Early Morning
I woke up before 06:00 and started up the engine to provide power to the 12V batteries so that they, in turn, could charge the 24V system. This worked as expected – charging the bank just slightly with a couple of continuous amps. Then the sun came up and despite the overcast the solar panels are hard at work producing the electrons which my batteries are hungering for.
All in all, I’m happy with the progress so far and will be clearing out of Sint Maarten this afternoon with the intention of leaving tomorrow morning on the first outbound bridge of the day. That will be at 08:30 and I’ll head straight towards St. Kitts and Nevis as the winds are from a SE direction and won’t allow me to point much higher than due south.
Afternoon
After signing off at work I went ashore at 14:00 to clear out of Sint Maarten. When I got there the blinds at the cashier’s desk were closed and a sign announced, “out to lunch”. I was about to sit down and resign myself to wait when the blinds came up and within minutes, I’d paid my dues and was off at the immigration desk. That process went quickly as well and before I realized it, I was finished and outside at the dock!
I then zipped across the lagoon to Island Waterworld to get a new burner for the BBQ and to do a bit of last-minutes grocery shopping at the local Chinese supermarket.
Later
Back aboard Zanshin I stored my meagre purchases and started preparing the dinghy for the passage. I removed everything and ran the engine dry. Scott (skipper of Random Wind) will come by around 5PM to help me lift the outboard onto the transom. If all goes well the job shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.
Even Later
Around 16:00 I got the dinghy ready for lifting the engine, tying it alongside and loosening the bolts. Since I was 90% of the way there, I opted to get the outboard onto the transom myself and soon had it stowed away. I then led the dinghy forward and lifted it out of the water to let the seaweed dry overnight before getting it stowed away in the morning.
Then I showered and waited for Scott. And kept on waiting. At 18:45 he finally came by, saying that he’d come by earlier but hadn’t seen the dinghy so assumed I was gone.
By that time, I’d thawed out a Chorizo and made a quick BBQ meal aboard before putting in the earplugs in preparation for the loud Friday night music and went to sleep.