St. Maarten to Spanish Cay, Abaco, Bahamas

From 3/2/12 to 3/12/12, I flew home for Jerica's wedding shower. Leiby stayed in St. Maarten and then single-handed Trilogy the 100 miles to St. John when weather permitted.There he had the opportunity to anchor with his good friend Tom, who was on a boat with students he was instructing. I flew back to St. Thomas, where Leiby met me with Trilogy anchored in Lindbergh Bay, which was so close to the airport I was able to walk to the dinghy. The next day we sailed to Fajardo, Puerto Rico where we stayed in the wonderful Sun Bay marina for two nights. We worked nonstop, doing major provisioning, laundry and installing the new mast nav lights. On Thursday, 3/15/12, we left with the intention of getting as far as we could toward home. After 555 miles and 99 hours, that turned out to be Attwood Harbor, Acklins, Bahamas. During this passage we sailed over the Puerto Rican trench, which is 26,000 feet- one of the deepest points of the entire Atlantic ocean. On Monday,  3/19/12 we arrived at our beautiful, private anchorage at Attwood Harbor. This, to me, is the ultimate type of cruising destination- isolated and unmarred by civilization. We left on Friday with good sailing weather and travelled NW for two nights, through the Exuma sound and then into the Atlantic ocean between Cat and Eleuthra islands. On Sunday morning our engine died. After Leiby spent some time diagnosing the problem, we discovered we ran out of fuel. We were under the gun to get to anchor because a weather front was on the way, so we proceeded to sail the rest of the way to Abaco with a SW wind. To enter the Sea of Abaco, we had to go directly into the wind and make short tacks to traverse the north Man of War cut, which is no more than 2/10 mile wide. Right when we were at the critical bottle neck, a ship wanted to exit the cut. Rather than get run over, we heaved-to between reefs. As we were lying hove-to, the ship called us on the radio to warn us we were going to crash into the reef. Leiby called him back to inform him that the only reason we were in this precarious situation was to let him pass. With the wind over 20 knots in the Sea of Abaco, we beat west 12 miles to Treasure Cay where we dropped anchor under sail. We could not properly set the anchor in the ground since we had no power. Leiby dinghied into the marina to get fuel, but they were out of diesel until the next morning. Leiby was able to borrow 5 gallons of fuel from Kevin and Dorothy, a very friendly couple from Havre de Grace, MD. That night, squalls hit with lightning all around. We had gusts of wind up to 50 knots. This was the most severe weather we have encountered all year. Since we hadn't been able to set our anchor properly, the next morning we discovered we had dragged our anchor 3/10 mile, thankfully into safe waters. On Monday, 3/26/12 we filled up our fuel and water in the morning and sailed upwind all the way to Manjack Cay, always racing the closest sailboat going our way. Today, we had a beautiful sail to Spanish Cay, our current location. We plan to leave these tropical waters and sail back to the states starting tomorrow. Pictured: sailing instructor Captain Tom Hamilton; under sail during PR to Bahamas passage; our rockstar lure "Pink" does it again for Leiby; the flag lady at work retiring the PR courtesy flag; inspecting the local masonry on Acklins island; Skippy, enjoying the beautiful creeks of Acklins island; Leiby's 12 years old again.

St. Maarten to St. Maarten

/22

On Wednesday 2/22/12, we went through the bridge to Simpson Bay Lagoon during the 9:30am opening and got a slip at Waterworld marina. After boat work and provisioning, we picked Tasha up at Princess Julianna airport. The next day we rented a car and explored the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin (Philipsburg, Orient Bay, Friar's Bay, Marigot, etc). On Friday, we left the marina and went through the 11:00am Simpson Bay opening and motored to Long Bay for lunch. We swam to the beach and collected shells for Jerica. In the afternoon, we motored to Marigot. When we arrived, the Custom's official was very strict and made Leiby take Skippy (our dinghy) all the way back to Simpson Bay to clear out of the Dutch side. All the while, me and Tasha explored Marigot. We had croissants and espresso for breakfast, shopped, explored Fort Louis, and had crepes for lunch. On Sunday 2/26/12, we pulled anchor and motored north to Grand Case (the "gastronomic capital" of the Caribbean). Me and Tasha researched the many menus and decided on Le Tastevin. We had a beach day and went snorkeling at Roche Creole. We took the luxury of showering, went out to a fancy dinner and it was muy delicioso! On Monday, we set sail for Anguilla. It was probably over 20 knots of wind, broad reach, beautiful sail in 8 foot seas. We had 3 reefs in the main and the blade sail. Anchored in Road Bay, Anguilla and again, went through customs. On Tuesday, we motored NE to Crocus Bay. We took Skippy in and walked to The Valley, which is the capital. There, we discovered EC (Eastern Caribbean) currency, which makes everything seem more expensive. After getting a courtesy flag and some souvenirs, we hiked back to Trilogy. We went out snorkeling and Tasha saw a sea turtle! We later went to the beach where Tasha purchased an umbrella drink and Leiby practiced building sand castles. On Wednesday 2/29/12, we had a 4-5 hour sail to Philipsburg, St. Maarten where we witnessed much action from the Heineken Regatta boats practicing for their opening day. After anchoring and checking into customs again (while me and Tasha were entertained by the cruise ship folk from 6 cruise ships nearby), we walked through the town and picked up more provisions.  On Thursday, me and Tasha had a good beach day after renting beach chairs. Tasha took us out for a nice lunch with live music on the boardwalk. Afterwards, we returned to the boat to pack for a travel day. That night, we visited a casino and strolled the dark, desolate boardwalk. We finally played cards and Tasha was winner! On the morning of 03/02/12, we dinghied in for Tasha and I to catch a cab to the airport. We flew home for Jerica's bridal shower. Leiby stayed on Trilogy and expects to sail her back to St. Thomas next week. Pictured: Leiby working up the mast; Philipsburg boardwalk; Simpson Bay bridge; lunch on Long Bay; overlooking Marigot and Simpson Bay from Fort Louis; atop Fort Louis; Crepes in Marigot "Oui Oui!"; Beach on Grand Case; out to eat at Le Tastevin; Trilogy on Crocus Bay; Tasha chillaxin' on Trilogy; Tasha and her umbrella drink; Leiby building a sand castle; Tasha and the cruise ships in Philipsburg; on the beach in Philipsburg; on the boardwalk in Philipsburg; on a lounge chair; dinghying in on Skippy; the three of us before the cab ride to Princess Julianna airport.