Passages from Cooper Island (British Virgin Islands) to Saint Martin

On July 27, 2022, we left at 10:00 AM for our passage to Saint-Maarten.  At this time of year, the wind rarely comes from the right angle, so we knew we had to face the wind from the front.  This means that we will have to tack several times to get to Saint Martin.  A trip of normally 90 NM will then become 165 NM and will take approximately 24 hours. From the Netherlands, we have sent our belongings to Saint Martin and this will be our first priority to arrange that we get all our belongings on board our boat, but first the crossing.

All three of us are in a euphoric mood when we wake up in the morning.  Today we will leave the British Virgin Islands behind and leave for a new island to be discovered, Saint Martin. Our first joint passage as the three musketeers. The sun is burning in the sky and the wind of around 20 knots.  At 10 o’clock we gave the sea a sip of rum and asked the blessing for a good passage, then we untied the lines from the mooring on Cooper Island and hoisted the sails.  We are now officially on our way.  After less than 10 minutes of sailing, our anemometer stops working.  Big question marks why.  As a result, we cannot see how hard the wind is blowing and from which direction the wind is coming.  After the necessary WhatsApp contact with the seller of the anemometer (it has just been new for two weeks), we decide to continue sailing.  We have hung a flag well in sight to be able to see the wind direction well.  After 5 hours of sailing we are on the Caribbean Sea and the British Virgin Islands are officially behind us. 

The wind has increased to about 25 knots and the sea has many short waves in succession.  Because you try to keep them sailing close to the wind, this means that the boat sometimes hits the water with a hard bang.  We get to hear many new sounds that the boat makes and we try to absorb all of these sounds.  Every now and then something falls out of place, this is a small learning moment that we sometimes have to arrange things differently and/or clean up for a passage.  We hoisted all three sails: The Genoa (slightly larger sail than a jib for on the boat), the mainsail and the mizzen (second sail of our second mast) and the boat is going fast at 7.4 knots. 

Looking from behind the helm, I take in the surroundings, the undulating sea with white foam cups, the different types and colours of clouds.  In the distance behind us above Anegada I see rain coming from the clouds.  Every now and then I see a group of flying fish jumping out of the water and every now and then get a splash of water over the boat and you feel the water droplets on your face.  If you run your tongue over your lips, you will taste the salty taste of the water.  Jeroen and Rajesh are both asleep in the cockpit.  The wind remains constant and we don’t have to adjust the sails much. The sun begins to set around 7 p.m. 

This is our first sunset at sea.  It is always a beautiful sight even if the sun disappears behind the clouds, the sky turns orange and this makes it seem like the sky is on fire.  Slowly it gets dark and Jeroen takes over from me. I soon notice because I can’t see the horizon anymore, I’m starting to get some seasickness.  Jeroen and Rajesh also complain about this and we all have seasickness plasters stuck behind our ears.  They work fastest at Jeroen’s and only he had a warm meal in the evening.  I had already cooked this beforehand which only needed to be warmed up a bit.  Rajesh struggled a bit and eventually hung over the railing to feed his undigested lunch to the fish in the sea. He went to sleep inside.  I was lying in the cockpit with a towel over me and I especially felt a bit weary.  We reefed the sails a bit (made smaller) and we sailed at a speed between 4 and 7 knots. It was a clear night with many stars.  The waves became higher and came closer together, causing the boat to stomp further through the waves.  Despite everything, we do this with a smile on our souls, maybe a little less on our faces at the time.  Around 1.45 am Rajesh resurfaced that he was feeling well again and took over from Jeroen.  Unfortunately, he got seasick again within 20 minutes that I took over and Rajesh was also outside in the cockpit.  If I stood I could probably see 2 islands in the distance where light came from and because of this I could also see the horizon there.  I focused on this and because of this everything went well.  Every now and then I got a big splash of water in my face which was refreshing and really woke you up again.  Around 4.15 am Jeroen took over again and I could close my eyes for a while.  Around 5 am the sky started to get lighter and at 5:30 am the sun came up.  What a beautiful and happy moment this is.  Not only our souls, but also our faces get a big smile again.  Due to the high waves, we are thrown further from our course and we had to tack a little more often, but at 1.15 pm we sail into Great Bay from Saint Maarten.  We are safe, we are proud and we feel good (again). 

The first thing to do is report to immigration.  Unfortunately, we were just too late in Great Bay for this.  Because of this, we decided to sail to Simpson Bay to a larger immigration office.  This is another half hour sailing on the engine.  We managed to check in at Simpson Bay.  That evening we had a nice dinner at an Indian restaurant after which we all took a shower and went to bed early on the boat.  We all slept 12 hours!