Adventures of the Sailing Vessel Hakuna Matata: February 4 Leaving St Martin

By February 3rd the fronts have finally passed through and weather reports indicate that the seas are settling down. We continue with a few chores and make preparations for travel to the British Virgin Islands the following evening. We went to the French grocery store. Although provisioning by pictures and guesswork can be challenging, it is a great store and we have fun sampling the wares…the usual provisioning, plus fresh oranges that are like manna from heaven and dilled smoked salmon.
On the 4th, we topped off the fuel tank and headed out through the bridge in the early afternoon so that we could be ready to go directly from the bay for the anticipated 12 hour run to Virgin Gorda. We pulled the hook at 5:30 and are quickly on our way. The seas are essentially flat and the winds are only 6 knots, hardly enough to keep Hakuna Matata moving through the water. We find ourselves wishing we had left the day prior when things were a bit livelier and settle in with the iron jib humming along. Off shore, five hours into our passage, the autopilot goes out. I take the wheel and Craig goes to investigate. The news is not good. The wooden bracket that holds the motor has failed (epoxied 2x4s have split completely in half) and the drive arm has fallen out. Buggers!! Craig takes out the pieces so as not to get caught in the rudder post. He returns to the cockpit and we settle in for a long night of hand-steering. Hand-steering may not seem that big a deal, but it can get mentally and physically tiring after a couple of hours of the wheel having someone’s hand on it at all times. The only people allowed to not have sympathy for us are our friends on S/V Rum Runner who have had their own battle with an autopilot.
What to do? We contemplate turning around to St Martin, the Caribbean mecca of boat parts. After thoughtful consideration, we decide to proceed to the BVIs. We hope against hope to not have to buy a new autopilot ($1499, plus install, plus the mount, plus the marina). The multiple charter boat companies based in the BVIs have certainly had issues with autopilots, and we saw a huge RayMarine distributor in Tortola. Hopefully, there is a king’s man there who can put Humpty Dumpty back together again and also fabricate a new aluminum mounting bracket. The wood lasted 6 years, but still.
Other than that, it was a great passage. I love the phosphorescence as the boat moves through the water and the stars put on quite a show out on the pitch black sea. One can indeed see the Southern Cross at this latitude at this time of year in wee morning hours, low on the horizon, so that was a treat too. We made it to Virgin Gorda around 830am. We had a post-passage cocktail and ran into shore to check in. After that, we motored around the corner to Leverick Bay. We hope to catch up with Rum Runner and scout some new anchorages in the BVIs but now have to work this repair into the mix.

Super yachts hang out on the Dutch side because the bridge opening is bigger and the water is deeper. Here they are, lined up like so many chevrolets....