Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

It's Not Easy Being Green
A day full of squalls and rough seas. Late in the morning we headed out from Colombier in the north-western part of St Barts and headed east then south St. Jean Bay. It was a rough passage getting there -- poor Vanessa got seasick and I felt distinctly green after a while myself. Unfortunately the waters in the bay are relatively shallow so we could only anchor further out than we wanted – in other words, where the swells were. More green-ness ensued, and I had to lie down for a while. Within an hour the local police came by and asked us to leave, as the mast of our boat was considered an aviation hazard (we were in a more or less direct line from the airport, and the small commuter planes zipped by every fifteen minutes or so (who's idea was it to come here? Ugh.)

The wildly swinging boom was lashed down by the crew, and we headed out for Ile Fourchue – in English: "Goat Island". It was the most thrilling ride we had so far, with large 20 foot swells surrounding the boat, and very occasionally getting a face full of spray. With a confident Josef at the helm, we just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

"Vite! Vite" Eric calls out from the front of the boat – a sharp turn and a couple seconds later we run within 20 feet of a sharp outcropping of rock jutting from the seafloor.

Then all of a sudden things the waves become less strident, more calming, and we enter the almost still waters of the bay of Goat Island, the far end of the island taking the brunt of the waves we just left behind. By this point it is getting dark and we settle down for the evening.