Bernard le Duc

Chased off our anchor at 8am by patrol boat. Broad reach in 20-24kts of wind. Big swells. Boat handled fine with no reefs. Pulled into Baie Blanche on Tintamare by 10:30am. Picked up mooring ball. After lunch used Jib only to head down wind back into Marigot.

Short sail across to Ile Fourchue. Broad reach in 15kts got us there in less than an hour. Picked up mooring ball in nicely sheltered bay. Snorkelled - saw a baby nurse shark, barracuda, jacks and some other colourful fish. Heading back after lunch, wind had come up to 20 knots and as we started sailing a squall hit with gusts up to 24kts. Had 2 reefs in the main so boat was fine. Back into Gustavia by about 3:30, anchored in roughly same spot as last night.

Motored around the northern tip of Anguilla to avoid the shoals. Then put up the sails and headed south to St Barts close hauled. Wind came up to 15kts from the east so we just sailed one long beat into St Barts. Had 3 attempts to anchor because of crowded mooring and anchor fields.

Much lighter winds - 10-12 kts. Set out on broad reach. As we reached the southern tip of Anguilla, wind shifted to the north so hardened up to close hauled and then tacked up to Road Bay. Nice easy anchorage. But then informed that the cruising permit is $570/day for Anguilla. So we will leave again tomorrow.

Strong winds and heavy swell. Abandoned plan to lunch on Tintamarre island and went to Anse Marcel instead. Moved around to Grand Case to overnight and collect Cynthia.