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| Saba’s highest point is often shrouded in clouds and fog. |
We’ve finally left St. Martin. After six weeks there it was just time to move on, it’s a lot longer than we expected to stay. There may still be a blog post of two about it forthcoming but we’re off to new adventures.
This morning we set our course for Saba. This island is basically a big cone. Steep sided, it climbs to around 3,000 feet in altitude and is prominently visible from St. Martin on a clear day.
Most see bottoms tend to align with the contours of the shore, so a place with steep land and cliffs also tends to get deep very fast once you are in the water. Saba is no exception, a mile or so off the island and we were still in several thousand feet of deep blue water.
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| If those are bays than one wall and no roof is a house |
As mentioned Saba is basically a cone, a round island. There aren’t really a lot of natural harbors or bays – what is called a “Bay” on Saba isn’t something most people would identify as a bay. They lack things like sides, or shelter and protection. The “anchorages” are very deep and almost totally unprotected. Everything we’ve read about Saba says that you just might find it not comfortable to stay. North swells make the West side lumpy, East winds make the South side rolly, the East side doesn’t ever seem fit for boats.
So today sailed to Saba on a fast reach from St. Martin, and went around the North side of the island to the West coast. The moorings there…looked pretty uncomfortable. So we headed around to the South end of the island. Those moorings were even worse, we would need sea sickness medication to get to sleep in our bunks! And that much chop, getting into the dinghy and back on the boat can be quite dangerous.
We decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and sailed on to Statia (or St. Eustatius).
Right now we’re anchored in Statia. Not too much to tell yet since we’ve not cleared customs of left the boat. But it sounds really cool!
