Leeward Islands - St. Martin/Sint Maarten

New Propane valve on left!

        St. Martin/Sint Maarten is beautiful!!!  So glad we decided to make the trip. We had a lovely 28 hour sail to get here and we arrived 1/2 hour after Celtic Rover!  There are three other boats we have been traveling with since many countries ago, plus one more new one (Bella Blue). About the last ten miles before we got here, we caught a nice Mahi. Since we didn't have enough freezer space, we had a big feast and invited six other cruisers over. It was a blast!!

        The dog was not even an issue here so we sailed right by BVI's. We are still considering having a rabies titer done so we can get her clearance for several more islands that we might have to skip for now but can always come back to. 

        It's always something!  As we were checking in, I noticed that our Coast Guard paperwork was going to expire on June 30!!  No problem, we have renewed it - we just have to determine which stack of mail it is in and get it sent to us!  While we have been gone, we have changed our mailing address and it is either on the desk at our house or in Green Cove Springs at our mail handling service. 

        Darrell had been widening his horizons both culturally and in the cuisines. He had bruschetta the other day and loved it!  We also went to a fund raiser called the Taste of Sint Maarten which we enjoyed immensely.  On the way back to the boat he found cigarettes $16 for two (yes two) cartons - if the prices keep going down, I will never get him to quit!!!

        We were FINALLY able to replace a propane valve on our tank!  These tanks just barely fit into the locker that is made for them so we have been looking for a new valve since we ran completely out of propane back in Culebra!  When Darrell got it replaced, he said the company had a bucketful of old valves.  We haven't found anyone willing to get one and put it on our tank in about six weeks of trying!  Whew, now I know there will be coffee every morning!  But hey, it's de islands, mon!  I was so happy I took a picture of it with our new camera.  

        Next weather window appears to be this weekend. We will skip St. Barts along with several orher islands and go to Guadeloupe.  We need to get further south before hurricane season progresses much more.