The goal today was to go round St John to the north wide and anchor at Maho Bay. Again, much slower going than hoped, so we had to head directly into the east wind to get round the south end, so, with the battery needing a charge, we motored for an hour to get round. With the sails up, we briskly went round the east end and then as we had the wind behind us, sailed wing on wing as the wind started to die. Halfway to Maho, the wind and current conspired against us and again we turned on the motor.
Maho Bay (and Francis Bay) is a great place for kids, best we have found yet. Nearby another boat, Papillon, had a young boy, and friends were quickly made. The boy, nine years old, has been living aboard with his parents more or less since he was born. Our boys were most impressed with his sailing and traveling stories and especially that he didn’t have to wear a life jacket when paddle boarding!
Sailing With Kids Tip
Go out of your way to introduce your children to others you see while sailing. The floating family community is very friendly, and seems universally motivated to find distractions for their kids!
Maho Bay has a national park beach, and Francis Bay is the beach of an eco resort. We recommend taking the dinghy to Francis bay. The eco resort had a small general store that sells a reasonable range of groceries including beer, wine and ice. There are also amazing glass blowing demonstrations and on some days a nightly movie. There is a restaurant, but I am not sure I’d recommend it. It’s completely self-service, and the quality is average, but it’s not reflected in the price, still pretty expensive.
The kids had a great time running round the network of boardwalks between all the cabins of the resort with their new friend. Late at night, we dinghied back to the Lucy’s II and went to bed.
Tomorrow, we go whale hunting in the channel.
Maho/Francis Bay gets 4 stars from Sailing With Kids
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