4/16/2026 Rendezvous Bay, Montserrat
By 0330 we had gotten about 7 hours of sleep, so we stayed
up and caught up on some computer work. The wind and water were relatively calm
considering we were not really in a protected bay, just the leeward side of a
big mountain. At 0630 we got underway heading northwest to Nevis. The wind was
behind us, so we motored past Redonda and Nevis. Once past Nevis we set a
course more north to Eustatius and unfurled the sails. It was a great broad
reach with fairly calm seas as we were getting protection from the islands. The
wind died off as we cleared the north end of St Kitts, so we furled the sails
and motored into the bay at Eustatius. We anchored at the north end of the bay
in about 16’ of water. It was closing time for Customs, so we decided to check
in in the morning.
A woman from the boat in front of us came over in her dinghy to let us know that they had a stern anchor out. The swell in the bay was broad side to the wind direction making it a rolling anchorage. Suzette reminded me that we have a stern anchor and suggested that we deploy it. We brought out the Fortress 37, 10m of chain and 250’ of rode, sorted out the shackles, tied the bitter end to the boat and loaded it all in the dinghy. We dropped it in about 10’ of water, about 200’ from Raffaellesco and hoped it would hold. Using the primary winch, it pulled us sideways such that our nose was into the swell and we were quite comfortable. The sun was just setting so our timing was good, I was exhausted. This was a bit different than our two anchors at Big Gieger, here both are off to the side to put us sideways to the wind but nose into the sea.
4/17/2026
It was a comfortable night; we decided to check-in and stay
another night. According to the cruising guide and the posted hours Customs
opens at 0700 and Immigrations opens at 0800. We arrived at about 0730,
Immigrations was open and Customs was not. Even though it would be out of order
Immigrations processed us and asked that we return after 0900 to see Customs.
We had planned to walk the town and visit Lyn’s Dream Bakery, highly rated on
Navily. The town sits on a cliff about 100’ above the sea. We found a path up
the hill, otherwise the road takes you about a km out of your way to get to
town. I am going to say the south end of town is a bit rough with various
houses abandoned and others being worked on. As we made our way north the
neighborhoods improved and there were fun parks with toys for the kids. The
bakery was not well stocked but quaint. Evidently it is very popular with the
before work crowd. We enjoyed a cheese croissant, coffee and guava juice. We
took home a loaf of multi grain bread that was the best we have had in the
Caribbean.
The bakery sits at the top of the island; we only needed to walk a little bit further to see the other side of the Island. We found the airport here, a small terminal but a very long well-maintained runway. Turns out it is the Roosevelt airport. We discovered later that Roosevelt visited the island to commemorate the arrival of the Andrea Dori in the 1800s. It was significant in that Eustatius, a Dutch settlement, because it was the first country to recognize an American ship flying an American flag.
On the way back to the water, we passed a high school. The kids were outside on break, and they were very curious about us. We chatted for a bit with one young lady who was destined to be class president for sure, very enthusiastic, well-spoken and genuine. Overlooking the bay was a well-preserved fort that protected trade in the 1800s.
The path we found back down to the sea appeared to be
ancient road or maybe an aqua duct. A gentleman was huffing and puffing his way
up. We stopped to talk so he could rest a bit. Like the school kids he was very
interested in where we were from and where we were going. As we walked the waterfront,
we passed a number of beautifully restored buildings from the 1800s, a
warehouse, a gin house and a barrel (wine not gunpowder) house. We stopped at
the warehouse that is now the home of the scuba shop. The proprietor was a
wealth of information about diving as well as the island. This was a trading center;
the waterfront was lined with warehouses and administration buildings. I am not
sure of what the attraction was, perhaps politics and geography since the
Caribbean was divided up between the French, British and Dutch in the 1800s.
The French and British did not get along; the Dutch were a go between working
the black market.
We cleared customs and paid a small fee, but we had to
return at 1600 to clear out for tomorrow’s departure. Most places will clear
you out up to 24hrs in advance. From the boat we watched a parade go by on
shore, more of a parade of cars, loud music and a couple flatbeds with balloons
and streamers. We returned to the boat and enjoyed a quiet afternoon relaxing
in the cockpit and reading. We arrived back at Customs promptly at 1600 but the
person we needed to see had been called away to check in a ferry on the other
side of the island. We complained aggressively and they figured out how to send
someone to do the check out. We waited about 10 minutes for them to arrive and
stamp our passports. Time for a cocktail at the Gin House on the waterfront, a
most delicious margarita and potent according to the admiral. We chatted with a
couple from the Netherlands that had been cruising the Caribbean for a while.
It seems that I might be the only cruiser attempting to follow the rules for
checking in and out of countries. We have a knack for leaving places just as
the rain starts, we hid under a porch cover until the rain moved on and back to
the boat.
4/18/2026 Oranjestad Bay, Eustatius
Depart Eustatius about 0830 with wind 15-20 SE, seas about 4-5’ W and clear skies. We unfurled the main and jib but left a reef in them. It was a great sail north hitting 9+ knots SOG. We maid amazing time arriving in Marigot Bay by about 1330. We knew the Bay well and anchored on the west side of the channel into the lagoon. The water was clear, making it easy to check the anchor. The check-in here is all online so we had no need to rush into shore. We worked hard sailing up and we were ready to relax.
The wind continued to blow hard all night with a slappy sea
to startle you occasionally.
4/19/2026 Marigot Bay, St Marten
Howling wind and a slappy sea overnight but not terrible. It
was Sunday so nothing will be open. We enjoyed getting some chores done, little
fun chores, nothing strenuous. The wind was persistent but welcome as it kept
us cool on this sunny day.
4/20/2026 Marigot bay, St Marten
Howling wind and slappy seas overnight again. The wind has
been persistent at about 15-20 knots. We had lots of errands to run today, this
is the shopping mecca, no tax! First stop was the chandlery to confirm our
anchor chain delivery. We were scheduled for today at 1600, but the wind was
remaining high, so we postponed to the next day, all was set. Next stop was the
Waterfront Grocer to restock our supply of peanut brittle bars. Suzette
discovered these bars when we first arrived in Marigot, now they are on the
must have list. Next stop was a most excellent liquor store. I do not know how
I missed this place on previous visits, but I was glad I found it. The prices
and selections were good, though they did not have my favorite Amaro. They did
offer a substitute and even let us sample it, we will give it a try.
On the boat we stowed our provisions and settled in for the evening. The wind was finally subsiding and the sea was calm.
4/21/2026 Marigot Bay, St Marten
The wind was not so high last night and the seas were
calm…and no rain! Plenty of time to linger in the morning before going into
town. We stopped at the beautiful cheese shop and tried several of their
cheeses. It was an interesting shop as they had a great selection of hams, sausages
and even a whole pig. We left with some Jamone and a few different soft French
cheeses. Next stop was the wine shop with an amazing collection of old wines
and more current ones. We stocked up on Bordeaux and Roses from France.
Back on the boat I needed to prepare to receive Suzette’s
new silver chain, the driver for returning to Marigot. Suzette had cleaned the Jewelry
box (AKA anchor chain locker), I prepared lines to manage the removal of the
old chain and onboarding the new chain. We moved the boat closer to the opening
to the lagoon where the chandlery would be delivering the chain from. We
anchored with our spare anchor of the stern to give free access to the bow. The
boat neighbors must have thought we were crazy anchoring stern to the wind, but
it made sense when the skiff arrived with the new chain. They tied off on our bow,
and we lowered our anchor into their boat. They disconnected the anchor from
the old chain, and we lowered the old chain to the bottom of the bay with a
line on it for retrieval later. Their skiff could not take the weight of both
chains and the anchor, about 750 pounds. We brought the new chain in using the
windlass and let it fall completely into the chain locker followed by the old
chain off the bottom. We were giving the windlass a workout. With the new chain
off their skiff, we could drop the old chain onto the skiff for them to take
away. The last step was to expose the end of the new chain so they could reattach
the anchor and be on their way. The job was done in about a half hour and off
they went. The neighbor on the boat clapped and gave us high fives!
The hardest part was pulling the stern anchor, the weight is
in the chain, 10 meters of 12mm chain at 6.45 lbs/m with a lightweight fortress
37 well set in the sand. With all the stern anchor equipment aboard, we turned
the boat around and deployed the bow anchor and new chain. Fortunately, it was
a light wind night because I was only guessing how much chain we had out.
4/22/2026 Marigot Bay, St Marten
This was the first calm night at anchor in a while, light
wind, calm sea and no rain! This must be paradise. We enjoyed a slow start to
the day, coffee, sun salutations and putting up the code zero for what looked
like a light wind sail to Eustatius. We got underway about 0830 with 10-12 knots
of breeze. The code zero carried us nicely for a couple hours until the wind
shut off. On with the iron genie and a motorboat ride south in calm seas.
Arriving Eustatius at about 1430 we knew the drill and quickly found a great spot to anchor and secure the boat. We dinghied into customs and cleared quickly using Sail Clear. Back on the boat we had some work to do. We needed to calibrate the chain counter but for some reason the sensor was not reading at all. After some testing I decided to simply replace it, I had a spare. It took some time and a couple reanchors to satisfy ourselves that the counter was reading correctly and we had a proper scope out.
It was well after sundown when I finally settled in for my overdue sundowner after what turned out to be a long busy day.
4/23/2026 Oranjestad Bay, Eustatius
A very quiet night at anchor, light offshore breeze, calm
seas and no rain. After our morning coffee and stowing the code zero we headed
to shore. We walked to the Quill Boven National Park and found the trail head
that led us up the volcano to the crater, The Quill, an inactive volcano. It
was about 2 miles of trail up to the rim of the volcano at about 1200’. Not bad
for 2 old people! The forest was dense and lush, helping to protect us from the
sun but letting a cool breeze through. The sign warned Racer Snakes but assured
us they were more afraid of us then we are of them, they clearly do not know
me, I am terrified of snakes. We heard some in the dry leaves but did not see
them. We saw and heard lots of doves, nearly wiped out by hurricane Irma but
recovering. At the top it was a spectacular view of the crater where it is like
a rain forest. On the ground there were lots of salamanders and a lone land
crab. It was all downhill from here.
Back at sea level we made a dinner reservation at the Barrel House, they had a very enticing menu and a great wine list. We stopped at customs and immigration to get stamped out for an early morning departure to St Kitts. I was able to get into St Kitt’s 3 different web platforms and complete the forms for entry.
The breeze and quiet sea made the boat quite comfortable for
an afternoon of relaxation. In the evening we enjoyed a great meal at the
Barrel House. The sunset was colorful, the breeze just right, the small waves
breaking on the beach just below us, great food and a very good bottle of
Italian wine from Veneto. I was surprised that the restaurant was filled, it
did not seem that there were very many people visiting this Island. Though
there were only about 11 tables. A beautiful way to spend our last night in Eustatius.
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