Our visit with Curt

Captain Curt at the helm

(take note of the heel of the boat!)

Today we say good-bye to Curt L   It was great having him on board.  Curt got a good taste of the cruising lifestyle’s ups and downs (literally and figuratively).

Weather-wise, the first half of his visit was great; but the second half saw 4 days of rain – lots of it! ‘Felt like we were on Noah’s Ark.

Captain Curt's "driving"skills

We sailed to St. Barth’s island (with a stop at Ils. Fourche), and back to St. Martin with Curt. The sail there was good; the sail back saw big seas, which brought some drama … the engine ‘sucked air’ and quit, and we had to sail on to our anchor.

big seas from St. Barth's to St. Martin

Curt helmed the boat during most of the passage …. ‘plenty of ups and downs on those waves! We kept good company at our anchorages - check out some of these boats....

 'ATHOS' - world's largest privately owned schooner - 203' long & 201' tall!!

 'a party on a sliver of their stern deck

 Athos is the big guy on the left,

& Serenada is the wee wee one in the back right!

 check out the perspective - see the crew on the foredeck

 a trimaran with the same configuration as the spaceship enterprise

 glass bottom submarine

9 racing sailing vessels (each likely 60' long), shipped to St. Barth's on this freighter

The cruising life is described by some as constantly fixing your boat in exotic locations, and Curt helped Gil on several projects…. restoring the failed engine; repairing the bilge pump; repairing the water pump; freeing an anchor and line which got caught around the base of a mooring ball (thankfully Curt had brought his own snorkel gear); straightening out an anchor pin which bent when a mooring line got snagged on the anchor; draining the dinghy after several rainfalls……

We enjoyed snorkeling in several locations: Rocher Creole off Grande Case Bay in St. Martin; Ile Fourche, a small island between St. Martin & St. Barth’s; and Columbia Bay on St. Barth’s. You've seen the pics on the previous blog post.... good thing, because the underwater camera is on the fritz already *&%#@!

Hawksbill sea turtle!

Curt's video of a Hawksbill sea turtle 

Elkhorn coral

Hiking rewarded us with beautiful vistas, and close up views of the many cacti and the rugged terrain of these islands.

towering yucca plant in flower on Ils. Fourche

??? seed pods

St. Barth's in background of Ils. Fourche

cacti on Ils. Fourche

ditto - more cacti on Forche Island

Gil & I in the same photo!

Serenada on a mooring ball @ Ils. Fourche

 hiking on St. Barth's

 St. Barth's

Serenada was at anchor in the (barely visible) bay on the left

hiking on St. Barth's

chilling at The Rib Shack @ Grande Case Bay, St. Martin

our favourite WiFi spot @ Grande Case Bay

While at St. Martin, we rented a car one day and circumnavigated the island; stopping at  Maho Bay to watch the big planes come in over the beach – quite a sight.

 ready, set....

 GO!!

coming in for a landing over the beach

street vendor on St. Martin

Curt met some of our fellow cruisers, who we ran into again here. Slow Waltz, White Gold, Serenade, and Simplicity Two were all anchored together in the Lagoon.