We just returned from a seven day charter to the Leewards. We arrived in Oyster Pond, Saint Martin (the French side of the island…across the street was Saint Maarten, the Dutch side) on January 8th for our first adventure in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. We were too busy downing Pain Killers to notice that the airport had closed just after our arrival for high winds. Ready to go the next day, all 8 of us got the area brief, then the boat orientation on our Leopard 46 catamaran. I couldn’t figure out why the charter company wanted to put a skipper on the boat until we cleared the barrier reef. As soon as we rounded the jetty and motoring into 15 foot swells and 30 knot winds gave us a clue. I was really glad the 20 year old Frenchman helped us out! Wonder what it’s like in the Windwards, for crying out loud!

Needless to say, it took several days to get used to this. All my plans for a MOB drills and practice reefing evaporated for fear of really loosing someone while we practiced under a double reefed sail (if there had been a third, I’d have put it in).

The first day we pulled up in the lee of Ile Tintmarre, an island off the north east coast of Saint Martin. Unfortunately when I took advanced sailing, Harvey never covered anchoring in 38 knots of wind driving a 46 by 30 foot barn door. It took six tries to get the Bruce to grab and that was with 200 feet of chain out (I’d like to kiss who ever invented the windless). After 2 days of Beaufort 7 winds, it eased off and amazingly we started to see airplanes flying again. Smart pilots, what kind of dummy would be out in those winds anyway?

We ended up visiting some very nice places. We spent the next night in Ile Fourchue, an island about half way between Saint Martin and Saint Barths. We then visited Gustavia, the capitol Saint Barths. I had forgotten that many French women wear far less clothing than American women and sometimes it was hard to concentrate on the sailing (and impossible to keep the crew focused).

We spent the next night at Grand Case in north Saint  Martin, AKA party central. A weak whisky front came through and I don’t remember much about it. I do recall we came up with the right position for President Obama to take on every single issue but, as usual we forgot to write them down! From there, we sailed around the western tip of Anguilla and into Road Bay. We stayed there two nights while we explored the British Marine Park near by. We visited Prickly Pear Island where we hiked on this volcanic beauty.

Snorkeling visibility was 200 feet. I assume that the barracuda could see us just as well as we could see them. This island was right out of “Captain Ron”, completely deserted white sand beaches on one side and volcanic swimming holes on the other. From there we motored to Little Bay on the north side of Anguilla. This volcanic bay surrounded by 100 foot cliffs on all sides, was like an aquarium. We swam through schools of small and large fish. We even shared our lunch with sea turtles who allowed us to swim with them. It was the best anchorage of the vacation.

The final morning on our way back to the Moorings base at Oyster Pond, we enjoyed 25 knot winds with a following sea. Broad reaching under just a genoa, we covered 25 miles in 2 hours and 40 minutes. You gotta love Cats!

We highly recommend the Moorings base in Saint Martin…but not in December or January. Winds and seas are more moderate from March through November and the islands are far enough north that they are rarely bothered with hurricanes. If anyone needs info on how to charter there or other places we have been in the Caribbean, drop us a line.

Lessons learned in no particular order and not needing (or getting) explanation:

1) Count the crew on your boat before you leave a harbor…nuf said

2) Make sure that your crew knows how to bring the dinghy motor up prior to beaching...

3) Don’t anchor near inebriated Frenchmen.

4) If any of your crew are red necks, don’t let them talk in the customs office, especially a French
    customs office!

5) make sure your $500 camera is sealed in a water proof container while in the dinghy! Ouch!  
    addendum:
    Digital cameras don’t float!        

    LIVE AND LEARN!!

    Pat and Sue Ayres