St. Martin <> St. Maarten

We have diverted course to head for the French side of St. Martin. Got an email from Bob of "Pride" and he made several suggestions concerning the French versus the Dutch side. As a result, we have decided to go to the French side to anchor, and use the dinghy to visit the Dutch side.

We are currently 13 miles off the island; and have slowed our speed so we will arrive around 7:30 am ish. Customs doesn't open until 9 am, so there is no need to rush.

We have sailed a good deal of the way, but recently, the wind has dropped, so we are motoring with the mainsail still up. We are making great progress in light wind and sea conditions. The only issue is it's HOT. With the engine running and the hatches closed to keep any sea spray out, the cabin gets very warm (95 deg) so sleeping and blogging in the cabin is uncomfortable. (I can hear the sighs, and see the eye rolls...this guy is sailing in paradise, heading to St. Martin, and he is complaining about a little heat...suck it up + shut up !!) OK....I will....

Quite watch...not much ship traffic, and the weather is beautiful. We had a watch change at 4 am....T has hit the rack, and I am now on watch for the duration. Having fun navigating, keeping an eye on the radar here at the nav station for other boats/ships, blogging and returning some emails....life is darn good aboard Persephone...all for now.

Current position: 18 08.43N 063 21.29 W SOG 4.5 COG 104 mag @ 08:50 utc

THE CREW