Going to Hog Heaven ... and St. Martin

Looking way up to the top of the hills above Gorda Sound we could spy a little green building with an inviting deck built out at precarious heights.  Of course, we decided we had to hike up to its dizzying heights but with the promise of juicy delicious ribs it seemed doable.

First we had to wait for a little rain shower (torrent) to clear

Cock of the Walk in Leverick Bay

The day before we had hiked to the west around Oil Nut Bay and been treated to an impromptu off road ride in a landscaping truck that greatly shortened our trek around the hills, but also offered us some insight into the development plans for this rather exclusive area.  We have to enjoy the area now because once the place is built up we will definitely be out of our league up there.

We had enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Fat Virgin Cafe in Birras Creek as a little respite from the heat - always a great place to watch the comings and goings in the anchorage and at the dock.

Enjoying the shade at The Fat Virgin Cafe

Freshly cooked roti and burger with loads of blue cheese

Today however, we set our legs in an uphill direction - and up and up and up we went.  The hills are steep, the sun was hot, and when we reached the turnoff we had the place almost in our sights - at least no more steep hills to climb!

There's our destination - that little green place on the hill

Don't worry, we're going to HOG heaven!

Dan was in charge of keeping all of us at the tables happy with cold drinks and delicious ribs while ‘mean cat’ as he called him, made quite a show of placing himself right behind Dan’s unsuspecting feet whenever possible.  That was of course providing he wasn’t scrounging juicy morsels from the diners.  The star attraction though is the view.

The afternoon wound slowly to its conclusion and found us preparing for a night departure for St. Martin.  The winds were forecast at only 5-10 knots with flat seas under 3’ - it was a perfect night to set out.  Making the crossing with us were two other Canadian Boats, Jacob’s Ladder and Amelia I, which was a first for us.  Being able to be in contact via VHF radio made the distance seem just that little bit shorter and we had a ready-made celebration on arrival.  We set off about 3 hours before the others, preferring to travel at night rather than in the searing heat of the day.  Anchor up at 9:15pm and back down again after a totally uneventful crossing to Simpson Bay on the Dutch side of the island at 12:15pm.

Sunrise between the BVI and St. Martin

Sailing past the airport and Maho Beach as CanJet prepares to take off

Heading back to Canada!

The bridge to the lagoon opened at 3pm so we joined the little boat parade to make our way through.  Our first bridge opening!  Since we did not travel down the ICW on the east coast of the U.S. we had not had the pleasure of this little right of passage before.  There was plenty of room for us, but it boggles my mind how some of the mega yachts we see in the lagoon manage to get through.

Let the boat parade begin

We were fourth in line with two more behind

Even though we know we have loads of room to get through, it still looks tight

Bridge is up!

Jacob's Ladder and Amelia I following us through to the lagoon.

Anchored in the lagoon behind Distant Shores

First sunset in St. Martin

While we’re here in Sint Maarten we will be visiting the many chandleries and boat services places as well as participate in some of the annual carnival celebrations (more on that later).  Hopefully we can escape to the south with a few dollars left in our wallets!

Brought to You by the Colour Blue

No matter how long we cruise down here, I never cease to be amazed by the colour of the water - azur, cerulean, teal, turquoise, sapphire, ultramarine ... BLUE!

Today, we made our way from Trellis Bay up to North Sound under an almost cloudless sky, and as a first for us we anchored off Saba Rock.  We usually head for Leverick Bay on the other side of the sound but decided to give this end a shot.  Not that we haven't been here many times, we've just chosen not to anchor over here and now I'm really not sure why.

 ... a study in blue

One of The Dog islands halfway between Tortola and Virgin Gorda.

Mosquito Rock - part of the reef that guards the entrance to North Sound.

Incredible changes in colour mark the various depths of the water and tells us somewhat what lies beneath.

Making our way through the channel in the reef, these guys sure were in a rush.

Relax guys, there are lots of mooring balls, and we don't want one anyway.

Looking back at the reef - blue is good, brown is bad.

Blue all around us.

Dropped our anchor and this is our view - all shades in one eyeful.

And a short swim to shore through beautiful blue-green waters.

Before we left Trellis we heard stories of two vessels come amuk - the first was Sunday morning when we watched the rescue helicoptor on the north shore of Tortola.  If you remember I commented on the swell and hence our move to Trellis Bay.  A small sport boat got caught in the massive surf in Josiah's Bay and was washed up on the beach, luckily with no loss of life.  The second was a fire that completely destroyed a vessel in Christmas Cove.  We are now checking our fire extinguishers, evacuation plan and ditch bag - just one more time to make sure we're prepared.

See how low the helicopter is right behind the sailboat.

On a happier note, this little guy was our company on the boat behind us the other night.  His crew had left for the evening so he was doing his rounds before settling down for the night.

St. Martin Bound

After our night at Lee Bay we sailed up to North Sound on Virgin Gorda under the watchful eye of this character! He must be a benevolent soul as the rest of the day and night went exceptionally well.

Can you see what we saw in the profile of the rocky outcropping?

After a restful day at Leverick Bay the full moon rose to ready us for departure. However, many a sailor will tell you it is bad luck to begin a passage on a Friday so we prudently tucked a reef in our sails and waited til 12:15 pm for our departure.

Full moon rising over Leverick Bay anchorage.

As we turned the corner and set our waypoint for Marigot on the French side of St. Martin, the winds were even more favorable than forecast. For the first part of the passage, about 40 miles, we had the perfect trifecta: a full moon until sunrise, winds in the 12-18 knot range BEHIND the beam and the seas running in the same direction at 5-8'. We watched as a line of squalls formed up behind us and a number of small ones in front of us, but we seemed to be sailing in a bubble and stayed dry the whole way. After the sun rose the winds started to diminish until they pretty much ran out of steam and we motored the remaining 20 miles to Marigot. With the potential for the Christmas winds to be blowing straight out of the east at this time of year we feel we must have pleased some nautical persona to have had such exceptional conditions.

I took this at about 3am with the full moon lighting our way.

Sunrise was bright in our faces right after 6am

With the early morning light we were greeted by a number of brown boobies who flew in circles around the boat. We didn't see any dolphins or turtles but we figured the air dances from these birds was pretty similar.

St. Martin now solidly on the horizon.

Getting closer...

The port of Marigot.

Being a Saturday, services in Marigot close up pretty early and we were happy to make it to the Capitainerie at Port Royal. Check-in couldn't be easier through a computer kiosk, the payment of $8 (or 6 euros if you have them) and surprisingly no one checks passports, boat papers or departure papers. Ah...the French life. The (non)formalities completed, we strolled down the street looking for a wifi cafe where we landed at a bakery. Nothing formal but we picked a couple of cold beer out of the fridge, selected a chocolate brioche to share and handed over the sum total of $5 if you please. Ah...the French life.

We are currently anchored in Marigot harbour. The water is so clear even for a harbour that you can see the ripples in the sand beneath the boat. We have a number of interesting neighbours but there is still very much the evidence of the havoc that Hurricane Gustav wreaked back in October. St, Martin was hit hard with more boats sunk than survived and there is obviously still lots of clean up left to be done. I imagine we will see lots more evidence when we explore Simpson Lagoon later on.

Pretty turquoise wooden boat right beside us.

A French warship anchored out in the harbour, and that is the island of Anguilla in the background.

Imagine the force that washed this heavy working boat up on the beach.

Not quite the beach-front property the owners had in mind.

Return to Anegada

After topping up with fuel and water at Leverick Bay this morning, we took a quick turn around the North Sound to check out the local 'real estate' and then found ourselves following the race committee boat and others heading north for the Island Regatta races. These are some pretty serious boats with crews of 25 or more but it was pretty cool to be manoevering out among them as we got ourselves on our track to Anegada.

Off to set the race marks.

Thursday night racing at NSC is a little more affordable but this was pretty cool.

Perfect conditions for full sails.

This is our fourth time on Anegada and each time the beauty of this island strikes me. It is mostly the colours: the green of the whispering pines swaying languidly behind the snow-white beaches and the incredible turquoise and green of the waters. The eye feels almost drunk on it all. The island has a starkness to it though and if you lift the veil just a little, you see that you are on a scrubby desert island of searing mid-day heat as you leave the shoreside and unfortunately as soon as you step away from the touristy bits, there is an abundance of litter, old cars rusting away in the salt air, and unfinished or apparently abandoned houses. It is heartening though to see the same businesses thriving year after year such as V&J's gift shop and car rental, The Purple Turtle, Anjuelina's Boutique and the various restaurants that offer lobster dinner on the beach. Not much has changed in the last four years.

Our welcoming committee.

You lookin' at me?

Mowzer in the anchorage.

We have driven, scootered and cycled over this island in the past so today we decided to hike to the dizzying aerie of the highest elevation. Luckily the whole 26' is found next to a wonderful little place called Cow Wreck Beach. This honour bar sits just above one of the beautiful north shore beaches and today, although there were a few swimmers/snorkelers out in the water and a few others on the beach chairs at the bar, the beach was essentially empty. We helped ourselves to a cold beer, marked our tab in the little book at the bar and relaxed on the beach for the afternoon. Once the heat of the day had abated we hiked back the three miles just in time for a view of the sunset across the anchorage.

Is this cow wreck?

Nope, this is Cow Wreck. You've made it!

Hard to believe the beach is so quiet on a perfect afternoon.

It's those colours.