Of f to St. Martin This Afternoon

The weather report suggests that we make the 95 mile overnight passage today, while the winds are light and from the northeast. If we leave this afternoon, after checking out in customs, in daylight, we should get in tomorrow, also in daylight. The night passage will make viewing other boats (the only "obstacles" we should see between here and there) easier than by day and the NE winds will let us go straight SE, rather than have to tack back and forth, which would add at least another 1/3 to the mileage required. The light winds will mean motoring, but that will be more pleasant for Lene than beating into big waves.
Friday I had a glorious solo sail from the Bight on Norman Island to North Cove on Virgin Gorda, to pick up Ilene from the hotel there. The wind was strong but from the SE so I was able to do the whole passage under small jib and reefed mainsail on a starboard tack, with no tacking, at speeds of up to 8.1 knots, and averaging about 6.5. I saw a squall coming, so hauled in the jib until it passed and then flew it again. On our trip to North Cove together we had passed west of the dogs, a group of islands in the middle, and this time I passed to the east of them.
I picked up the mooring in North Cove on the fourth try, cleaned up the boat a bit for Lene's benefit and then dinked in to get her and her luggage. The wifi signal from the hotel reached the moored boat so I wrote a book report to my Book Group on Edward Said's Out of Place, before leaving for the night's destination: Marina Cay. On the way we passed between The Dogs, on a single port tack, making for the trifecta of every way to get around or through these craggy islands. Marina Cay is a tiny island with a small hotel and Pussers' restaurant, which has a long reef protruding west on its south side. The reef does not cut the wind but keeps waves out of the anchorage where we joined September Song and About Time for another overpriced dinner out. The mooring field was less than 1/2 filled in contrast to other years when it would have been hard to find an emty one at that time of day. So business here is suffering along with the rest of the world.
Saturday the Harlem boys all came over for cinnamon sauteed apple filled pancakes, coffee and juice, and they brought their leftover foodstuffs so we have a lot less food to buy for a while.
We sailed to The Baths, an unusual rock formation of huge boulders at waters edge on the west (sheltered) side of the south tip of Virgin Gorda. We took a mooring for an hour, snorkeled, I went ashore to rock scramble through the boulders, showered, and then set sail for Road Town. So obviously, I am very pleased to report, Lene's sun poisoning is much better; her remaining pimples are smaller and less itchy. On the sail over I found a corner of the cockpit sheltered from the sun by the bimini cover and used a big towel for her legs.
On the sail back, the winds got so light, an unusual occurence for these parts, that we motored, filled up with diesel for the passage to St. Martin, took a Conch Charter mooring, and dined with the six Harlem guys at the Dove, an expensive restaurant, but worth it, with fine dining in an unusual setting. During our walk back to Conch we said our goodbyes to them until our return in May.