Cooper Island - To Cross or Not to Cross...

Tuesday, December 4

Gene had been tenaciously watching the weather all day, viewing various wind and sea forecasts, and discussing conditions with Chris Parker (local Florida boating weather guru). The wind was predicted to be out of the North / Northeast Tuesday evening / early Wednesday morning, which would allow for a great angle to sail to St. Maarten which was our next stop. Generally, the wind is out of the east, which is directly where we would be sailing when coming from the east end of the BVI (Cooper Island). Although the angle of the wind looked promising, the wind was predicted to be ~ 20 knots and the seas were predicted to build through the night, so we knew we'd be taking a chance if we decided to do the crossing that night. The weather prediction also suggested that this would be our last window of opportunity for the next 7 – 8 days since the conditions were predicted to be really rough with strong winds, and most likely out of the East.

Gene and Kat decided to sail over to Cooper Island to discuss the conditions, hopefully meet some other cruisers who were headed to St. Maarten that night, and come to a decision on whether or not to go. We had a good time chatting with the bartenders at the Cooper Island beach restaurant, but unfortunately we didn't meet anyone else who was planning on making the crossing that evening (most patrons at the bar and restaurant were chartering in the BVI). After much contemplation and a phone call to Richard, we convinced ourselves that we should take advantage of the wind direction and do the crossing that evening.