It was 3 am when I slipped the mooring at Pinney’s beach, but the wind had gone so I motored the first hour before it returned lightly 10 – 12 knots. Daylight saw me passing Brimstone hill and then I was at the North end of the St Kitts. Here I was becalmed for a short while but the wind returned a bit stronger this time, up to 20 knots. I passed Statia and set the course for St Maarten, arriving here and anchoring in Simpson Bay after a passage of 15 hrs for the 61n miles.

Sunset on ancient & modern Simpson Bay

I left clearing in until the next morning, then later when the bridge opened I moved into the lagoon.

One of the nice things about St Maarten is the bar Lagoonies, happy hour here and a bottle of Presidente beer is just 1 US$, current rate of exchange about 68 pence. Lagoonies is set on the edge of the lagoon with its own dinghy dock and is a lively place often with live music.

Lagoonies

The island being duty free booze is amazingly cheap so we stocked up.  Rum at 5 US$  a bottle a bargain and since I am bound for ex pirate islands next we needs some rum aarh!

Stocked up too on provisions so two big supermarket shops, one on the Dutch side and another on the French side, staggering back each time with a full rucsac and two laden shopping bags, should have the staples for a couple of months or more.

A street in Marigot – French side of island

The other thing the island is good for is Chandelries there being a big Budget Marine and big Island Water World, so I was able to get some necessaries including a pilot book and some charts of Cuba.

A few little jobs on the boat done and I was ready to move on again before I became a permanant fixture propping up a bar stool at Lagoonies!