We’re happy to tell you that the winter trades are here. There is a nice stable high pressure between the Caribbean and Europe, and the wind is a steady 15 to 25 knots from the east to southeast.

Had a lovely if short sail from St. Martin to St Barts. In fact, it was so short (just 16 miles) that we took a couple of extra tacks, just to enjoy the afternoon.

St. Barts has a reputation for being where the “beautiful” people hang out. It is considered an "in" spot for the well-to-do, with lots of acting, singing, and movie stars…or so the guide books say. And who are we to argue, so after we sailed our anchor in and got the dink launched we mosied into the town of Gustavia to check out the scene.

Maybe the guides books are right. First, there was Ultima III, at least 175 feet and four decks worth of mega-motor yacht. Med-moored alongside of her was Leopard, the new 90+ foot Richel Pugh hot rod – she weighs just 38 tons, carries water ballast, and draws 15 feet with a rig which reaches at least into the stratosphere. There were two or three "little" 80-footers moored as well. Leopard will be on the starting line for the Guadaloupe-Antigua race, so we’ll have someone who can show us the way to the finish line (they will probably owe us 40% of their time on handicap).

Clearance is straightforward and relatively informal. Once we started cruising the town, two things immediately caught our attention. The “beautiful people” and those who wait on them must have fallen on hard times. Everybody on this island looks like they have not had a decent meal in months – much too skinny for our tastes.

Then there are the duty-free shops. They seem to specialize in watches. Every French and Swiss watchmaker you can imagine is well represented – and at least half the stores sell nothing but fancy watches. The “beautiful people” must have a hard time keeping track of the time – to need so many watches.

The watch we liked is by Franck Mueller – nice clean watch face with hands, no less, and a white gold bracelet. And such a deal. It sells for $12,500 in the US, but in St. Barts you can get one for just $10,000.

While we were thinking that purchase over we checked out the local markets and found that the “beautiful people” and the locals are still into baguettes. So we stocked up on same and brought them back aboard for an exquisite feast. Can you imagine anything better than a lovely (if somewhat rolly) Caribbean anchorage, a glorious sunset, and sitting in the cockpit with a Bud Light and a baguette smeared with peanut butter and jelly…

The high life (and the rolly outer anchorage) soon got the better of us so we’re back at St. Martin. We’re anchored on the French side now – off Marigot. And right alongside us is the hottest looking ketch on the planet – Mari Cha III. They’ve just sailed in from Europe and are still washing the boat down. Of course we’ve already been over to ask if they are indeed going to take back their record in the Guadaloupe-Antigua race. Beowulf looks so diminutive alongside Mari Cha that it is hard to imagine we could come within an hour of their time in the race. Heck, if we can still make out their rig on the horizon when they finish it will be a moral victory – and they will owe us a ton of time on handicap. The pressure is on them, not us.

It is getting close to sundown. Time for a drink topside and some boat-watching. The little sloop Horai, from Boston, just beat in with her Q flag flying under jib and reefed main. And there’s a 140-foot sloop powering up towards our stern…