The ship’s journal from the Delivery from Mallorca to Fiji

Update 18/02/25 13:00 GMT -4 West of Anguilla

I started writing this update while watching the sunrise over the hills of Grand Case. Writing helps me stop and let it all sink in. However, the best way to report these days in St. Martin is, of course, through images. But the operational side obviously goes on, and with our mission to get the boat to Fiji, we have to stay focused on the task.

In the Caribbean, they say, “Big moon, big winds,” and it couldn’t be more true these days. There has been a relentless 25-knot breeze accompanied by several squalls every day since we arrived. Our anchor is pretty amazing, I have to say. It digs in and doesn’t budge.

Our foresail, the genoa, is old and worn. I had commented on that to the owner back in December. After the crossing, there was some superficial wear, so we had to take the sail to the loft for service. Due to the breeze, it was impossible to take it down in Marigot Bay. We moved over to Grand Case to hide behind the hill. The sail came down, but the top got stuck halfway, about 12 meters above deck. I had to go up on the forestay to try to get the top swivel to slide down. There was a screw sticking out of the profile, and it wouldn’t budge… Then, suddenly, a small gust came and ripped the luff out of the sail like it was a wet newspaper. The sail dropped onto the deck. On Monday morning, we took it to the loft, and to my surprise, they are confident they can salvage it! We just have to wait a few days. We’re also replacing the spinnaker halyard, which also takes a couple of days. In the meantime, we’re making the most of the waiting time by heading over to Anguilla.

On an interpersonal level, after more than one month of living on board together, I feel everybody is doing really well. Everybody has their moments. Mine and the kids’ are like volcano eruptions; the others’ are more like tectonic rumblings. We have our family meetings to clear the air when required. The kids have their normal brother-and-sister fights, but they are amazing companions for each other. They hadn’t had any interaction with other kids in over a month until yesterday.

It was Charlie Beau’s birthday. In the morning, her dream of riding a horse on the beach and into the sea came true! In the afternoon, we met up with Scott and Zena. These are friends we worked with when we were chartering here 20(!) years ago. Their son, Ocean, and daughter, Elise, are just a bit younger than our kids. It was a wonderful reunion. We also met up with our Belgian friends who run the Yacht Assistance agency, which you may know from The Islander Magazine!

It was a real blast from the past meeting up with all of them. Even the owner of Calmos Café said, “Hey, I know you!” when we walked in. The kids were stunned, haha!

Now, we are on our way to Road Bay, Anguilla—a more pure and quiet Caribbean island that holds great memories for us. We’re very excited to show it to Jan, Sara, and the kids!