Keith's New and Improved Foot!

We are unable to upload pictures again! So here is our past week's update: (This problem has been rectified, thanks to petter)

After Keith's stitches incident we left Nanny Cay and sailed through The Narrows to Cruz Bay in St. Johns, U.S. Virgin Islands. We checked in with Customs and immediately found a great bakery at Mongoose Point. It was nice sailing in U.S. waters where all of the "heads" are closed and use holding tanks instead of going into our snorkeling area. We sailed for a couple of hours southwest of the island in a series of tacks thru some moderate swells and waves, and then sailed into a very nice place called Gent Bay on the south side of St John's in Reef Bay with just two mooring balls situated 50 yards from shore between two reefs. Kathy kayaked over to the island and explored an old sugar refinery. It was really cool and had bats all over the ceiling and hermit crabs over the grounds (no, she didn't try to play with one again!). This was one of Kathy's favorite places so far, even though the chitras were bad. We snorkeled and took the gun out till we remembered we were in a National Marine Park. No fish tonight.

The next morning we sailed over to Coral Bay on the east side and had trouble finding a place to anchor. The locals people chased us out of the area claiming to "own" the mooring balls that we were anchoring close to (you go figure how you can claim to own property in the water!). Not only that, there was no dock!! We had to leave Keith in the boat (foot) and wade through the water to get to the store to get groceries. A very loud, friendly and very drunk lady kept Keith occupied until we returned. This was definitely not a place that we would return to.

In the morning we motored upwind over to Spanish Town (the original capital) on Virgin Gorda, having completed our BVI circumnavigation, hoisted up our yellow Q flag ( A "quarantine" flag, so as not to have to check back in with Customs again), and prepared to leave for the Anegada Passage that evening. We wayed anchor for the often very lumpy 90 mile open water passage expecting 6-8 foot waves and 15-20 knot winds in our faces, but were pleasantly surprised to have glassy seas. We rotated through the night in about 2 hour shifts going from the helm to the navigation table to bed. (My thanks to the crew for letting the cook sleep a bit longer than planned!) This picture is looking back to the west at Ginger Island at sunset from Anegada Pass. The stars were intense. We learned a bit of celestial navigation. It was so cool to see moonrise at 00:55. A beautiful half moon. Tides are minimal in the tropics...1-1/2 feet at most. The Northern Equatorial Current runs 1-3 knots generally. We had fun keeping track of our fellow sailors at night by following their nav lights. Overall it was a good first experience for night-time passage-making.

We arrived in Marigot, St Martin around 7:30 AM. After anchoring and a short dinghy ride Kathy and Keith ate in a wonderful French bakery and Peter and Bryan did their Internet Cafe thing as usual while waiting to check in with French Customs/Immigration. Kathy did a little shopping looking for "grandkid" items in the local market, but left early because of a grouchy vendor lady. (She was mad that I wasn't buying anything!)

We then motored over to Baie Grande Case on the French side of the Island (there are French and Dutch sides dating back to 1648 when they peaceably created a boundary dividing the Island east-west). There is a weekly parade and street vendor fair in Grand Case which happened to be scheduled that Tuesday evening, so we got cleaned up and ate dinner at a BBQ place in town, eating some great BBQ ribs and so-so island lobster. The parade consisted of a small float, 30 little girls dressed up like Minnie Mouse !, a percussion and brass band, and some older girls twirling light sticks. There are many wonderful French restaurants and many small shops. I did find some great handmade dolls for the grand daughters...still looking for something for Eli. That evening we waited in line for about an hour for chocolate crepes. They were yummy and I am quite sure that Peter is thinking about getting me a crepe maker for my birthday...hint, hint!

At this point I need to mention that Keith, who had been dying to get back into the water, finally bagged and taped up his foot, tied his foot to a blow-up donut, put on a lifejacket, tied on a tether, and swam in the ocean, all in full view of many tourists who came thousands of miles to experience real Island Life. We just told everyone we were from Canada. Yes, Medford Medical staff, we have it on video tape for the 2009 Christmas party!! (Just see Kathy in April.) Terry and Sarah, this may also be used for blackmail purposes when you see fit.

We then sailed over to the Dutch side of the island, transited the 56 foot lift bridge that allows entrance into the 12 square mile, fully enclosed lagoon and went into a slip in Simpson's Bay Lagoon where we docked at Lagoon Marina for several days of repairs (aluminum, port fuel tank leak welded, new house batteries, etc). It was fun to experience the bridge transit. (We have it all on video...if we could ever get a decent Internet to post it!) Once inside the large bay we had a hairy time trying to locate our assigned marina space. The chart was marked incorrectly, buoyage had changed, and our depth sounder was showing a depth of -1 !! (Later we found out that the depth transducer had been painted over when they painted the hull, giving us an incorrect reading.) Keith cleaned this with a soft scrub under the hull, and it seems to be working better. Bryan checked us into Dutch Customs.

The Skillmans flew in to Princess Julianna Airport last Thursday to stay with us for a while and they are still here...until they get sick of us!! Kathy is SOOO GLAD to have someone else with estrogen here!!! Although she does get into more trouble with Stacy around...let's just say that Double Estrogen + 1 rental car+ 1 credit card + NO watch = very upset husbands. Even though the guys were worried as to why we took so long at the grocery store and boulangerie, we ended up having a great day of snorkeling and exploring the whole island. We rented a car the night before and visited the famous Sunset Beach where the jet wash tumbles people into the ocean. Keith, Mark, and Peter held onto the rickety chain-link fence while a big Continental twin jet took off. They asked a lady to use Keith's camera to video tape them and she ended up being blown away with Keith's camera instead of the guys. It was absolutely hilarious (now his camera is full of sand)!! (You need to check St Martin's Sunset Beach out on YouTube!) The jet blast was so hot, and their skin stung from blowing sand. It was intense.

Then we drove north a bit to Cupecoy Beach for a few fun hours of hot sun, blue skies, cumulus clouds and fair waves for body surfing. We took turns getting slammed in the shore break. We rented chairs and an umbrella and bought BBQ chicken sandwiches on the Beach. Peter got a crash course in French beach attire ( or more correctly, the lack of it). They use a lot more sun screen than we do.

The windward side of St Maarten has great kite boarding and wind surfing at Le Galion, and the leeward side (Philipsburg) sells cheaper, duty-free electronics! Keith bought an HP dv5-1140 laptop plus case and mouse for less than what Peter's laptop cost at home thru an e-store.

On St Martin we ate at "3 Palms" in Simpson Bay (best hamburger ever), and La California in Grande Case (best mussels!, served in a Roquefort sauce). Always served with the best French Bread ever.

Peter also found out while we were here that he got accepted to BYU Provo starting Summer term! He is excited to choose between BYU Idaho and Provo! We are very proud of him.

On Feb 22nd we tacked and then motor sailed the 14 miles to St. Barts Island. Winds were 20+ knots on the nose, and the waves/swells were 5 to 8 feet tall. After four hours at only 3 knots we were only half way there and the port engine suddenly quit. The Jib furler drum also got fouled. So we turned around and sailed on a 12 knot broad reach back to Phillipsburg. We repaired everything and fueled up. Diesel is 77 cents a liter. By the time we were back in Phillipsburg Harbor the engine was working just fine. We figured it must have developed an air bubble in the fuel line, likely from air in a less than full tank while sloshing around in rough seas. All the gauges, water intake and prop checked out fine, so we could not find any other reason for the sudden loss of RPM's and power. After getting everything shipshape, we swam around the boat, checked the anchor, replaced the propeller zincs. Peter donned scuba gear and spent some time down under. The water was very cloudy due to weather. Still trying to figure out how he did a 10 foot safety stop in just 8 feet of water. Kathy cooked a marvelous peanut chicken and wild rice dinner with fresh kiwi and pineapple, followed by chocolate no-bakes.

We hope the weather changes so we can begin our transit to St Barts and Antigua. It is looking like Mark will have to change his return flight back to the States on Wednesday. We are sad that he has not been able to see anything beyond St Martin, but the weather rules, and St Martin is beautiful. Tomorrow we will stay here and swim and maybe try kite boarding. Hopefully by Tuesday the high pressure front will have passed and allow us some good wind and seas. Chris and Mal fly into Antigua on Thursday for two weeks. We are so excited to see them.

We have been monitoring the civil unrest and rioting on Guadaloupe and Martinique, and will adjust our itinerary as needed.

Last but not least, Keith was happy to have his STITCHES REMOVED today! Brian, our captain, took them out. He left a couple of them in at Keith's request to help keep the wound stable. They will be removed tomorrow! Yaayy! Keith will soon be free to swim without floaties! Notice Stacy's hand...she is a hand model (more specifically, a right hand model).

Life is good and we are happy!
Kathy