A Nighttime Crossing with a Little (or Big) Snag

One of the aspects of this adventure that we were most worried about was the 93-mile trip from BVI to Sint Marteen/St. Martin (SXM) - our longest passage. At home, that’s a 90-minute drive going 60 MPH. Here, it’s a 15 hour trip going 6 knots per hour. We learned that you don’t want to leave or arrive in the dark as fish pots and rocks are close to land. This trip was on our minds often and we knew we needed to do it.

During the last two days on St. John, the water was calm, like a lake. And we kept saying “we hope we get these waters to SXM.” Our plan was to head back to Nanny Cay in BVI for some last repairs, then wait for the weather window to leave. We got our obligatory COVID tests, on the Monday before Thanksgiving, then headed to BVI on Tuesday, checked into Customs in Soper’s Hole and said we’d be there for a few weeks.

We woke Wednesday to a text from Paul Sr. (the guy who had been taking care of our boat) that said, “now is the time to go to SXM.” Joe looked at the wind forecast, which was 5-6 knots from the Northeast. A perfect weather window to go to SXM. Typically, the winds are 15-16 knots from the East, which makes for a slow slog directly into the wind. Not very comfortable. We looked at each other and with trepidation we decided to go for it. We were both nervous. The depths in the middle of the Caribbean go to 6000 ft. Not that there is much difference between 150 ft and 6000 ft if something goes wrong. Just seems more intimidating.

Within 30 minutes, we’d made a list of things we needed to do, including arming our special life vests that inflate upon hitting the water, putting together a ditch bag that included water, nuts and flares, checking back out of BVI customs, motoring back to Cooper Island that was closest to our exit, and enjoying a late lunch at our favorite restaurant before our planned departure at 5:00pm.

We called the boys, told them our passage plan, then at 4:44pm, left Cooper through Ginger Passage. It was an incredible exit. The seas were calm and just a small swell. There were a few rocks and fish pots, and we got out into the Caribbean Sea as planned. Nonstop, slightly south and then east to SXM. No movie service, but the music was great.

Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey was playing as the sun was setting (sure – Joe planned that) and it was the longest and most beautiful sunset we had witnessed and that’s saying a lot as every night has a beautiful sunset.

Joe plotted the course to SXM. Thank you, Garmin. A cool feature on the chart plotter is follow the program route. Thanks also to autopilot that keep us on track.

Margie took the first shift from 8:00pm – 11:00pm. Dancing to ABBA and Carole King/James Taylor music while being tethered to the captain’s seat was the entertainment. The stars came out and we only wish we knew the names of all the planets and constellations. Of course, Joe had already done his stupid Uranus joke.

Joe was up before 11:00pm to witness the moonrise and took the next shift until 2:00am. No dancing for him, just watching two cruise ships that we blew by, lit up like Christmas trees. Kicked their butts! We had to slow down as we did not want to reach SXM in the dark. You would think out in the middle of nowhere you would not have to worry about hitting anything, but you still must stay on watch. There were two other boats heading the same way far away, so we kept an eye on them.

Margie, back at the helm from 2:00am to 5:00am had a little more entertainment. At 4:30am, “Uh, Joe – our starboard engine just went out.” Out in the middle of nowhere, we snagged a 30-plus foot, old fishing net floating in the water. And it was wrapped around our starboard propeller. Joe put on his mask and snorkel and climbed down the ladder with our dive flashlight. Joe’s heart was racing as he climbed into the water to check the damage and free the prop. Very unnerving climbing into 600-foot deep water in the dark.

Our dive knife was buried in a bag in the front hull, so not accessible. Our next sharpest instrument was this little IKEA paring knife that was onboard. Our only knife that we’d be using to cut up veggies and fruit. Somehow Joe managed to cut this monstrosity from our propeller with a paring knife (go buy one now.) It took him a while and Margie kept thinking, if Joe lets go of that ladder, she’ll have to do that Man Overboard maneuver we learned during training.

The adrenaline rush lasted for about an hour. What a way to wake Joe up! He was treated to an incredibly beautiful sunrise as we entered Simpson Bay. We used 13 gallons of diesel fuel making the trip. Pretty efficient engines about 1 gallon an hour usage.

After clearing Customs on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten, we consumed our Thanksgiving calories at a local patisserie that we dinghied to that morning for lattes, fresh quiches and an almond croissant. Hope your Thanksgiving was less exciting and more peaceful. We continue to be thankful for you every day!

Photo is the sunset as we left BVI. Margie wanted to do a photo of the paring knife. Joe nixed that idea.