pick him up and put him down below.

Hours later we arrived at Simpson Bay on the Dutch side.  We opened the hatches and our two feathered passengers flew off to start their new life!

Our very best to all of you!

John and Nancy December 4, 2013