We had an excellent passage up to St Maarten with wind starting just aft of the beam at about 15 knots. It developed a bit more while underway and we had to keep a reef in. When we decided to take in a second reef due to the building wind and sea conditions…. One of the blocks broke not allowing us to tack down the front of the sail under the second reef. The choice then was; reef one, or reef 3??? We chose reef three, and a full jib, and continued on a close reach to Philipsburg in St Marten, where we could fix the block.

All was well again after sending Colin up the mast to fix the broken lazy jack pulley. Just as we got him to the spreader, the rain started pelting!!!

Entering Simpson Bay Lagoon in St Marten is interesting as you have to wait for the swing bridge to open, which allows traffic one way or another on each hour for only just a few minutes. You have to be in the queue or you don’t get thru, and they close it shortly after the last boat, with not a lot of room to spare.

Simpson Bay Lagoon Swing Bridge

Although St Maarten is only 7 miles in each direction, it is perhaps the best know holiday destination in the Leewards. It’s blessed with superb white sand beaches backed by scenic hills. Casinos, condos, cruise ships; yachting and shopping are the main industries here. St Maarten is French on the northern half and Dutch on the southern half. Our purpose here in St Maarten, was to wait for Pam to join us, collect a bit of parts and do some provisioning. We were lucky to see some of the Volvo Ocean Race boats here while we were here. Team Brunel was not far from behind us.

Wednesday came soon and we ventured over to Maho beach and the sunset Grill to wait on the famous beach that is at the end of the runway. People line up behind the jets to feel their take off power, and watch overhead as planes land just above the reach of your fingertips (it seems). I saw in the crystal clear water while watching Pam’s plane land just a bit ahead of schedule.
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ST Maarten Beach

We have now checked out the country and are waiting for a bit of provision to be done, a bit of shopping for pam and I today and tomorrow, enjoy some French pastries on the other side later this evening before heading to BVIs Saturday morning.