Short stop in St Martin

Imagine this lovely little beach without the giant house being constructed above and you'll know what it looked like until now. This is our favorite tiny Antigua beach, previously accessible only by dinghy, just outside the anchorage in Jolly Harbor. Kind of sad to see it with this mega house hovering over it now.

It was still nice to have a view of it the night before we left Antigua though. We made one more run to the local market and said our goodbyes to friends who are heading south and friends who are hauling out early, then left at dawn for St Martin. Farhaven was making the passage from Antigua to St Martin too and it was nice to have company for the trip.

Sweet old dog keeps an eye on things at a second hand book sale outside the market in Jolly Harbor

Tim and Nancy zip by to say "See you in the BVI"

Alistair says goodbye, though we may be able to spot him and the dinghy a few islands away in their matching RED.

Early morning departure from Jolly Harbor

Tuna!

We opt to skip the mob scene in the anchorage in Gustavia St Barth's and do our usual overnight one bay north in Columbier before continuing on to St Martin the next day. Not surprisingly, we had tuna for dinner.

Crowded anchorage in Gustavia, St Barth's

Rainbow over St Martin after a squall passed by

Cero on the hook

We caught two small tuna that we tossed back as well as a barracuda but this Cero was the catch of the day and Farhaven came to help us eat it that night.

Farhaven goes ahead of us through the swing bring into the French side of the lagoon.

A good water tank filling rain

I haven't been carrying the camera with me as much as I used to but it seems whenever I bring it along I end up with photos of animals. Here are a few from the dog (and pony) show I saw around me.

Looks like a rough home for these two dogs but we see them swimming near the boat and they seem well cared for.

Clockwise from top left: iguana scooting under the fence; horse waiting for his owner to make a call; Floppy (snoozing) and friend at Shrimpy's laundry; dog helping his owner clean the anchor chain from the dinghy.

We always like to see Mina - the goat who lives at the gas dock near the French bridge. She's getting big!

Mean looking face in the architecture on the lagoon side of a school in Sandy Ground on the French side.

We spent a lot of our time stocking up on things we can't get easily when we're in the BVI and USVI, which is where we're headed next, but we also fit in some socializing and one stop at Little Jerusalem for a tasty and super filling shwarma.

       Leslie and Tom from Farhaven with Skip at Little Jerusalem. We decided this shwarma almost breaks the "don't eat anything bigger than your head" rule.

I made a quick trip back to the states to be there to celebrate my baby sister Ruth's 50th birthday (happy birthday Ruth!!) and Skip took advantage of my absence to do lots of boat projects. Saralane looked great when I got back with newly varnished galley counter tops, freshly painted companionway, de-squeaked salon sole, painted and super cleaned head with a few new parts, newly installed USB outlets, new greasing system for the steering rudder post, refastened vang bracket on the mast, shiny clean stainless on the stove and more. Maybe I should go away more often!

The tradewinds have settled back down to normal and are even expected to be light the next few days so we're heading for the BVI. We've cleared out of St Martin and will be underway by dawn tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow we'll catch a mahi!?