May 22, 2022
The two weeks that we spent in St. John were magical. We hiked, snorkeled and just enjoyed the solitude. The water was crystal clear, the sea creatures were abundant and relatively unafraid. Because the majority of the island is National Park, anchoring is very limited as a step to protect the coral and the bottom. As an alternative, mooring balls are placed in the various anchorages. We enjoyed staying in three anchorages and taking our dinghy to several others.
We waited for our weather window to venture toward Sint Maarten. The Anegada Passage is notorious for big seas and winds. We knew that we would have a difficult 24+ hour passage and wanted to make it as smooth as possible. The opportunity to go had arrived, so the day before departure we took our dinghy into Cruz Bay, tied it to the dinghy dock and boarded the ferry for St. Thomas. There we would take a cab into town and visit a lab for a COVID test in order to be admitted into Sint Maarten. Some islands have eased restrictions, but Sint Maarten has decided to maintain stricter entry requirements for now.
