Boobies, coastguards and a volcano

Ha made you look didn't it! Of course, I mean boobies of the bird variety and not of the female anatomy...


Heading to Statia from St Martin we were keen to get our hands on fish for dinner so out went the lure. After 15 mins the usual sound of the line starts whizzzzzzing and up jumps Dylan to wind it in. Catching seaweed has become the norm on Orion and this time was no exception but what did make it more entertaining was the blue billed boobie that appeared from nowhere. Swooping down to survey our catch the boobie clocked the lure thinking it was a fish and started circling its 'prey'. Dylan kindly asks the bird to go away but it didn't respond to his polite push so we resorted to shouting at it. Both of us really didn't fancy killing a bird and it ruining our line but Billy the boobie had other ideas, getting more and more excited as the glimmer of the lure drew nearer to the surface. Luckily this time we had an intelligent birdy on our hands who must have recognised the difference between seaweed and a fish so content on missing nothing, it flew off. Phew!

Entertaining myself on the journey

Huge tankers off the coast of Statia

No sooner had we dealt with the bird we saw a huge inflatable rib fast approaching. We were now just off the Statia anchorage, dodging oil tankers. The rib turned out to be the Dutch coastguard who had come all the way from St Martin to board our boat. The captain expertly pulled alongside and 2 heavily booted and suited men jumped aboard. This was our first boarding so we couldn't help feeling a little anxious even though we had nothing to hide as they entered our cockpit. One guy got started on the paperwork as the lead guy asked us questions such as where we came from, where we are going, where are we registered, do we have any drugs or weapons on board etc. When the Q&A session was done and our passports and clearance papers had been inspected, he asked for me to give him a tour of the boat. I went below with one of the officials and he instructed me to open a few cupboards and drawers whilst he took a flashlight to look at the contents. O I had a lovely time showing him my wardrobe, my shorts drawer, my pots and pans...By the fourth door opening I could see his eyes glazing over and he announced he was happy we weren't storing anything illegal, ha! We were probably not the profile that deemed a full search would be required. Handshakes all round and and off they zoomed back to St Martin in the rib. All the time this boarding had happened, the Captain of the rib was standing off a couple of metres away whilst Dylan continued to sail Orion into the anchorage. Overall a pleasant, professional ordeal considering the horror stories we had heard of ridiculous fines being paid to the Dutch authorities.

Coastguard leaving us

There is only one anchorage in Statia and its steep to so all boats need to pick up a mooring ball that are maintained by the national park. A habit we have got into is to check the mooring ball and base as soon as we switch off the engine so no sooner had we pushed the button we jumped into the clear water for a much welcomed swim and snorkel. Its a lovely little bay, lined with palm trees and the dramatic backdrop of the Quill volcano. Tucked in close to shore we were out of the way of the commercial traffic going to and from the oil station on the North of the island.

Quill volcano in the background

The next day we were determined to climb the Quill volcano despite our complete lack of exercise for the last couple of months, I was also eager to try out my new Tevas purchased in Puerto Rico. Checking in was a painless process, the customs people work in an air conditioned container at the head of the town dock. The only slight inconvenience was that although we were leaving that night, we couldn't clear in and out at the same time. So it meant we cleared in at 10am and had to go back again before 4pm the same day to clear out.

The containers home to customs

The main town on Statia is reached by a steep old cobbled road leading up the cliff, rewarding us with great views over the coastline. The town reminded us of Codrington in Barbuda, a series of small colourful houses lining the bricked streets with locals just sat outside their houses or shops watching the world go by. Everyone was so friendly, making a point to stop as they passed us and wish us 'Good Morning'. How lovely to be back in a place that makes us feel so welcome, the islands up North are full of tourists and as such have lost some of their community focus we love.

View from the old road

To hike any of the island you need a National Park permit which is valid for a year, costs $6 per person and is purchased at the National Park Centre near customs. With this permit we also got loads of cool little leaflets on the island and hiking trails. Armed with 2 bottles of water, towel and some snacks we commenced our hike to the summit of the volcano. It was a pretty difficult hike just because of the heat and humidity found in the forest and at times the steep incline. We must have sweated out our weight in water. 

The trail

Wildlife was abundant, seeing red bellied snakes, loads of hermit crabs, doves and huge buttress roots as we wound our way up the forested floor. As we neared the summit you get a fantastic view of the crater below and feeling adventurous we decided to go to the bottom of the crater. This involved a 45 min scramble to the base over huge boulders and aided by rope that was strung from tree trunk to tree trunk. With only Dylan for company I felt nothing opting to go down most of it on my bum, shuffling from rock to rock like a spider. 

Anyone home?

The bottom of the crater wasn't much to write home about and we saw nothing that we hadn't already seen on the hike but hey, we can now say we have been inside a volcano crater (no-one needs to know that it has been dormant since 400 AD!) Faced with a 45 min scramble back up the side of the mountain and needing to be at customs before 4pm we quickly retraced our steps and got back to the dock. Dylan obviously not having enough exercise for one day decided we needed to scrub the hull clean of all the noo noos that had made their home there so we changed out of our sweaty walking gear and into swimming stuff armed with scrubbing brushes. We certainly slept well that night!!