Leaving St Martin Part II

Now that the boat is ready and working, we again stocked up on food and lovely Oettinger Beer ($15US/case- most drunk beer in Germany), and checked out of the French St Martin. 7 weeks = $7.20 US. HUGE BARGAIN!!! But, with it comes some challenges. Like the French side drawbridge which only has 6-7 feet of water depending on who you ask, and goes up and down on a slightly irregular schedule. Not to mention the new Causeway Bridge between the French side and Dutch side. Have I not mentioned it?? It is shiny and new. We were here for a nice fireworks show commemorating its grand opening just a few weeks ago. It is also broken. Rumor has it they didn't include the weight of the motor for the swing bridge when they designed the pilings.

Now it has sunk 4" into the muck. Of course, this doesn't mean you open it and leave it open so boats can get through. Boats must be the cause of it sinking. No, wait, cars and trucks driving on top of it might be causing it to sink. So why do they leave it closed to boats and open to traffic?? After some initial ranting on the morning cruisers net, the swing bridge now opens at 0815 and 1715. Of course, the Dutch bridge doesn't have an outbound opening at 1730, so you have to stay overnight.

So, we tied up next to John and family on Discovery, filled up our tanks with water and our bellies with beer and Tricia's homemade pizza. Early Thursday morning, a week later, we went over to the Dutch side and anchored for the day. We then got in line behind the super yachts, and left Simpson Lagoon at the 1630 opening. Turns out, don't wait for the super yachts. For some reason, they go slow through the bridge. Like 2-3 feet on either side isn't enough??

Next destination was St Kitts, which is only about 60 miles on a beam reach. Not wanting to arrive in the middle of the night, we anchored in Simpson Bay, had a nice relaxed homemade mac and cheese dinner, and then got underway at dark. A rainbow just before sunset was a beautiful end to a great visit. Winds were 20-25 just ahead of the beam. We set the staysail and a double reefed main. Seas were on the beam at 6-9 feet. Occasionally one would catch us wrong and get the cockpit wet, but overall, it looked like a comfortable sail. Cary and Ginny took the first night watch. Man, it was good to be sailing again after 7 weeks in port.