Sailing The Leeward Islands – Day Two – St. Barts

Day Two

Today was our first big sailing day, and we made a successful passage from Oyster Bay in St. Martin to Gustavia in St. Barts.

For the rest of the photos and video, and daily summaries, be sure to read the Sailing the Leeward Islands Trip Summary
Photos set on Flickr (Slideshow)
Video on YouTube

– Woke up at the moorings marina at oyster bay. Me, Sean, Zac went over to The Moorings office for the chart briefing, while Dyana, Evan and Evelyn made preparations to the boat.
– The chart briefing was informative, and we went over all of the charta of the Leeward Islands, including our possible routes to Anguila, St. Barts, Nevis, St. Kitts, and Statia.
– I also stopped in the dive shop to discuss dive sights, and also signed up for DAN insurance online using a computer at a nearby hotel.
– After our brief boat orientation walk through with moorings staff, we departed the dock and made our way out of the harbor towards open water.
– Shallow water near the harbor entrance causes large breaking waves, and our exit to open water was very rough. We made it through, and into 22 kt winds.
– We sailed to St. Barts on only our mainsail, with one reef, since the wind was so strong. A bit faster and it would have been a gale.

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– The seas were consistently rough, with swells over the beam all day, and a close haul.
– As we got closer to St. Barts, we started sighting the nav markers leading up to the marina – markers were easy to follow, and we anchored just outside of the protected inner mooring area.
– Out in the harbor, there are actually a bunch of moorings in seemingly good repair – but are privately owned.
– Immediately after anchoring, Zac, Sean and I took the dinghy over to the customs dock to check in.
– Dinner tonight was at Eddie’s, a local restaurant Zac has been going to with his family for years. We got there at 19:30, and after a great meal and many drinks, left around 23:30.
– We’re going to sleep tonight around 00:30, and waking up early tomorrow morning to sail Statia.

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