06/07/2026
Our 44-mile sail from Saint Martin to St. Eustatius (Statia) turned out to be a little more eventful than planned.
We started off beautifully, tucked under a reefed main and flying the jib in steady trade winds. As the breeze eased, we shook out the reef and hoisted the main to its full glory... only to have the halyard sheath finally give up the fight. It wasn't entirely unexpected—it had already been repaired once—but we were hoping it would survive until Trinidad and our next haul out. Instead, down came the main, and we finished the passage under jib alone.
The entertainment didn't stop there. I enjoyed a front-row seat to a thrilling episode of Man vs. Bird (I'm not sure who was more stubborn, Kevin or the Brown Boobie), followed by a pod of dolphins escorting us toward beautiful Statia.
As we approached, the island was dominated by the unmistakable silhouette of The Quill, also known as Mount Mazinga. 🌋 Most guidebooks call it a dormant stratovolcano, but the Dutch geologists we met on the crater rim preferred the term active. After all, it last erupted only 10,000 years ago. Labels are fascinating.
