​Current Location:  Ile Fourchue Anchorage, St. Barths
Miles Traveled:  13
Weather:  Mostly sunny, breezy (5-10), high-70s
Highlights: Raised anchor and took the 10:30 outbound bridge opening to Simpson Bay, dropped anchor, and went into the customs office to clear out of SXM.  Paid $81 for 3 weeks of anchoring plus 3 uses of the bridge, then raised anchor at 1PM and headed ESE for St. Barths.  First stop would be Ile Fourchue, about 12 miles away, and with the wind and 2-3 foot seas directly on our nose, we arrived at the anchorage just after 3PM, with XYZZY right behind us.  Dropped anchor, got the water maker going, then had time for a quick nap before dinner of grilled salmon with rice, beans, and salad.  Dennis and Deb came over for desert and cards, and we wrapped things up just after 9PM.  Good to finally be on the move again!

​Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, calm (0-5), high-70s
Highlights: We finally chased \the gremlin out of our generator this morning, and feeling very relieved.  We brought the service rep from ElecTec out to the boat, and he discovered that the issue was exactly what we had figured.  He found a loose connection in the high-voltage box (which we weren't comfortable with tampering with), so we can finally put that issue to rest once and for all.  Terry went up the mast a couple of times today to install the cell phone antenna signal extender, which should give us better reception (both voice and data) as we make our way down the islands.  Wrapped up just in time for dinner and a couple of episodes of The Ranch before turning in.  We clear out tomorrow - time to start our journey south.  First stop . . . St. Barths!

Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, morning showers, calm (0-5), high-70s
Highlights: We continue to chase down the issue with our generator, as well as work on other projects and chores.  The generator has been running perfectly over the past 2 days, but we know that it could start acting up again at any time, and we still don't know the reason why.  We made an appointment with ElectTec for one of their service guys to come out and look at the issue, and moved the boat back into the lagoon yesterday to make it more convenient for that service call, and also because the swells out in the bay were starting to build from the southerly winds.  Went over to XYZZY tonight for dinner and dominoes with Deb and Dennis, and had a very enjoyable evening.  Hopefully, if tomorrow goes well with the ElecTec rep, we can wrap things up here in Sint Maarten and head for St. Barths on Friday.  Fingers crossed!!

​Current Location:  Simpson Bay Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  1
Weather:  Partly sunny, occasional showers, breezy (5-10), high-70s
Highlights: Moved the boat out to Simpson Bay this morning (after topping off the fuel tanks), with plans to head SE tomorrow to St. Barths.  However, after dropping anchor, we couldn't get the generator to start.  She would crank, and was getting plenty of gas, but wouldn't fire up.  Dennis came over to take a look and help with some diagnostics.  Seems to be a continuation of our issues with the starter switch (shutdown relay).  Anyway, since we depend on the generator to run our watermaker (as well as A/C and to charge up our batteries), we figured St. Marten was the best place to get it fixed, so we'll delay our trip south for a few more days.  Made a trip into the grocery store (Carrefour) for provisions, plus another quick trip to Island Waterworld for some small parts.

Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly cloudy, frequent showers, breezy (10-15), high-70s
Highlights: Been wrapping up some projects over the past few days (replace the starboard bilge pump, map out and purchase hardware for the parasailor, etc), and also have gotten in a few trips to the grocery store for provisions.  Picked up the parasail from FedEx on Wednesday - big box to load into the dinghy, but nice to finally have it on the boat!  Now we just need to figure out best way to rig the sheets and guys.  Terry helped Dennis with replacing his radar unit (Dennis went up the mast while Terry handled the lines), and Dennis returned the favor with some good advice on the parasail.  We're also planning to take a month-long to Europe this fall (combination of river cruises and land-based travel), and have been spending lots of time planning the itinerary and booking hotels, air fares, tours, and cruise details.  We've been working with Donia for much of the planning (she runs a travel agency from her Orlando home), and that's helped immensely with the process.  Sint Maarten isn't the most exciting island in the Caribbean, but it's certainly one of the best places to hang out for a few weeks, with sheltered waters, convenient marine stores, and reasonable prices for groceries and marine services.

​Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, occasional showers, breezy (10-15), high-70s
Highlights: Took the boat over to Island Waterworld this morning to load up 100' of anchor chain.  Dock was a bit tricky to get into (bit of a zig-zag into the berth), but managed fine, and chain got linked onto the end of our existing chain and loaded onto the boat with no problems.  Back out to the lagoon to drop anchor again - nice to see some shiny new chain links sliding under the surface!  

​Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Morning showers, afternoon sunshine, breezy (10-15), high-70s
Highlights: Finished installing the genoa tracks today (had to run into the marine hardware store for some additional bolts).  Went out to dinner with Deb and Dennis (Skip Jacks, good food, service, somewhat pricey, 4/5 stars), then over to the Princess Casino for awhile where we contributed our fair share to the local economy.

​Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly cloudy, frequent showers, windy with gusts (25-35), high-70s
Highlights: Worked on replacing the genoa tracks and cars today.  Fairly straightforward process, and finished everything except putting end caps on the tracks (need to get some special bolts for those tomorrow.  Pleased to finally have that issue behind us - no more worries about damaged sheaves and blocks, and we'll need these when we finally get the parasailor rigged.  Light dinner tonight, then read and got caught up on emails, calls, and blogs before turning in.

Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, occasional showers, breezy (10-15), high-70s
Highlights: Decided to see the island today, so shared a rental car with Deb and Dennis from XYZZY.  Started with a walk-around of Fort St. Louis (awesome views), then drove around the French side to Oriental Bay (with a side trip to Anse Marcel), and ate lunch at Le Telegraphe (3/5 stars).  After lunch, we watched the parasailors scoot around the bay, then walked around Phillipsburg.  Back to the boat around 5:30, crashed for the rest of the evening.

​Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, morning showers, breezy (5-10), high-70s
Highlights: Terry went with Dennis into town to run some errands, then we took the dinghy up to Marigot for lunch at O'Plongeoir (4/5 stars).  Stopped into Digicel to figure out how to make a voice call to the states (need to provide money into our account first - duh!!), then back to the boat for R&R.  Light dinner tonight while watching a couple more episodes of Outlander.

​Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, occasional showers, windy with gusts (20-25), high-70s
Highlights: Terry took the dinghy over to Island Waterworld for a couple of items for the boat, then over to the FedEx store to get info on shipping the parasail to us here in Sint Maarten.  Wind picked up throughout the day, with higher gusts expected over the weekend, so we set our 2nd anchor out just to be sure we don't drag.  Heike and Juergen came over at 5 for sundowners and a tour of our boat, and as they were ready to leave, we noticed their boat sliding towards us as their anchor had given way.  Quick trip back to their boat to start up the engines and reset the anchor, but a restless night for everyone in the lagoon as the winds gusted throughout the night.  Fortunately, no more boats dragged, we stayed put, and dawn found all the boats in their rightful places.

Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  0
Weather:  Mostly sunny, occasional showers, breezy (10-15), high-70s
Highlights: We took the dinghies over to Marigot (French side of the lagoon) today, had brunch at a waterfront bakery, then walked around the downtown market area.  Stopped into a Digicel store to purchase a SIMM card, which is supposed to work on most of the islands, spent some time trying to activate it, but couldn't get it to work in either our phones or the MiFi.  Went over to Lagoonies for happy hour and burgers with Heiki and Juergen from Valentine, a 2018 Leopard 40.  Enjoyed meeting them, discussing boat similarities and upgrades, and chatting about sailing plans and experiences.

​Current Location:  Siimpson Bay Lagoon Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  1
Weather:  Mostly sunny, windy (15-20), high-70s
Highlights: Winds were going to be picking up later in the week, so decided to move into the "Lagoon", which is a large protected body of water shared between the Dutch and French sides of the island.  The channel and bridge leading into the lagoon from the south (Dutch) side is very narrow, and only opens for one-way traffic.  Ideally, boats line up in a queue and proceed in an orderly fashion, but in reality, there's a lot of jockeying for position before the bridge opens, followed by a mad dash to get a position, then (of course) the ones that get in front proceed through the bridge as if they were driving Miss Daisy to her hair appointment, while those behind are revving engines to hurry them along.  Lunch at the SXM yacht club (The Oar House), then dinner on XYZZY with Deb and Dennis.

​Current Location:  Simpson Bay Anchorage, Sint Maarten
Miles Traveled:  98
Weather:  Mostly sunny, breezy (10-15), high-70s
Highlights: We left Maho Bay with XYZZY (our buddy boat) at noon on Sunday, and motored through the Drake Passage, out through the channel between Peter and Salt Islands, and east into the Anegada Passage and the open Caribbean.  Winds were on the nose most of the way (we raised the jib twice for a short time only), and we had 4-5 foot waves on our port bow the entire trip.  We had planned to average about 5.5 knots in order to arrive after sunrise the next morning, so we used one engine most of the way, and arrived pretty much on schedule, dropping anchor just after 7AM (19 hours).  Grabbed a couple hours of sleep, then went into customs office to clear in.  After paying the fees ($27.00) and getting an unsolicited lecture about how the US needs to provide departure papers, we were finally legal in Sint Maarten.  Took a quick tour of the inner lagoon, stopping at Budget Marine to introduce our selves to Jovyon, who is setting up a corporate account for us, it was back to the boat to relax and nap for the rest of the day.  Black beans and rice for dinner tonight while watching a beautiful sun set, then some research and itinerary planning for the rest of our trip before turning in for the night.

​Current Location:  Maho Bay Mooring, St. John, USVI
Miles Traveled:  6
Weather:  Mostly sunny, breezy (10-15), high-70s
Highlights: Dropped the mooring lines around 10:30 this morning, and motored over to Maho Bay, picking up a mooring there just before noon.  This is our last full day in the Virgin Islands, and it seems fitting that our time here should end where it all began for us over 30 years ago.  Back in the mid-80s, we booked a week-long scuba charter on the Cuan Law, which at the time was the largest trimaran in the world at 105 feet.  We spent a week in the BVI's with friends from work, but before we started the charter, we booked a few days at Maho Bay campground, which at the time was an eco-friendly (and also budget-friendly) camping resort.  We spent 3 idyllic days soaking in the sun, snorkeling in the bay, and falling in love with each other and also with St. John.  The love has continued through the passage of time and in spite of all the changes, and we will be sorry to say goodbye, but the next phase of our journey starts tomorrow as we begin our trek down through the windward islands.  We are excited, a bit apprehensive, but well-prepared, and can't wait to get started!  Wish us fair winds and calm seas for tomorrow night!

Current Location:  Christmas Cove Mooring, St. Thomas, USVI
Miles Traveled:  4
Weather:  Partly cloudy, calm breeze (5-10), frequent showers, low-80s
Highlights: We've been planning to jump over to St. Martin as soon as we get a good weather window, and it looks like one might open up for us this coming Sunday night.  We have some final preparations to make, and got started by going into Cruz Bay first thing for groceries and to fill our empty propane tank.  After lunch and a couple of rain showers, we dashed across the channel to Red Hook to top of the diesel tanks at American Yacht Harbor marina.  Decided we were tired of all the rolling and wakes at Honeymoon, so ducked back down to Christmas Cove and grabbed the last mooring ball.  Got settled in by 3PM, with plenty of time for a nap and reading before dinner and a movie.  We'll stay here for a couple of days, then move up to Maho Bay on Saturday as a good starting point for our trip over.