Tintemarre 3-22

The anchorage at Green Cay off Orient beach ended up being just what the guide book warned about – a bit rough and rolly. Tracy and Noah had a hard time sleeping, with the wind gusting up around 20 knots and blowing right over the reef to where we are anchored. The chop is enough to bounce the boat and make the anchor chain clank. Delaina and I slept like babies. In the morning its still blowing and there are dark rain clouds moving in from the ocean. On a bright note, we found a radio station called ‘Tradewinds’, apparently its broadcast throughout the Caribbean. They were playing the Soggy Bottom Boys song from “Oh Brother where art thou”. What are the odds of hearing that!  (also on the web at tradewindsradio.com)

We had thought about spending the day on the beach, taking advantage of all the beach toy rentals (hobie cat, floating trampoline, banana tube) but with the anchorage rolling, we decide to head out. The wind is steady over 20 knots, blowing straight in the channel. Waves are big and steep as the move in from deep water and pile up in the shallows. We bury the front end of the boat multiple times, barely able to make 2 knots of forward progress as we head straight into waves in the channel through the reef. Eventually we clear the reef and can fall off the wind a bit and avoid taking the waves head on.

In another 30 minutes we fall into the lee of Tintemarre, and its like a different day – the seas flatten and the sun is out. Tintemarre lies ahead like a deserted tropical paradise. This is a small isle only about a mile long, with no inhabitants. There’s a great beach and lots of trails all around the island.  

The swells are breaking on the beach, so we decide to swim in rather than deal with trying to beach the dinghy. Everything about this place is beautiful. We follow a trail towards the east side of the island and pass a large (4-5’) iguana. He was too quick for a picture. On the other side of the island, there is a barrier reef with huge waves rolling in and breaking. The shore is all volcanic rock that we climb on, and find a little blow hole spurting water in the air.

Back at the main beach for more swimming in the waves and finding sea glass. There is good snorkeling on the reef, but decide its too rough with the waves crashing. After a nice lunch its time to head to a secure overnight anchorage for a more peaceful nights  sleep.

We are having a great sail down wind back down the Northern coast of St. Martin. The forecast is calling for high winds tonite and tomorrow, and we want to be somewhere well protected. Of the three choices, we all like Grand Case best, so we are heading back there. time to try our luck with the fishing line, this time switching baits. We are running under headsail only, moving at 6-7 knots in huge following seas (7-8’). Tracy notices the snubber (bungee) on the fishing line looks stretched, so we start pulling it in. Something is splashing on the surface, and yes, its a fish! Not a big one,  but a fish none the less. We try to slow the boat, but the wind and waves are really pushing us. I’m afraid the speed is going to pull the hook out, so we are pulling slowly. We finally haul him in the boat. By chance, this morning I flipped open an old cruising guide and saw a chart of fish.  This one matched the ‘Caripe Tuna’. Its small only about 3 pounds, if I had to guess. He’s flopping around on deck, so we grab the rum and pour a shot down his mouth, he’s out in about 3 seconds. We wrap him up and toss in the freezer so we can get back to sailing the boat. By know we’ve actually gone a bit too far North, and have to turn and reach in towards the bay, and get tossed pretty good when taking the waves on the beam. Eventually we make it in to Grand Case and move in as close to shore as possible in prep for the winds. Its gusting up between 20-25 knots as we come in, and there are black clouds over head.  We are getting good at anchoring, and quickly have it set so we can turn our attention on cleaning the fish. There are a lot of complicated instructions in my fishing book about ‘bleeding’ the fish. I still don’t quite get that, so I just default to my basic fillet technique and end up with a couple pretty decent sized fillets – Fresh fish tonight!.