We took the dinghy over to the island after breakfast and were surprised to see an overturned catamaran, Fujin, at Fort Bay Marina. We learned that it had flipped during the Caribbean 600 race the prior week and they hoped to right-it that evening. It had flipped at night and the Sabans rescued the crew and towed the boat in. What a site to see!
We checked in at customs and found Garvis for the short ride to the hiking trail. He dropped Captain Thom off near Juliana’s (a nice little outdoor cafe in Saba) and the rest of us stayed in the van until we reached the hiking trail. Officially, the trail starts in town and is a 90 minute hike each way. We started the steep uphill hike 1/3 of the way up (thanks to Garvis).
Did I mention this crew is a young, healthy bunch? Well, they are and before I knew it I was scampering after them, sweating and panting. I didn’t go very far when they waited up to check on me…I told them to go on with out me, that I was heading down. The downhill hike was far easier then up! 
Here are a few pics I, Jeanne, took as I hiked down:
I did a little shopping once I got to the bottom of the trail, bought a new shirt and changed in the dressing room. Bought some burgees for the crew from the week before and headed to Juliana’s to hook up with Captain Thom and wait for the rest of the crew to finish their hike.It wasn’t long before everyone joined us and we had a great lunch. Everyone’s meals were fantastic but the coconut curry was the #1 hit!
The restaurant includes a pool and pool side bar known as the Tipsy Goat. Captain Thom was challenged to ride the unicorn across the pool, what a riot. 
Garvis picked us up at about 3:00 and we headed black to the boat. Captain Thom facilitated a review session for the ASA 106 exam. Since Jeanne, Krisann and Erin weren’t taking that exam, it was an all girl crew for the sail to Statia! Thom did a good job kicking the guys off the bow and the 3 of us gals raised the sail, unhooked from the mooring ball and set sail for Statia! What a highlight!
It was dark when we got to Statia so all hands on deck as we headed for the designated anchorage area. There were a lot of oil tankers of various sizes and their supporting tugs and barges mostly on the northwest side of the island. The anchorage area for small boats is on the southwest side below Oranjestad and Fort Oranje which sit on cliffs a couple of hundred feet above the water. Fort Oranje fired the first salute to an American Privateer in the revolutionary war. After all that history, we needed a lot of lookouts. We anchored safety and swiftly (have I mentioned they are a great crew)!
A couple of they guys (Mark as main chef) prepared dinner. We had bought a lot of avocados in Saint Martin when we provisioned the boat and Erin makes an awesome guacamole! These avocados are the size of a regulation football and I’m not exaggerating! Anyway, we’ve been having guacamole with almost every meal!
