On 1/20/22 we sailed back to Spanish Town in Virgin Gorda to clear out of the country. It was about a week earlier than we would have liked. However, we’ve sailed between the BVIs and St. Martin before and knew that if we found a good weather window, we should take it. We have to go into the wind to get to St. Maartin which means that the crossing is rough and we will need to use the motors most, if not all, of the way. It took us about an hour to get through customs and then we hopped into our dinghy and headed back to Spring Tradition. We then motored back to Benures Bay on Norman Island for our last night in the BVIs.
We were planning on a 20-hour crossing from the BVIs to Sint Maartin. Steve planned the trip with us leaving at noon so that we would arrive around 8a on the 22nd, in the light. It can be difficult to pull into an anchorage without having good visibility. The last day and during the sail were picture-perfect Caribbean days. It was sunny and in the low to mid 80’s. The wind was rather calm, under 15 knots.
We let go of our mooring ball at about 11:40 and were on our way. We motor sailed for the first four hours or so and headed east. Then, as the winds started shifting to the north, we took the sails down and headed southeast towards Sint Maartin. The wind was between 6 and 15 knots and the swells were between 2 and 4 feet. This was the calmest crossing that we have ever had. I took some seasickness medicine and was fine the entire way.
Sailing at night is an adventure. Our AIS wasn’t working so, while we could see other boats, they couldn’t see us. We sailed with our lights on throughout the night to help boats spot us. Steve did most of the sailing but I gave him breaks during the afternoon. Then, around 11p I took over the helm until about 3:30a. It was a clear night and the stars were a vibrant white. Just as I took over the helm, I spotted a falling star that went into the ocean. The moon was about ¾ full so we were able to see the sea as we motored. Steve saw two cruise ships crossing and I dodged two freighters as well as a 45-foot sailboat. There was one sailboat about an hour behind us on radar and we could just make out their lights on the horizon. Otherwise, we couldn’t see anyone around us. Around 4a the stars somehow seemed brighter, bigger, and lower to the horizon. They were beautiful.
As we got about 15 miles off shore, we started looking for fish pots. We will see markers floating in the water and have to maneuver around them so that the lines don’t get wrapped around our props. By this time there was salt caked onto the plastic sheeting around the navigation station so it was difficult to see. We were also heading towards the rising sun, which made it challenging to see. However, just as Steve planned, we arrived around 8a and dropped our anchor in Simpson Bay without any mishaps. As soon as we could, we dropped the dinghy in the water and headed toward shore and the customs building. It took us about 45 minutes to fill out our paperwork and clear into Sint Maartin. We were tired, but happy to be there.