A continuous time Markov chain is used to model motion in the neighborhood of a critical noble invariant circle in an area-preserving map. States in the infinite chain represent successive rational approximants to the frequency of the invariant circle. The nonlinear integral equation for the first passage time distribution is solved exactly. The asymptotic distribution is a power law times a function periodic in the logarithm of the time. For parameters relevant to Hamiltonian systems the decay proceeds as t/sup -4/ /sup 05/.