Hello To You All
On leaving Dominica we do an over night sail up through the Leeward Islands. We now have to by-pass many of them for this season, but, we will return. The winds are light and we find we are motor sailing for most of this leg. It has become quite hazy, and it is warm and sunny. What little breeze we do have is at least cooling. Dolphins surf our bow waves and seem to enjoy swimming between the hulls. There are plenty of flying fish which get airborne as we approach and take off just above the surface of the water travelling quite long distances. We watch the different sea birds as they skim the surface in search of a meal. Also we still have huge patches of that golden seaweed around which makes fishing impossible. I catch mounds of the stuff !!!!
On the second afternoon we arrive at the small Island of Sint Maarten/St. Martin. It is no more than about seven miles in length, and width, with a large lagoon dominating the western side. The Island is owned by both the French and the Dutch, hence both the names. It is possibly the best known holiday destination in the Leeward group. We arrived on the Dutch side of the Island and dropped anchor in Simpson Bay, just outside the lagoon. You can take your boat into the lagoon where you can anchor, or pull into one of the marinas surrounding it, but we decided to anchor out as the waters are cleaner for swimming. Also the temperatures are cooler with a lovely breeze blowing through the boat. It turns out to be a great anchorage for an ex-pilot as well, as the airport runs along the far side of the bay.