“Tacking” Our Time

Location: Oranjestad, Statia

We were greeted this morning in Fort Bay, Saba, by another beautiful sunrise peeking from around the edge of the island. After a quick bite to eat, the pre-cruise checklist was pulled out, and all items of passage prep were ticked off so we could set sail for our next destination: St Eustatius, commonly referred to as Statia. Once we got the anchor up, four of S/Y Ocean Star’s six sails were raised, led by shipmate Olivia, and we were off! Because of the wind direction, we would not be able to sail straight from Saba to Statia and instead spent the afternoon tacking back and forth upwind, being careful to avoid the shallow Saba Bank to the West. During the passage, we spent quality time chatting and listening to music as well as reading a bit about Statia before a few of the crew participated in post-lunch food comas. We arrived late afternoon in Oranjestad, Statia, and dropped anchor with just enough light left of the day for showers and a delicious Thai peanut chicken and vegetable dinner. The last bit of the day was spent with Ian W. in a leadership course on deck. After a long day of moving the boat, everyone’s exhausted and ready to settle down for the evening before spending our first full day in Statia, starting off the morning with diving!