For most of our journey since moving aboard we have been on what’s known in the sailing world as the “Thorny Path.” Legend has it that the thousand miles of upwind sailing from Florida to the eastern Caribbean first got its name from Christopher Columbus. This route is notoriously difficult, thanks mostly to the persistent 15-25kt trade winds blowing from the east. As most people who understand the physics of sailboats know, they can’t sail upwind. Catamarans are particularly bad at this, and the very minimum angle we can sail at is 45 degrees off the wind. (Though our girl prefers around 60.) Stacy and Pete, our two diesel engines, are helpful but they’re relatively small at 38hp each and don’t do well against headwinds stronger than about 10kts. Not to mention, it’s incredibly uncomfortable to sail upwind, as we are also directly sailing into swell that bashes into us, slams between the hulls, slows us down, and generally makes for a very green passage for everyone aboard.

Some sailors manage to avoid the thorny path on route to the Caribbean by jumping immediately east from higher up the US coast, then heading straight south with the wind on the beam. This route skips the Bahamas though, which were very high on our list of places we wanted to visit. Others handle it by traveling during the winter months when disruptions to the trade winds from winter storms in the north are more common, but it took us far too long to get down the east coast to make this possible. (Thank you…constant need to wait for engine parts.)

In the end we ended up gritting our teeth and just getting it done, and after a particularly harrowing final stretch, we have never been more happy to see land than we were to see the shores of St Martin. Not only was this the official end of the thorny path, but it was also our first introduction to the French islands and all they have to offer in pastries, baguettes, and cheeses. St Martin has easy anchoring, close shopping, cheap laundry, the best boat part selection since Puerto Rico and the Dutch side has a cruiser’s bar with $1 happy hour drinks. Once all our friends arrived, we could’ve stayed forever! The only thing we didn’t get to do was visit “the beach with the planes,” which is a beach on the Dutch side where planes fly so low on their way to the airport that you get sand blasted as they pass over. We are saving this for next time around!