After a hectic few days in Antigua of working on the boat and dealing with over excited crew member (a story for a book I might write in the future) and his antics with a golf cart, I took off last night with three crew from Antigua Falmouth to Simpson Bay, St Maarten. Time for Hieneken regatta.

My friends on Nimrod came over to say good bye and Phil (who I have done transatlantic, transpac and newport bermuda with) hailed on the vhf as I left the harbor. Libby up at Pineapple House where we stayed – open air cabins above Antigua YC – blew a conch horn. It was good to catch up with old friends and I am looking forward to being back in April.

The trip to St Maarten was perfect with 15-25 knots at 110TWA easy ghosting along at 10 knots with a reefed main and the delivery jib. We pulled in to Simpson Bay as the sun came up in a rain squall and anchored for a few hours until the 0930 bridge.

So here comes another regatta with a new crew – charters from San Francisco. Spent the day switching from offshore to inshore mode and unloading all the spares. A deep breath and off we go! But first off a nice long sleep as I have been up basically for 40 hours with only 3 hours sleep.