Ship’s Log | S/V Dea Latis | We're Underway!

Next Stop

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Dave

After a great time in St Barths we sailed over to St Eustatius (Statia). Rounding the north end of the island:

1 rounding north end Statia

Coming down the west coast of Statia we found quite a bit of commercial traffic going in and out of this oil terminal:

Volcano on Statia, formed about 20,000 years ago, last erupted around 400AD.

Waterfront along the old town section of Oranjestad:

1f a

1f boat lift (1024x768)

Dive shop on the waterfront:

Tourist office and gift shop:

Ruins:

The Old Gin House

More ruins:

Restored warehouses:

Very steep walk up to new town section of Oranjestad:

Cannon in the wall:

Dea Latis at anchor:

Looking down toward The Old Gin House:

Spillway designed by the Dutch to let rain water run off and keep the soil in place:

Church

Streets of new Oranjestad:

Historical Society:

This is “The” government building:

We ate lunch outside at this nice little restaurant:

Fort Oranje:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Doria_(1775_brig)

Cloud hanging out over the volcano:

Beautiful sunset:

Statia has some very interesting history, it’s worth a read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint_Eustatius

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/sint-eustatius

http://www.statiatourism.com/

http://www.statiagovernment.com/

Categories: Cruising, Destinations | Tags: Oranjestad, St Eustatius | Comments Off

Our First Stop…

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Dave

Our first stop with Tanya’s father aboard was St. Barths. We rented this Jeep and toured the island. Note to self, don’t rent big American vehicles on tiny islands…

This is the main anchorage just north of Gustavia. Too rolly for us so we anchored elsewhere.

If you can somehow look past my awesome girlfriend you will see where we anchored in Columbier:

Dea Latis, the furthest little boat out there in the anchorage:

Closer look:

Continuing our tour of the island:

The airport on St Barths. With winds almost always out of the east, planes have to skim the hill to get down to the runway.

Waiting for the planes to land:

More scenery:

2 around the island

Saline beach:

Shell beach which is just south of Gustavia:

3 shell beach

And yes, it’s called Shell beach because it’s covered in tiny shells:

That’s it for now. St Eustatius update soon.

Categories: Cruising, Destinations | Tags: St Barthelemy, St Barths | Comments Off

We’re Back!

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Dave

We are back in Sint Maarten!

We took a quick break to go home and see my daughter and new grandson William!!

When we left for Florida we had one carry on and two back packs. When we returned to the boat we had three large checked bags, two carry ons and two back packs…full of boat parts!

This is us flying back into Sint Maarten…well not really, I just like this picture of the plane landing over Maho Beach:

A few days after we returned to the boat Tanya’s father came to visit, so we have been knocking off the boat projects one at a time. Sint Maarten is duty free so it’s a great place to bring in boat parts:

1aaa

New roller furler drum:

To replace the broken drum:

New carburetor for the outboard, it runs like new now:

Fixed the watermaker, we’re back up to 50+ gallons an hour:

Replaced the disgusting wheel cover! Been wanting to do this for eight years:

We knocked off tons of boat projects then hit the Sint Maarten Yacht Club to watch the boats go through the bridge and to have a drink. Deck at the Yacht Club:

Views into the lagoon:

Then we decided to jump into the dinghy and take a closer look. Dutch Coast Guard going out on patrol:

Bridge opening:

Mega yacht going out as well:

2 Megayacht

Then a trip to Lagoonies for happy hour. Live music:

After a couple of days we left Sint Maarten for St Barthelemy (St Barths). Having lunch at Gustav’s, in Gustavia, St Barths:

That’s it for now. We were able to make it to St Barths, St Eustatius (Statia), and back to Sint Maarten with Tanya’s father on board! What a great trip!

More to follow.

Categories: Cruising, Destinations | Tags: Sint Maarten. Maho Beach, St Barthelemy, St Eustatius | Comments Off

St Barths

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Dave

Catching up…St Barths.

We are in Sint Maarten now, but stopped in St Barths along the way. We love the French islands!

Welcome:

Normally you have to find (and deal with) customs and immigration. In the French Islands you find the Capitainerie, or a shop with a customs computer: