M/Y Mary Ann

We are alone again: The old man, two old women, and the sea. How strange is this silence. Gone are our high spirited companions and chief grunts. I guess it is back to work time for this trio. We are again: Captains John and Mary Ann, Navigators John and Mary Ann, Engineer John, First Mate and Cook Isabel, Deck Hands Mary Ann and Isabel, and finally we have our three boat scrubber downers back again at work . . . John, Mary Ann and Isabel. We will not be taking on additional crew until May 8th.

Sombrero Passage lies between the US and British Virgin Islands and the French, Dutch, and UK Leeward Islands. We are, as you know, heading for the jointly French/Dutch controlled island of St Martin/St Maarten, about which I have heard many glowing reports. Jerry Ruhl’s son, Jeff, who is captain of a yacht about the size of a car carrier, told his Dad that St Martin was so great that he thought he would just stay there. High praise from a young guy who has skippered yachts all over the world. Certainly enough to pique our interest so we’re on our way.

Oops, spoke too soon. The port stabilizer mechanism has failed so we are running on one wing, so to speak. Hydraulic fluid level is OK, temperature at 160 degrees is normal, but fluid reservoir in the unit itself is hot to the touch. Decided to shut the system down before it burns up a seal or something. Have to think about this one, but Marigot isn’t too far now and the books say that everything a mariner needs can be had there. I assume that includes stabilizer technicians and not just cold beer and burgers, although …

For no particular reason, I decided to come here to the Dutch side of the island, rather than the French side as I had earlier intended. We are moored at a very fine marina in the lagoon that is shared between the two halves of the island and are so protected from the weather that there is a bridge at either end of this body of water to keep the wind away. The bridge we came through opens at a precise hour three times each day for all of the plebian traffic like ourselves, but if you are a really important boat person you can pay $1500 per month and it will open anytime for you.

Pretty good day for Mr. Fixit. The Naiad guy, Philip, said that so long as the stabilizer was acting normally to go ahead and give it a sea trial, so I will test it out on the way to St Barth on Friday. The watermaker/oil change guy showed up, but said he was too busy to help me today, maybe tomorrow. But he looked at the system and suggested that I change the hoses around to isolate the low pressure pump and then change them around again to isolate the sand filter.

The oil change guy, John Golden, an Aussie, did show up and spent three hours changing the oil. Most of his time was spent trying to decipher the Reverso oil change system I have aboard, something that no one has yet been able to do, but I let him go thinking that maybe he could figure it out. He had no luck so we had to drain the oil into five gallon containers and then refill the generators from one gallon containers. Not the way it is supposed to work at all, but at least we got it done. Next time I’ll just do it myself and save the mess and expense.

You should all be here now. St Kitts has appeared out of the clouds and shows itself green and lush on the lower slopes as we cruise along the shoreline taking advantage of its’ shelter from the easterly wind and seas. I’m sitting at the boat deck station, barefoot, in shorts and a t-shirt, enjoying the warm ten knots of wind and a little spray in the face as we make the last ten miles or so to port. If you were to picture a Caribbean cruise in your own boat with everything just perfect, this is where you would be, right now.

Regulations are a bit loose here in St. Kitts and a tad bit mixed up. We came into the very small and rather crowded marina, Port Zante, following the directions of the Dock Master who advised us the location on the wall where we were to be tied. When we arrived we saw that most of the space assigned to us was filled by two catamarans and a tender. We did not have a fit. The “helper” waiting for us on the dock saw that we had a bit of a space problem and told us to back up because he was going to move the catamaran and the tender.

This is a nice little marina, and the only marina on an island that has few good anchorages, all of which are south and east exposed. The marina is new and not fully completed as yet, although yesterday, Sunday, a crew of masons was working hard to complete another building for the marina complex. The taxi driver, Juney, said they were trying to get it done for next tourist season.

A charming small bay which, although entirely exposed to the south, has provided a comfortable anchorage for us. Due to the southern exposure, there are no other boats here but their caution is our gain as this is as picturesque a scene as one might imagine. There are a small number of beach houses down at the waterfront hidden behind the lush shrubbery that fronts the white, sugar sand, beach, and a larger number of homes high above us and up the very steep island gradient.