Yesterday we picked up the boat. There was some angst in that as the forecast was for 10 foot seas, there are bridge opening schedules to deal with and there was a HUGE traffic jam near Marigot due to a truck that someone just left in the middle of the road.

As it turns out the forecast was in error and, while we couldn't sail due to the wind direction, we had a pleasant motor to St. Barts with calm seas.

Enroute

 As St. Barts was our first destination, it took a bit of time to get the anchor set, the boat secure, get through immigration, etc. but we had a nice French meal and a good, albeit a bit rolly, evening.

 At anchor

 Today, we're on St. Barts for the day exploring the island. Tomorrow, we're off for St. Kitts.

Tomorrow we head to sea

Our week in Grand Case is rapidly coming to an end. Hard to believe a week has gone by so quickly. This morning we headed over to see our boat and get the chart briefing for our voyage. The boat was getting cleaned and checked out so we didn't go aboard but here's a pic of her:

Then it was time for lunch in Marigot. It's a beautiful French town with lots of big yachts.

...and shopping for the provisions.

We used a modified version of Maslov's Pyramid to stock her. Air, we have, so that was no problem. Then 16 liters of water and, well, beer got bumped up ahead of food so we have several six packs, peanuts and chips to go with the beer and, finally, food.

Got back to the house early in the evening to see the best sunset yet.

 Tomorrow, we're off early for the boat and plan on being in St. Barts for a great French dinner.

Planning

Choices, choices, where to go...? The current plan is:
Day 1- Simpson Bay, St. Martin to St. Barts - 15 miles
Day 2- Avoid the paparazzi on St. Barts
Day 3- St. Barts to Nevis - 40 miles
Day 4/5 - Nevis and St. Kitts
Day 6 - St. Kitts to Statia - 50 miles
Day 7- Hike the Quill on Statia
Day 8- Statia to Anguilla
Day 9- Anguilla to Marigot, St. Martin
Day 10- Turn in the boat and catch the big bird home

It'll be interesting to see how the plan and reality pan out!

Sunset

The sunsets here are, well, spectacular!

Food

Grand Case is the gourmet capital of the Caribbean. It's a wonderful mix of 5 star French gourmet restaurants and BBQ places called lolos. Years ago the lolo's used to be just shacks on the beach. They've upgraded them a bit but they still retain the fun flavor of a beach front Caribbean BBQ. Every Tuesday, they have a mini-Mardi Gras and the places are packed.

We stopped by one the other night and wound up having a long conversation with Emile who is the owner. He gave us the full run down on the lolo's and was genuinely interested in what our plans were for sailing and the rest of our time here in Grand Case. Emile is just one example of the truly warm and friendly folks we've encountered.

Here's a shot at a lolo.

I'll bet he has a better captain than the Costa Concordia

The other evening, Mickey Ariston showed up off the beach where we have our cottage in his yacht the MyLin. As the chairman of Carnival Cruise Lines his elaborate satellite communications set-up must be buzzing with the problems and fallout from the Costa Concordia mess. In the meantime, he's enjoying the fabulous restaurants of Grand Case.

Grand Case

The first part of our trip is to get thoroughly relaxed. We rented a fabulous little cottage on the beach in Grand Case, St. Martin.

Here we are enjoying the weather (80 degrees every day)!

The view is the perfect screen saver from paradise.