Arrived in St Martin a couple of days ago.  Quite an interesting trip, all the advice said to go overnight, to arrive at first light, which we did.  Spot the odd ones out, warm blue seas, flying fish, phosphorescence in the wake, steep short seas, heavy squalls with seriously heavy rain, and 12 hours on watch with no sleep.  We met another boat the next day who did the trip in daylight and had a great sail – I am going to be more inclined to make my own decisions in the future. Another mistake was to ask Fi to put the supper on after we sailed, which she bravely did –she gave me mine, ate none of her own and then spent the rest of the trip horizontal and a rather interesting shade of green.

St Martin is the home of the super yacht and anchored out here in the lagoon we feel very much the poor relations. There are at least 20 yachts/motorboats of over £20m in sight as I write this – but are they all really happy??  Actually judging from the party noises coming from some, the answer seems to be yes.  However it does mean the island is blessed with some really good chandleries which is why we came in the first place. I have already bought the fishing gear and this week we are getting some cockpit cushions made as well as buying some diving tanks.  Experience with the solar panels is that although they are good in daylight, we are not getting enough total current from them, so I will be installing a wind generator this week as well.  What with having to fix some seriously squeaky steering gear which saw me dismantle half the rear of the boat yesterday and with half the electronics still telling me porkies, this week should be pretty busy.  So we are really looking forward to the Caribbean idyll of lazy days in quiet blue anchorages – I just wonder when!!