St. Martin

07/01/12

Panorama of Marigot Bay (right), the town of Marigot and Simpson Bay Lagoon (center rear)

My gosh, I’m full.  We just returned from a glorious meal of fresh barbequed mahi mahi with mango salsa, green salad, tarragon carrots, rice, beans and fresh French bread.  Darrell and Ann aboard Alibi, arrived yesterday morning not long after we did.  They invited us along with Kim and Scott from Bella Blue and Jan and Bruce from Celtic Rover to share in their catch.  It was a great reunion with old friends and new.  Many stories were told.  I think most were true.

Bleary-eyed though happy to be nearing the end of the Anegada Passage

We had a better than expected crossing of the Anegada Passage, fondly known as the “Omygodda Passage,” from Gorda Sound to Marigot Bay, St. Martin.  East winds at 13 going to ENE at 11 with 5-foot seas going to 4-foot seas were expected, and that’s what we got.  It was a little rough as we left Virgin Gorda but calmed down nicely.  We motor-sailed the whole way, leaving at noon on Thursday, arriving at 7:30 am on Friday.  We made better than expected time and had to slow it down a bit so as to make landfall after daylight.  We traveled the 90 miles with Bella Blue and Celtic Rover. 



We are in France now.  Neither a state nor a territory, St. Martin is France – that is, the north part of the island.  The south part is Dutch, Sint Maarten.  It is so different than anywhere else we’ve been.  In the town of Marigot are small shops, boulangeries, cafes and, of course, a wine shop.  Slightly funky and tres Francais!  It is so nice to hear French spoken on the street as stylish women pass by.  And on the Dutch side, you find more modern and ritzy structures and marinas.  We visited the Super Marche for some provisioning and were able to find good chocolate again in addition to bleu cheese, local rum, mango juice, and did I mention chocolate?  Jan and I are planning to get our hair cut in Marigot as the French are experts at the short coif. 

Wine Shop in Marigot

Bright and early we heard someone dinghy up calling, “Hello, Wayward Wind.”  A jolly guy introduced himself as Fatty.  I recognized him from the photos in several articles that I’d read in Cruising World magazine written by Cap’n Fatty Goodlander.  He and his wife, Carolyn, have lived aboard for thrity plus years and have completed not one but two circumnavigations.  I always enjoy his articles as they’re peppered with good advice and spiced with his hilarious sense of humor.  And they are humble.  He writes about his experiences – the good, the bad, and the dumb – without any hint of condescension.  Sailing on a tight budget is one of his common topics and so appeals to us.  The thread throughout, though, is a philosophy of living simply to have a rich and joyful life.  This also appeals to us.  Anyway, he gave us the lowdown on the area – where to safely park the dinghy, how to get our propane tank filled, and how to get to the local cruiser-friendly internet café.  He also told us a little bit about his life, and his humor is even funnier in person than in print. 

Dave and one of the "stars" of The Spice Necklace

Later on this morning, we visited the open air market for fruit and vegetables.  One vendor asked us if we had read The Spice Necklace, a novel written about the area.  She personally knew the author and showed us a hand-written list of five numbers which were the pages on which she was mentioned in the book.  She also showed us her signed copy.  We liked her a lot and bought green bananas, which take a week or two to ripen so are good for keeping on the boat, as well as carrots, yams, onions and limes. 

Yum!

Then we visited the boulangerie.  OMG!  Heaven!  We feasted our eyes upon the colorful canvas which was the display case of pastries galore.  We were so overwhelmed by the gastronomic possibilities that we only bought a whole wheat country baguette, of which we ate half before we got back to the boat, but there is always tomorrow, demain.  I wish I could remember more of my French, but pieces are coming back. 

And Yum again!

This morning I listened to the Cruisers Net about local happenings and news.  When the moderator asked for any new arrivals, our friend Elizabeth from Dream Walker came on saying they’d just arrived this morning from the USVI.  Dream Walker was our buddy boat from Puerto Rico to Culebra.  After she finished, I announced that Wayward Wind had arrived with two other buddy boats.  After the Net, Dream Walker hailed us so we got to chat.  Later on, both Stan and Elizabeth stopped by, and we caught up on all that had happened since we last saw each other. 

This is something very nice about cruising.  You make connections with people and quickly strike a bond.  You go your separate ways and sometimes play leap frog with each other.  And then you reconnect.  When you do, it is always a joyous occasion because you’ve experienced some of what the others have gone through.  We keep in touch with each other loosely through email, and a few of us have blogs.  Anyone interested can visit Alibi’s blog as well as a few others that I’ve mentioned by looking at the blogs on my list. 

We are elated to have traversed the last potentially grueling passage and, even moreso, to be in St. Martin so that now our angle of sail will be conducive to sailing without the iron jenny (motor) as we will have the wind on our beam rather than on our nose.  Hallelujiah!  Hmm…think I’ll celebrate with a piece of Dutch chocolate.

07/02/12
This morning the six of us walked to Marigot and walked up the hill to the ruins of Fort Louis.  It rained on and off, for which we were grateful as it made for a cool trek. 



Trekking up to Fort Louis



Kim, Scott, Dave conquer Fort Louis!  Viva La France!!





Jan, Dave, Bruce, Kim, Scott, Linda - The California Contingent