We thought it may be helpful at this point to provide a map of the Caribbean since we are visiting many islands. The smaller islands are not shown and St. Martin and St. Barth are not identified on this map. The island just below Anguilla is St. Martin and the next below that is St. Barth.
Map of the Caribean
We hoped to visit Anguilla and Saba but missed them both. We had headed to St. Martin from BVI since we had the problem with our main sail, once resolved we choose not to go back upwind to Anguilla. We have heard it is a beautiful island with several nice beaches and some great restaurants. Saba is a difficult spot and requires the right weather conditions, it about five square miles and reaches a height of 3000 feet with no protected bays. We have heard it’s an amazing place and we were sorry to miss it. Our friend Jason of Sailing Vessel Two Fish gives a good recap of his recent visit, Click here to see Jason’s video.
Last year on the original Echo we traveled from St. Martin to Antigua and Barbuda so it is not our intention to visit those islands this year on our journey south. Our ultimate destination this season is Grenada which is just south of 12.5 degrees north latitude which is the latitude our insurance company identifies as the southern edge of the hurricane box. That is where we intend to be by July 1 and will remain south of there until November 1st of this year. At this time we are at 17 degrees north, only 300 miles north of Grenada.
In our last post we had been at Tintamarre, a small island just south of St. Martin. From there it’s a short hop to St. Barth. Before the main island we made an overnight stop at Ile Fourchue. It’s an uninhabited island where you can explore a bit and see some beautiful views. Our “Cruising Guide to the Leeward Islands” had advised “cactus proof shoes” so we dug those out and went ashore. It is a rugged and beautiful spot, we enjoyed the stop.
After leaving Ile Fourchue we had a nice sail over to Gustavia on the island of St. Barthelemy, most commonly called St. Barth. The harbor at Gustavia is a busy place, it took a bit of looking around to find a spot to drop our anchor. Once situated we dinghed in to town to clear in. The process was cumbersome as usual but entered at a computer rather than a paper document and the Officer was quite pleasant and helpful. All in all a good experience.
The harbor was filled with boats preparing for the “Les Voiles de St. Barth”, a regatta. The dock was lined with things removed from several of the boats to lighten the load in preparation for the race. The crew members were scurrying about preparing everything. Several race boats were anchored or moored in the harbor also, when coming and going to Echo we were flagged down for rides to and from shore as many boats did not have dinghies.It was quite interesting to watch the activities over the few days we were in Gustavia.
David and Jeff
One morning as we we were arriving at the dinghy dock and a man came up and greeted Jeff by name. Amazingly, he was a Facebook friend and they had never met. David is a sailmaker and was in St. Barth to crew aboard an Selene, an 80′ race boat. He lives in New Jersey, owns a Beneteau 473 and plans to head off cruising next year. What a great surprise!
We spent time exploring Gustavia. It’s been a busy port town since the 1600’s and has been fought over by the British and French with a short rule by the Swedes. Today it is a french island and apparently draws the rich and famous to visit.
Landing by plane on some of these islands can be exciting since there is often is little flat land available for runways. The runway here is very short and the threshold starts right at the base of a steep hill. In St.Barth you see the planes coming in high over the harbor where they enter a very steep descent towards the runway. There is a high ridge they must clear just before the runway. Then, after passing just a few feet over over the ridge, they must continue a very step descent for another 100 feet or so to the threshold. We walked out to the airport then spent about an hour watching landings, somehow we always make it to the airports.
After Gustavia we moved a few miles to Anse de Colombier. It’s a beautiful, quiet bay that was originally owned by the Rockefellers. The beach is very nice and surrounded by a steep hills. It is part of St. Barth Marine Reserve and there are mooring balls provided. We swam ashore and strolled along the beach.
~ Jeff and Mary ~
Visitor on Echo
Ok that does it – I am going to setup an office there! That is the most beautiful place you have posted…. Sounds like you should setup camp there for a while.. Not surprised Jeff ends up at an airport either.. John….
I think an office would work well on that island John. There certainly is a bunch of money there!
Love following your adventures, Mary and Jeff! Keep blogging!
Will do Karen. Thanks for writing.
Love you be safe
Always…Love you too.