The Anegada Passage is an Angry Place.... St. Martin is awesome!

We took a little side trip up to Anegada while we waited on weather to cross the Andegada passage to St. Martin.  It was a beautiful sail both ways.  Below is a picture of Andrew on the way over there.

Sunday afternoon looked like our best chance to make the passage to St. Martin.  We finally got out of the Virgin Islands when we left Virgin Gorda around 1300 on Sunday, April 3, 2011.  We had hoped to ride a gentle south east/east wind well north of our rumb line and then tack as the wind shifted around North east and strengthened.  Well....  The Northeast wind came earlier then was ideal for us and the trip was a wet ride with a few seas washing right over the bow.  There was a bit of traffic out there and we had to get on the radio a few times and talk with the other vessels to avoid collision.  It was a looooooooooooong night.  Our jib halyard broke around midnight but the sail stayed up until around 4am Monday morning.  It was at this point that we tacked, Andrew threw up, the jib finally slipped down about a foot in it track and we rolled it up.  It was all in one flawless train of events!!!!  We motorsailed the last 20 miles or so wth only our main sail.  yucky!!!



Getting ready for an angry night.  Thats Virgin Gorda in the back ground.  Maybe 15miles off shore?



This is what the Anegada passage did to our jib halyard shackle.  Its now secured right to the roller furling with a bowline.  Less parts in a system... less parts to fail in a system.

We arrived is St. Martin, Marigot Bay with anchor down at 10:30 Monday, April 4, 2011.  Went right into customs to check in.  It was a very nice experience and besides the weird french key board that had a few keys in the wrong places and the lack of sleep, it went well.  The customs offical was very nice, helpful, and talkative.

Old fort atop the hill at Marigot Bay.  The cold beer I had with lunch may have been the best glass of beer I've ever had!!

Ferry and customs dock (Marigot Bay, St. Martin) 

This what you do while exploring the streets of Marigot at 11:30 am when you just crossed the Anegada passage and haven't really slept since 8am the morninig before...

Someone else thinks that yellow and blue go together...  :-)     Anchorage in Marigot Bay, St. Martin.

After our customs check in we walked around town for a bit and waited for the bridge opening into Simpson Bay at 1430.  Areyto, Andrew, and Rich were VERY salty and tired.  (The shorts I was wearing all night were stiff like cardboard!!)  We decided a splurge in a marina for the night would be good.  We could have a hot shower, do our laundry, sleep peacefully, etc...

Following a big cat through the bridge on the French side into Simpson Bay

Along the banks of the short little canel from Marigot bay to Simpson Bay

Monday afternoon wandering around the Streets of Marigot after our delicious french lunch (beef Carpachio, shrimp ceasar salad, two little bavaria beers....  what anegada passage?  St. Martin is sooooo cool!!

I think I reconized one or two bottles of wine in here.... 

Veiw from atop Areyto's mast fixing the jib halyard.  We are in a area called "Port La Royale".  There are a bunch of cool little resturants and shops along the water front.  They dock all the boats using the "Mediterranean moor" We had the anchor ready when the nice Frenchman explained that the line ws already tied to the bottom...

We had heard alot about the beach and beach bar at the end of the runway in St. Marteen.  So we went and got to experience it first hand!  It was intense and you really can't explain it to anyone to prepare them for it!  All I can say is wow!!  There is alot of umph generated burning that jet fuel!!

Below is a youtube link to someone else experienceing it.  We didn't get a chance to video ourselves.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkSRcBI4ff8&feature=related

I hope everyone is enjoying following.  We are off to St. Barts, then Saba as long as the weather holds up!!!