St. Barts, April 15-16, 2006

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Sophistication with a Caribbean Flare Overlooking Gustavia Harbor Anchored outside Gustavia Harbor Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006 St. Barts is the best of the Best. The French Islands rank at the top of or our list, and St. Barts is a jewel. Comming from Barbuda, it is like returning to civilization after a trip in the Australian outback. The sail from Barbuda to St. Barts was more of a motor than a sail. It was a long trip, 70 miles, and it took us 14 hours. We left Barbuda at 0400 hoping to arrive in St. Barts before dark. We almost made it, but the wind gods proved very abstinent. The trade winds always blow NE, E, or SE; that is, as long as there is not some other major weather system changing the pattern. The day we left, the wind shifted from the SE to S to SW to W. Our course to St. Barts was 260 degrees, the wind 270. We motored for 10 of the 14 hours. We tried tacking our way there, but the thought of anchoring in the dark drove us to drop the sails and start the engine. As we approached land and the sun was setting, our engine stopped. It didn't putter out; it went from 2400 rpms to zero. I quickly realized that we were out of fuel in tank 1. I switched the valves to tank 2, but no go. By now the boat was getting out of control with no power or no sails up. We had to raise our sails and begin sailing in best direction we could, SE. Near land at sunset was not a good time to loose power. Fortunately, I received a lot training of the fuel system when we had our fuel line problems sailing from Annapolis to Bermuda. Once we were back in control with the sails up, I opened up the engine compartment and determined that we had air in the fuel line. After bleeding out the air, the engine sputtered a bit and then roared to life, another crisis at sea averted. We lowered the sails and continued motoring to St. Barts. It was not getting dark, and we didn't want to enter Gustavia harbor in the dark. We found a relatively protected spot called Anse du Gouveneurs (Governor's Cove). We dropped the anchor as twilight was slipping away. The next morning, Easter Sunday, we motored over to Gustavia. Our trip is drawing to a close. Tomorrow we head for Anguilla for our last bit of fun before returning to St. Martin so Karen can fly home, and I can pick up my new crew member who will sail with me to the Dominican Republic. Previous | Next