Marigot Bay

On board of The Elli Di, Saint Martin, April 2021

Marigot My understanding is that captain defines it all on the boat. Yachting sounds like a dangerous business. Lives of everyone on board depend on captain’s skills and personal qualities. Therefore, captain should be experienced, capable of making right decisions in tough situations, and well-organized. This was the minimum set that I expected from captain. […]

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Marigot (continued), Saint Martin, April 2021

Marigot, Saint Martin, April 2021

Saint Martin I woke up in the middle of the night because water was dripping on my face. Did I forget to close the overhead porthole before the rain started? No, it was closed tightly. I felt around the porthole. The rain water seeped in from under the rubber seal strip that was supposed to

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Marigot, Saint Martin, April 2021

Saint Martin, April 2021

Barbuda to Saint Martin Skipper Konstantin had a couple of friends in Saint Martin. One of them was Marina who lived there permanently on her yacht. She kept to herself and I did not have a chance to meet her, although indirectly, she became part of this story later. The other Konstantin’s friend was Pavel.

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Barbuda to Saint Martin, April 2021

Barbuda to Saint Martin, April 2021

Antigua & Barbuda The catamaran left Barbuda at 1 p.m. and we got to Saint Martin at 3 a.m. It was a long day with little to do while sailing except for watching the waves and eating. The rolling seas did not affect me this time. I could not tell if it was the lasting

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Antigua

Antigua & Barbuda, April 2021

Guadeloupe to Antigua It was a quiet night at the marina. In the morning, I did what I was supposed to do the previous night – to wash the bathroom that I shared with Dmitry. The catamaran had 2 bathrooms, one on either side. The other bathroom was for the skipper Konstantin and Anna. I

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Guadeloupe to Antigua, April 2021

Guadeloupe The skipper Konstantin made it clear that we should leave Guadeloupe. The catamaran maneuvered between the islands to Jacques Cousteau’s Underwater Reserve. This French marine biologist made Pigeon Island famous when he declared this area one of the world best diving sites. The waters surrounding the island are now protected as an underwater park.

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Guadeloupe, April 2021

Guadeloupe, April 2021

Dominica to Guadeloupe Although I slept well, I felt queasy in the morning and forced myself to swallow a cup of coffee. Our catamaran was at Terre-de-Bas, one of the inhabited Guadeloupe islands. We quietly dropped anchor the night before among a few other yachts. Nobody paid attention to us. We all went swimming in

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Dominica to Guadeloupe, April 2021

Dominica to Guadeloupe, April 2021

Dominica I owe my readers an explanation of what I was doing on the catamaran. The thing was that I signed up to be a crew member to reposition her from the Caribbean to Europe. Actually, there were 2 boats in Martinique that had to be moved; both belonged to the same company owned by

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Dominica, April 2021

Dominica, April 2021

Arriving in Dominica Phone calls and message exchanges with Konstantin on the following day somewhat clarified the situation. Apparently, once the boat left Martinique she would not be allowed to return. So, Konstantin could pick us up only after he checked out of Martinique. He did ask around the fellow yachtsmen if anyone could bring

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Dominica, April 2021

Arriving in Dominica, April 2021

Denver to Dominica While our quarantine “prison” was a comfortable beach cottage, Anna and I were supposed to be in Dominica in transit only. We signed up to be crew members of a catamaran Elli Di. The catamaran at that time was in Martinique with the skipper and one more crew member. Initially, Anna and

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