What a catch.... Well, if I'd known how hectic and exciting the last two weeks were going to be, I would have slept for a week in preparation!
We left St Barts on the Saturday at 6AM, to head back to Antigua to meet the Nicholls' party, by 9AM there was a very unhappy Fluff onboard, with a not very impressed boyfriend at her side. In three hours we had managed about 7nmiles and we were looking at another 24hours till we reached Antigua, and in a Force 7 we were looking severly beaten. We decided to turn around and head back for St Barts' and book the party flights to St Martin to arrive Tuesday night. We arrived back in Gustavia, extremely relieved, and while Matt was going for a dip, I took the opportunity for a quick nap, as I was lying there I could hear French voices very close, then Matt called down for me to come up on deck as we were being boarded by Customs. The three of them were very polite and came and sat in the cockpit while going through all the boat papers and radio checking in our passports it was all really quite exciting. They asked if we had anything to declare several times, so we laughed about the few bottles of wine, some rum and a heap of empty beer bottles. They eventually came below and started searching through the cupboards and draws, it was then that I noticed the guns in their belts, these guys were serious, of course they found nothing which I guess is why it was so entertaining that they picked on us out of all the boats moored there, when they left the disco they went shooting off to one of the big motor yachts coming in.
On monday we sailed up to St Martin and prepared the Disco for the new arrivals. Tuesday night came round quickly and our guests were in the bar waiting for us when we arrived. What a bunch of pale skinned Brits!! There first day was spent around Simpson Bay Lagoon, where they caught the first strong rays of sun, by the end of the day, Paul and Amy were looking a little sore. Thursday, we headed round to the French side of the island, Marigot, we had a great sail round there and a great night out starting in a piano bar followed by our favourite grill, yum yum. Next stop Anse Marcin, Paul, Amy and Alan rented jetskis and whizzed around the bay, while Matt and I went ashore to check the marina out. They had a wild time on the skis, Paul and Amy also saw a turtle. The following morning, it was like being in turtle town, it may have just been the same one but he was happily surfacing up near the boat going down then popping up some where else 5 minutes later. Friday was fishing day, Paul used to work in a fishmongers in his teens, so we knew that now was time to catch one. We came down the windward side of StMartin, heading for StBarts. Alan was incharge of the line. Matt told him to hold on tight to the handle just in case we got a bite, at that moment the shock cord stretched, Matt and I started jumping round the boat as we had a bite, Alan eventually realised what all the shouting was about and started to reel it in. Paul had a feel of the line and as there wasn't much pull he thought it must be quite small. When this thing came into view, there wasn't a small thing about it. With the 3 boys hanging off the end of the boat trying to smack him with a winch handle you could hear the noise of it hitting, but this beast was not willing to give up without a fight, eventually he was brought into the cockpit but still with some life in him, so out came the blue label vodka and Alan poured it into his gills. Fianlly he gave up the fight, although he did have a few muscle spasms during the gutting. So this beast was about 2.5 to 3 feet long, a huge mouthful of sharp teeth and weighed in around 30pounds, we checked the book out and we think it was a kingfish. We dined like kings & queens that night with it cooked on the BBQ, none of us ate all we had and we left 3 fillets untouched!!!! Funnily enough that was the last we saw of the fishing line for the week!!! By far the most exciting catch ever for all of us aboard.
Saturday was spent in St Barts and again we saw turtles, we headed round to Anse de Colombier, where more turtles were seen. That afternoon, Al, Matt and I headed off with the underwater camera to find ourselves a turtle, and we did. He was just sitting on the bottom chomping weed, we then proceeded to swim with him although he would probably say chased!! We had read in our guide book that there is a good walk round to the next bay. It was an amazing hike along the cliffs, the water beneath us was truly beautiful. We sailed back to St Martin that afternoon, and had a farewell dinner that night, where Al did himself proud and completly demolished a lobster and steak. By lunchtime the following day our friends departed, with a definate change in skin colour, I'm not sure if I'd describe it as a shade of brown though......
From there Matt and I were left with the task of bringing the Disco to the Virgin Islands. On Thursday morning at 3AM the alarm went off and the pair of us slowly got moving and were well underway at 4AM. By 6AM I was asleep again and at 8.30 I came back on deck to let Matt enjoy a few more hours of sleep. It was the first time I've been left on deck for a substancial amount of time, it was a little boring but I plowed along hitting 8knots with just the mainsail. Our arrival in Tortola was around 6.30PM that night, boy did we sleep well. Since then we've been deported from the US Virgin's for no visas but we're sorting that tomorrow and then we'll try again, ready to meet Dave and Nikki followed by the rest of the Rolex Cup Crew...
Revised -- Saturday 23 March 2002
Carry on to the Rolex Cup Regatta
Back to Fluffy's Cruising Diary