By 0700 we were well inside the Caribbean Sea and had the island of Anguilla on our portside. This island is located just to the North of St. Maarten, which in turn lies to the North of St. Barts. When we passed the west side of St. Maarten we saw our friends, the Constellation and the Norwegian Epic going alongside while the Disney Magic was awaiting her turn to do the same. My interest lay more in the direction of Gustavia as dark clouds were gathering at the horizon and a few minutes later we had a rain squall coming over us with winds inside of up to 40 knots. That was not in the weather forecast and also not in my planning. Still it was there and after the squall had passed by it remained grey over the island so there was more to come. The good news was that Bill Gates had moved his yacht further into the bay and now I could at least anchor in the shelter of the island so that there was no swell running along the tender breaks. While we approached the anchorage we had another squall but then it got better and better and we only had to deal with the occasional sprinkle during the day, while the sun shone brightly.

 Thus we dropped the hook at a safe distance from everything else, just in case another strong squall might try to push us over and then started our tender service. Further in the bay were two small cruise ships, the Seadream 1&2 and more to the East the MSY Windspirit of Windstar Cruises which company had been, in the not so distant past, part of Holland America.

 Although we were in France today, we were also surrounded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. To the North, St Maarten, right behind us Saba and further to the South West St. Eustatius. As it was a clear day, all islands were visible although the top of Saba was covered in (rain) clouds. From all the islands in this area, Saba is looks the most like a volcano as it almost rises straight up from the sea and is conical in shape.  30 years ago, when I joined Holland America, the young Dutch onboard the ship always tried to get to Saba to obtain their drivers license. Saba does not have much of a road network but the local police officer had something on four wheels that qualified for the word car. He was licensed to issue driving licenses and if you managed to drive his contraption in and out of the gate, without hitting anything you would pass and get a full Dutch license for 50 guilders. A lot cheaper than what a full driving course in Holland was then costing. By 1983 that loophole was closed as far as I heard and the island ceased to be of interest to the HAL crew. It is a very nice island/mountain but not really a port of call for us, as the only thing you can do is climb up and down.

 We stayed until 1800 hrs today and then set sail for Terre de Haut on the Iles de Saintes. This is a small cluster of islands located right under the bigger island of Guadeloupe.  Pilotage is compulsory for the arrival but the pilot lives on Guadeloupe, so we first go to Basse Terre on the south West of that island to pick him up and then continue southwards to the Isles de Saintes.

 Both St. Barts and Guadeloupe are part of France and so is Martinique which we will visit after the day after tomorrow. While the Dutch islands are semi independent from the motherland, these islands are really a part of France and thus have the Euro as their currency.  

 Tonight we will sail with a leisurely speed of 11 knots towards the pilot station and then continue for a 0700 anchor drop at Terre de Haut. The weather is supposed to be really good again but I will wait and see if there are not any squalls popping up in the early morning, to drop a bit of “Pluie” on the ship as the French say.