The winds remained up again all night and are expected to stay around 25 knots until at least Monday. Since today is Friday, I told Rick, enough is enough. The swells are getting uncomfortable and I would rather be inside the lagoon. So, after a nice cup of coffee we started the engine to catch the 8:30AM bridge opening. Two very large mega yachts that had been anchored out since we arrived decided to go inside as well this morning. The only boats anchored out now are the party boats for the resorts.
Once the anchor was set, we went ashore to deliver the evaporator and drop off some garbage. After that, it was time for a nice large American breakfast that would do us for breakfast and lunch. We then stopped at the hair salon and booked an appointment for Rick. Trying to cut his hair outside in this wind would have been a chuckle but I think he wouldn't find the finished product very funny.
We joined Paul and Lynn (Kiana) at the yacht club for happy hour and dinner. We also ran into Noel and Bobby (Sunshine II) who we knew from Grenada.
Happy hour at the yacht club takes place during the evening bridge opening. The deck from the yacht club overlooks the bridge and as all of the yachts and mega yachts enter, everyone cheers and claps. Each boater reacts differently but many take a bow and wave. While this is going on there is live entertainment but this week the entertainment was the wind which we have learned is now 30 knots and officially gusting to 40 and sometimes 50 knots. The tables and chairs on the deck are plastic and as long as there was a body in the chair holding on to their glass, all was well. If the glass was set down, it flew through the air ending at times on another table. When a chair was left unoccupied, it flew across the deck. A couple of times tables and chairs all went flying.
Lynn and Paul recommended Matilda's Restaurant down the road for dinner. There we had English style fish and chips before making our way back to the boat in the dinghy.
There is no change in the weather.
We had to go to the marine store to buy a new evaporator for the fridge. The repair shop checked it yesterday and sure enough, it had a good leak. This will not be a cheap repair job but what can you do. Life on a boat can be tough in normal circumstances but without ice cubes it would be unbearable.
It was a rough and wet dinghy ride in the bay. When we finished at the store, it was only 11AM and we didn't want to return to the boat for the rest of the day. So I remained ashore while Rick charged back and put the evaporator onboard (we couldn't leave it sitting in the dinghy) and returned to get me. Then we just walked around and explored different stores during the morning.
We had lunch at Topper's and then picked up our laundry from Shrimpy's. By then it was almost 2PM and we were willing to return and listen to the howl of the wind.
We where having a siesta but awoke when we heard a voice calling us from outside. What a surprise! Guy and Christian (Blue Tang) who we met in Grenada 2002 had arrived back in the Caribbean from Canada.
They purchased their boat, a Halberg-Rassy 42 that was docked next to us in Secret Harbour. Since then they sailed it home to Montreal, completed the major upgrades and have now sailed it back down to the Caribbean where they plan to spend some time. They are anchored in Marigot on the French side of the Island but will probably come inside the lagoon next week.
We have no idea what happened but sometime overnight, the winds dropped off significantly. We awoke to bright blue skies, a ripple on the water in the bay and winds that no longer howled.
Rick removed the compressor for the refrigerator, which we’ll take along with the new evaporator into the shop so that it can be evacuated tomorrow. I washed the curtains, which I have wanted to do since we arrived, but if I attempted to hang them outside to dry prior to today, they would have been whipped away in the wind.
Lynn (Kiana) called to invite us to a potluck dinner. Since I have no fresh
meat or produce in the fridge, we went ashore in the afternoon and picked up
salad makings and some nice steak kabobs for the barbecue.
The potluck was at the Simpson Bay Yacht Club. There were only twelve of us and we had a great time. One of the couples have a niece who works on a mega yacht that is currently in the bay. When guests from the mega yacht leave the crew toss all of the remaining provisions and start fresh for the next guests. So… some of what was being tossed were a few types of soft French cheeses, packages of seasoned olives and Russian black caviar. The actual package of caviar we had sells for about $2000 US. Needless to say, this was not your everyday pot luck barbecue. It was a fun evening and the weather cooperated.
Rick delivered the fridge parts to the shop by 8:30AM. We had breakfast when he returned and then finally began our Christmas cleaning. I had asked Rick to scrub the ceiling for me but he got carried away and scrubbed ceiling walls and anything else that was in his way. I tidied and organized. Together we got the forward portion of the boat spotless and will leave the rest for another day.
The weather was still weird. We had very strong winds in the morning. They eased off around noon but then later in the afternoon we had heavy rain squalls go through. The forecast indicates that the next couple of days should settle down and be nice but then the winds will pick up again.
John (Permafrost) called in the afternoon to let us know that the fridge was fixed and ready to be picked up. Since we have lots of ice and no cash, we told him we would pick it up in the morning, which gives us time to hit an ATM.
The morning was spent reinstalling the compressor, new evaporator and connecting all of the fridge components. It was up and running by lunch but obviously still empty of anything nourishing.
We went ashore to Ric’s Place for lunch, which also has free Wifi. I took the laptop and after lunch caught up on a little surfing. I also updated the web site with new pictures in both the “Trip” and “Boat” sections. While I was doing this, Rick returned to the boat and started the generator and water maker.
When I was finished, we met at the convenience store where we picked up a few items for dinner and breakfast. The plan is to do some serious grocery shopping tomorrow.
This was the first evening that has been nice enough to sit in the cockpit for sundowners and dinner. It’s not supposed to last long so we enjoyed it while we could.
The day began with blue skies and sunshine. After breakfast, we phoned our friends in Carriacou to verify a new rumour. Tobago Cays is now charging $10EC ($5 CAD) per person per day to anchor in the Cays. We knew this was coming but thought that they were going to put moorings in before they started charging. I guess the charges will pay for the moorings that will come eventually. The Tobago Cays is a beautiful area and the $10 charge is worth it. Hopefully, the moorings will keep some of the boats from anchoring in the turtle grass.
After phone calls, we got down to business with cleaning and scrubbing again. This took the rest of the morning.
In the afternoon, we went searching for an alternator for our friends on Rasi. So far, everyone can order one in for him but no one has his model in stock. We roamed a few more stores, had a nice lunch and then went grocery shopping.
It was good to have food onboard again.
Our cleaning spree continued in the morning but in the afternoon we both chose to remain onboard and relax.
There is still cleaning to be done but we both decided we needed a break today.
We went ashore in the morning, first to one side of the bay to a pharmacy where we refilled our prescriptions, next to the other side of the bay. On the other side, we went into the rigging shop and ordered a small part for the furler. We then walked down the road to NAPA still searching for an alternator for Rasi. Our final stop on this side of the bay was a Budget Marine where I ordered one of the new Wifi antennas (the demand is so great they are backordered), Rick purchased new hosing for the head. The existing plumbing is now into it’s 7th year so it seems a good time to replace it.
We dropped the hose at the boat and dinghied then to the French side of the island. We had a difficult time deciding which restaurant to go to for lunch. There were many and their menus all looked wonderful. We had a decadent lunch and then walked into town to look for a wine store. I know we had stocked up in Martinique but somehow the bottles are dwindling. We found and a small shop Le Gout du Vin. The lady there was extremely helpful. I told her we were looking for some very nice tasting wine that was inexpensive. We left with four different wines and a bottle of champagne (really sparkling wine) to try before purchasing more. The most expensive bottle was the champagne, which was $6 Euro.
As we returned to the dinghy we met Bonnie (Sundancer III) getting into her dinghy. She mentioned that her outboard can be difficult to start so we waited to make sure she got it going. Not only did Rick wear out his arm pulling the cord but they have a soft bottom dinghy and the floor leaks. She was out roaming around with an outboard that wouldn’t start in a dinghy that was sinking. It didn’t even phase her. Once Rick finally got the engine running, off she went back to the Dutch side of the island.
We returned to our boat, rested for one hour and then headed out to the yacht club for the Friday night happy hour and wave.
A good number of boats came through the bridge this night but only one mega yacht and not a lot of smiles. The bridge closed and we thought the show was finished when all of a sudden it reopened. This time a huge coast guard ship came in. The men on this ship were very aware of the Friday night tradition so they put on a good show for us on their way through and got all of the applause and cheers.
We finished cleaning in the galley area this morning. Walls and ceiling have been scrubbed, cupboards are all cleaned and reorganized. There is only the aft cabin left to do and then the inside of the boat will sparkle and we can start on the outside.
We discussed doing different things in the afternoon but in the end we stayed onboard and did nothing.
Lynn (Kiana) called us after dinner and asked if we would like to join them for breakfast out tomorrow morning. Seeing as we were out of bread and they were out of eggs, this sounded like a good idea.
It was very gusty and rainy overnight. The wind was swinging from southeast to north setting off the anchor alarm as each squall passed by.
We met Lynn and Paul at Ric’s Place for breakfast at 8AM. Ric’s have the regular Sunday buffet but we all chose something from the menu.
It must be the cooler weather but we seem to be doing well with boat projects. It was 9:30AM when we returned to the boat after breakfast and a little grocery shopping. Rick’s neck is stiff from looking up while scrubbing the ceiling so he wanted a project where he could keep his head down today.
It was a two man (person) job to remove the old hose from the head, which bends around numerous corners, and replace it with the nice new hose that we picked up the other day. This entailed emptying all of the cupboard area behind the head and under the sink to get to the hose that leads though there before it snakes through the bilge. While working in the bilge it was also a good time to replace the filters on the fresh water system. This was all finished before lunchtime so we kept on going. Next, Rick replaced the macerator pump for the holding tank. Enough already!!
We had planned to spend the afternoon exploring another part of the bay but the winds and gusts were so strong it would have been a wet ride. We instead relaxed onboard.
Finished, complete, nothing more to do inside. The whole interior has been scrubbed spotless. There is still the exterior to do before we can totally relax and play but we are finished for now and going to take a few days off cleaning.
In fact we started to relax in the after noon with our cheese pate and a new champagne that we had to taste test. It tested fine which meant we needed a siesta afterward.
There was a pork roast in the freezer so dinner was onboard.
The morning was spent on boat chores. I did some hand laundry and Rick climbed the wind generator pole to polish it and part of the davits.
In the afternoon, we explored the lagoon by dinghy. Our first stop was for lunch at the Peg Leg Restaurant where they claim to have the third best hamburgers in the world. They were definitely good but if they are the third best then we have to rate the Lost Penguin Restaurant in Bonaire as at least the second best.
As we left the restaurant we could see a rain shower headed our way so we race across the bay to a fabrication shop that was cutting and bending a piece of aluminium that we will use as a bottom to our new bottomless evaporator plate in the refrigerator. It was almost ready so we waited out of the rain for it to be finished.
Next, we went down the lagoon toward the airport terminal. Oops, another rain shower was headed our way so we stopped at the Turtle Pier Resort and bar to wait for it to pass. Here I tried a drink of the famous St. Martin Guavaberry rum, which was quite different. When the rain stopped, we walked out to the street and toward the airport terminal but found nothing exciting there so we returned to the dinghy and continued to explore.
We passed by over to the French side toward Mullet Bay. By this time, we have just about circumnavigated the Simpson Bay Lagoon. We found that the lagoon is a nice protected anchorage (in non-hurricane season) but all of the activities, casinos, bars restaurants etc. are on shore. The beaches are all outside of the lagoon. We can go under either the Dutch or the French bridges to a couple of beaches or take a bus or taxi to many beaches. The seas are still 9 to 10 feet so anchoring outside the lagoon at some of the beaches is not an option. Not only that, we have been told that we were wise to arrive in Sint Maarten as early as we did to get a good anchoring spot. The bottom of the lagoon is very grassy and holding is not good everywhere, we seem to be well dug in so I don’t think we’ll move for a while.
The last stop before returning to the boat was the grocery store for a few items.
We both agreed that we needed a day off to play tourist. This time we decided to tour by bus. The local buses here are still large vans like all of the other islands. They are very well kept and cost $1 per person for most routes. We took the bus that goes to Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side of the island and the port where all of the cruise ships dock.
On our way into town, we got off the bus at the Cost U less store. All of the cruisers rave about this place so we thought we would walk through. Well, we immediately realized we had found “Costco” in the Caribbean. There was everything from electronics, clothing, houseware and food. The lines to check out were just as long and there were no bags. This was a problem for us because we hadn’t brought the backpack and couldn’t help ourselves, we purchased a few items. Carrying our purchases, we left the store and crossed the street to the Grande Marché supermarket. This is the main store to our smaller Gourmet Marché where we shop in Simpson Bay. I went in to see about getting a client discount card but learned that it would cost us $15US and provides points when you purchase some items but not all. I passed, this wasn’t what I thought their card provided. While we were there however, we asked one of the clerks for a bag, which made easier carrying of our Cost U less items.
What was really neat, was that outside of both stores there were refrigerated
containers with big signs “Canadian Christmas Trees”. They we selling at $45US
and they were almost sold out on December 13th.
We got back on the bus and continued on our way into Philipsburg. We walked along Back Street, Front Street and the beach. There were six cruise ships in port and all of the passengers were roaming the streets and stores. Sint Maarten is truly duty free so every second store is a jewellery shop or electronics store. The whole of Front Street, which is beautifully restored, is geared to the tourists. We roamed a few stores then walked along the beach for a while. We had passed a Chinese Restaurant on our way between Back and Front Street so returned there for e lunch. We knew it was a good restaurant when we noticed that there were Chinese people seated at most occupied tables. It was excellent. We haven’t enjoyed Chinese food like that for a long time.
After lunch, we felt we should go for a good walk and made our way to the end of town where we turned up another street and found a Radio Shack. The store was closed for lunch until 2PM so we had almost 15 minutes to wait. Radio Shack sells batteries that we needed. Once we had the batteries we walked a little further to where we could get the return bus back to Simpson Bay.
Once on the bus we decided to go passed our stop and stay on until we got to Maho Beach. It was late afternoon and the large flights would be arriving. When we got there, the big decision was where to sit and watch. There were two bars one on either end of the beach with an empty space in between. As soon as the first flight arrives, the reason for the empty space becomes obvious. If you stand in that space the undercarriage of the plane is right above you. We stood near the edge when a 757 jet came in. Other than being very close and noisy, I didn’t notice the strong winds that the signs warned of until a few seconds after the plane had passed us. Then the wind was so strong it ripped my hat off and sent it flying. Wow! Great fun!
We checked out the largest bar that seemed to have many more people seated watching the planes but the beers there were $4US so we returned to the smaller bar we had passed. There the beers were $2 and you could sit at picnic tables or at the bar and you got a padded beach chair to use if you bought a drink.
After watching many small planes and a few large ones arrive, we got back on the bus and returned to the dock where we had left the dinghy and made our way out to the boat.
The starter motor had to be removed, which is not an easy job but we seem to have the process down pat so it didn’t take too long. The new solenoid was in and it was just as easy to take the whole starter motor to the shop and have them put the solenoid on for us.
After breakfast, Rick dropped me ashore at Shrimpy’s where I dropped off laundry and walked down the street to where I had an appointment to have my hair cut. I have given up on long hair. On the boat, it isn’t as practical as I thought it would be, It’s also hot when down and makes me look years older (which I don’t need).
While I was being beautified, Rick went to Budget Marine where some items we ordered had arrived and then stopped at Simpson Bay Diesel where they attached the solenoid.
We met again at Shrimpy’s for lunch before returning to the boat
It was another extremely windy day with white caps in the lagoon. We reinstalled the starter motor and then Rick had to put the alternator back on. He replaced the belt, which was looking worn, changed the fuel filters and then we worked on getting the air out of the system.
While we were working away, Prima Donna II, which is a beautiful 75 foot boat anchored next to us, was attempting (without their engine, which had been removed for a rebuild) to lift their anchor and go over to the dock using their dinghy to push them along. The winds were making it very difficult for them so Rick jumped into our dinghy and went over to help. Moving the boat was not a problem, raising the anchor however was almost impossible. Without their engine, they couldn’t use the electric windless. With both people onboard pulling it up and Rick pushing the boat forward, the anchor finally broke the surface. It must have had a ton of grass and weed on it. With the anchor out of the water, they just left the weed and the two dinghies manoeuvred the boat through the lagoon over to one of the marinas where they docked to have the engine reinstalled.
That was enough excitement for one windy afternoon.
We were back to howling winds and squalls passing by through all night long. This is not just happening in St Martin, the whole island chain is putting up with it. There is talk of it settling down by this weekend. It sure would be nice.
Rick worked on the engine exchanging the new Racor filter back to the old one, which better matches the output of his new fuel pump. We then bled and ran the engine for quite a while after that to remove any air. We got most of it out but not quite all. It was enough for one day as it was time for happy hour and bridge opening at the yacht club.
We quickly changed and headed to the club in our choppy lagoon seas. It was a good opening. There were many mega ships and regular boats coming in and going out. After the final opening (when happy hour was over), we left with Paul and Lynn (Kiana) and some other boaters for dinner at Matilda’s.
This was an airport day. Rick’s brother Ken and his wife Lynne were arriving from Canada for a couple of weeks at a resort on Sint Maarten. The information we had said that their flight was to arrive at 10:20AM so we were at the airport by 10AM to greet them. Their flight wasn’t even on the board so we checked with information where we learned that it would not arrive until 1:30PM.
We left and took the bus back into Simpson Bay where we stopped at a small French café for a snack and coffee.
Back at the boat, we killed time until almost 1PM when we returned to the airport. The arriving flights were 5 minutes apart and people kept flowing out from behind the security doors. Evidently, there was a lot of lost baggage so some were held up for a long time. Finally we saw one of the ground workers who informed us that this wasn’t really the flight from Toronto, it was from Montreal. The Toronto flight wouldn’t arrive until 8:30PM tonight. That’s well past out bedtime and since they have our phone number we finally left the airport for the day.
Sunday, we innocently started the engine just to see how things were. They were not good. It appears that we have solved the air problem but for some reason now it has fuel starvation. We checked it connection by connection finally putting the pickup and fuel in a glass jar so we could watch it. Well, it seems that the wonderful new fuel pump Rick bought (and paid an arm and leg for) in Martinique had a vapour lock. This happened after the engine was running for about ¾ hour. So, thinking it might be to hot a location near the engine where it was. Rick moved it outside of the engine compartment closer to the fuel tank. Still after running awhile it would lock up. He replaced it with our old little Napa fuel pump and it ran fine. Meanwhile, starting and stopping the engine so many times, the starter motor (not the solenoid) is starting to act up. It can wait for the New Year. I think we are finished playing with the engine for now.
We went by dinghy to Marigot (the French side) first to check out their beaches just on the other side of the bridge and then for lunch at the Tropicana Restaurant. It was a short walk from there to the wine store to order a case of champagne and wine. Hopefully we now have enough wine and champagn onboard for a Christmas Eve party and Kelly’s visit. The store was out of the Champagne that we liked but the lady will have it for us tomorrow and deliver everything to our dinghy.
We returned to the Dutch side of the island and went under the bridge to the Kim Sha beach. It has palapa huts, lounge chairs are available, and it is a nice clean sandy beach. This will be where we spend Christmas Day. In St. Martin, everyone goes to the beach on Christmas Day. Most locals will probably go to Orient beach, which is a good distance from us, and we wanted a beach nearby that we could get to by dinghy. There are 37 beaches on the island so I was pretty sure we would find one that would meet our needs for Christmas day.
First thing in the morning, we went ashore to a great medical clinic right across the street from where we normally leave the dinghy. It is just a day clinic but they even have an MRI machine.
Rick needed a follow-up EKG, which he passed with flying colours. The pharmacies in Sint Maarten provided us with a few months of our normal prescription medications but they said they would prefer that we had an actual prescription from a doctor. This is the first time we have been asked for this in a few years so while at the clinic we asked the doctor to write a prescription for each of us, which was not a problem.
We left there and picked up a few groceries on our way back to the boat. I was putting things away when Noel (Sundancer III) came by with bags of food for us. They are leaving for a month (unplanned) to do a boat delivery. Our fridge has not been this full since we left for the Venezuelan out islands, which are deserted islands. Then we provisioned for as long as possible before leaving. Now, I’m in trouble for fridge space for my party on Christmas Eve. I will share some of the food with Lynn and Paul (Kiana) as there is way too much for us.
It was time to check the engine status. It started and ran as it is supposed to. We both looked at each other and were relieved. In the New Year, we will take care of the starter motor but it’s a nice feeling a few days before Christmas to have a healthy engine and husband.
Rick took Bonnie and Noel ashore with all of their baggage just after noon. He returned to the boat and after a nice lunch, we left for Marigot.
The wine store was extremely busy with Christmas shoppers. Our cases of champagne and wine were in, they delivered them to the dinghy for us, and we returned to the boat just as a large black cloud passed by.
The last task on the to-do list was for Rick to replace the pump on the head. After breakfast, he dropped me off with my laptop at Ric’s Place (free WiFi) where I caught up on some of our emails. Mark and Lee (Manatee) joined me and we all surfed away the morning.
Rick was finished and joined us for lunch.
During the afternoon while the generator and water maker were running we relaxed and read.
After a big breakfast, we took the laundry ashore and caught a bus to Maho
Beach.
We met Ken and Lynne (Rick’s brother) at the Sunset Beach Bar where we sat and gabbed for most of the morning. They invited us to join them at their resort (Sonesta Resort) for lunch. It was a very enjoyable day.
On our way back to the boat, we picked up groceries for Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is preparation day.
Today, Rick washed the cockpit in the morning. He then went and did some running around for me and bought fuel in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, I cooked up many racks of baby back ribs and stacks of chicken wings for Christmas Eve.
We both finished in time to be at the yacht club for the afternoon bridge opening. There was a big crowd and a lot of boats going both out and into the lagoon so everyone had a fun time.
Next we left and went to Matilda’s for our regular Friday night dinner with Kiana who now has company staying with them and with the gang on Latest Caper.
This was the day of Kelly’s arrival. I finished some last minute cleaning and put out our Christmas decorations. Rick polished the taps and vacuumed for me. We are now ready to play and have some fun.
We left the boat at 11:15AM, and arrived at the airport in plenty of time to
meet Kelly’s plane. She walked out of security looking relaxed and on vacation.
She had already spent a day in a resort on Puerto Rico.
We took her and her luggage on a bus the short distance to the dinghy dock. Rick took her luggage to the boat while Kelly and I stopped in at the grocery store for a few more items. We all met at Shrimpy’s afterward.
It only took a few minutes to put the groceries away before jumping back in the dinghy to head to the French side of the island for lunch at Tropicana.
After a nice lunch we strolled down the few blocks to our wine store that was having free champagne tasting. We each had a glass of pink champagne and regular white champagne. The servers were quite willing to continue pouring for us as long as we wanted to stay but we had enough for today.
We made it back to the boat just in time for sundowners.
It was a gusty night and we all slept until 7AM which is late for us. It was Christmas eve.
When we had finished breakfast, I began preparing more food for this evening. The veggies and fruit were all washed and cut. Kiana wanted us to take them for the champagne tasting in Marigot that we had attended yesterday.
Just before noon, we headed over to their boat to let them know that we would
meet them at the dinghy dock in Marigot. They had forgotten all about the
tasting and were into preparing food. No problem, we went for a light lunch at
Zee Best Restaurant and then returned to the boat for final preparations.
I had prepared platters of ribs, chicken wings, shrimp and dip, proscuitto and melon with fruit, veggies with dip and another of cheese and paté. Our guests arrived at 5PM. In addition to all of the food I had prepared, Lynn and Barb brought chili cheese puffs, water chestnuts wrapped with bacon and pecan tarts for dessert. Paul and Mike brought all of the makings for specialty coffee with whipped cream.
We began with wine and the hot appetizers. Sometime during the evening we progressed to the cold appetizers and champagne. It was just before midnight when we finished desert and the awesome specialty coffees. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve get together.
We all slept late. It had been a good night for sleeping with a light breeze and no rain.
We had a big breakfast and then I started baking. The forecast today was a possibility of rain so Latest Caper invited everyone to their boat for a pot luck barbecue Christmas dinner. I promised to bring pumpkin pie and mince tarts for desert but I also had a Caribbean chocolate rum cake that I had purchased so dessert was covered. We were the only ones who brought turkey the others all opted for steak. When I removed the foil wrap, however everyone had a little turkey and cranberry because it smelled so good. Lynn (Kiana) brought a couple of vegetable casseroles and Jeannie (Latest Caper) made a wonderful avocado salad. It was another night of too much food and everyone loved it.
It was the perfect beach day, sunshine and a light breeze. We started at Maho Beach watching the planes land as they flew right overhead. It seemed we were too early for the big jets so we left there and walked to Mullet Bay.
Mullet Bay is a beautiful beach protected from the swells by large reefs on
either side of the bay. We joined the crowds and played tourists. There were
beach chairs and umbrellas available. We secured ours and then Kelly and I
immediately went in the water for a drift (we drift and gab rather than swim).
After quite a while, we joined Rick on the lounge chairs and rested after our
strenuous drift. Originally, we had planned to have lunch somewhere in Maho but
none of us wanted to leave. We bought some lunch at one of the small food and
refreshment stands along the beach. By the time we left and headed back to Maho
the large jets were arriving. We sat at the bar and watched them land. Others
stood on the beach directly underneath the planes. As the pilot applied the
reverse thrust, you could see those on the centre strip of beach being almost
blown away. Click
here to watch a plane arrive.
We had a very nice experience when Rick lost our little ziplock bag full of
money. He returned to the bar to see if he had left it on the counter.
Meanwhile, I looked under our stools. We were sitting on stools on a wooden
raised deck and when he said it must have fallen out of his pocket, I thought it
could have slipped through the pieces of wood onto the beach. As I was looking
down Kelly (eagle eyes) remembered that she had seen a Rasta man holding a
plastic bag of money in his hand on
the beach below us. I had noticed the man as
well. As he walked by, he had smiled and waved. He rents the beach chairs from a
little hut on the beach. Rick went and asked him if he had found a ziplock bag
of money on the beach near us and he said he had. He returned the bag and money
to Rick and then came over to say hello. His name is Womba and his wife is
Canadian from Montreal. It was a very nice experience because we had a good
amount of money in the bag that was all returned.
Our timing was perfect when we arrived back at the dinghy there were a few dark clouds headed our way. The first rain sprinkles of the day arrived shortly after we were onboard and down below.
We had no rain and just light wind overnight. We made our way to shore after
breakfast and checked out a couple of car rental places less than a block from
the dinghy dock. The prices seemed reasonable and no reservations were required.
We will take a car tour tomorrow.
Today we took the local bus into Philipsburg and played tourist by roaming the stores with all of the cruise ship passengers. We wore our bathing suits under our clothes so that we could spend some time on the beach in the afternoon.
There are many beach boys (men) who rent lounges and umbrellas on the beach. We met Miguel who was a fun character and we rented our chairs from him. We first wanted to go for a nice light lunch. Miguel recommended a restaurant for us and reserved 3 chairs and a couple of umbrellas for us right at the water. While we relaxed and enjoyed the beach, Miguel served every one food and or drinks. We had a bucket of beer on ice.
It was getting late when we left Philipsburg. We arrived at Simpson Bay just
as the bridge went up. Rather than sit on the bus we got out and went to Toppers
for dinner. The special was prime rib roast beef. Rick and I both had the
special. Kelly chose a steak with apple pie and ice cream for dessert.
There had been no rain all day but as we were inside eating our dinner a good squall went through. The sky was clear when we left the restaurant and walked back to the dinghy.
We crossed the road to get a rental car just as the bridge opened in the morning at 9AM. We had filled in all of the papers and we were driving out of the lot just as it closed again.
This was the first time either of us has driven a car since we were in
Bonaire a couple of years ago. Rick was at the wheel and did very well. I was
navigating and only got us lost once.
Our first stop was the butterfly farm (www.thebutterflyfarm.com) on the French side. It was interesting and fun. Some of the butterflies would let you hold them. The most difficult to capture with a camera were the Blue Morpho’s.
When we left the butterflies, we stopped at Orient Beach, which was down the same road a short distance. The plan was to go for a swim but the water appeared to be better for surfing. The sand on the beach was lovely but I preferred Mullet Bay.
The next stop was Grande Case. This section of the island has some of the finer restaurants. We had a lovely lunch but it was extremely expensive so will be a one time thing.
There was nothing else in particular that we wanted to see so we continued to
drive the rest of the way around the island. It was just after 3:30PM when we
had completed our circumnavigation and returned the car to the rental place.
No one was hungry so we had a light dinner onboard.
It was an extremely squally night that seemed to continue into the morning. We listened to the weather forecast and there was to be a lot of dry sustenance in the air, meaning that the rain would disappear soon.
We had booked ourselves on a catamaran party boat for an around the island tour. When there was a short break in the squalls we went ashore early and waited where the bus was to pick us up at 8:15AM. By 9:15 the rain which was still very heavy had not disappeared and the bus which was to pick us up, had not appeared so we gave up on the tour.
We had only had yogurt and coffee before leaving because breakfast was to be served onboard the catamaran. The consensus was that we were all starved and breakfast was the first priority. Across the street was a small French patisserie where we went for a delicious breakfast.
The squalls continued to pass through one after the other giving us just enough time in between to get from one location to another. Kelly and I agreed to go to Ric's Place while Rick returned to the boat with our snorkel gear and to pick up the laptop. While the weather was nasty we could do a little surfing on the internet and also have the web mistress update the web site.
While we were in the restaurant, I called the tour company to see what happened. They said that the bus driver drove by three times. I said well, he never stopped or pulled into the parking lot. The lady then asked why we didn't wave him down. I explained that since many buses drove down the street one after the other and we saw none that mentioned Eagle Tours, how would I know which one to wave down. She thought that was a very good comment so offered to take us on the Tuesday trip around the island. Since the weather was so rotten today, we were pleased that we weren't picked up.
This was a very unusual day in that the nasty weather never seemed to abate.
When it was time for Friday happy hour at the yacht club, we still had to race
there between squalls.
There were very few people when we arrived. The musician tried to set up on the balcony but the wind and rain was going to destroy his electronics if it didn't blow them away. By the second opening of the bridge (incoming boats) the place was packed. Kelly was right out front on the balcony cheering every boat through even the dinghies.
We left when happy hour was over and went to Matilda's for dinner. We had eaten every meal out today so none of us were very hungry and we were looking for a cheap meal. Two large pizza's and two beers (I was into drinking water by this time) came to $16. We took one of the pizza's back to the boat with us. I don't think we could have eaten at McDonald's or Burger King for that price.
The weather was much improved over yesterday. Rick had a few boat chores he wanted to work on in the morning while Kelly and I relaxed and read.
In the afternoon, we finally went by dinghy under the bridge to the Kim Sha Beach. It was a great place with free beach chairs and palapa umbrellas. The sand on the beach was nice but it was very shelly and coarse under the water. I guess that was why the beach wasn't crowded.
We had all brought books, so after gabbing with our neighbours for a while we just relaxed and read. A young girl served us beers and lunch from the Buccaneers Bar that was just down the beach from us. It's easy to play vacationer here.
We returned to the boat just before bridge opening. There was talk about going to the yacht club but we were all too tired. I guess it had been a strenuous day in the sun. We noticed that almost all of the huge mega yachts were gone. They all go to St. Barts for the New Years Eve celebrations. The fireworks there are supposedly quite spectacular and it is the place to be. At least that is when and where most of the major stars and famous people spend New Years Eve.
Rick provided a little pampering onboard by serving the sundowners and then preparing pasta for dinner.
The rain and wind continued. We finally left the boat between squalls and went ashore. The grocery store was closing early so we picked up some fresh vegetables and fruit before they closed for the holiday. Rick transported the groceries back to the boat while Kelly and I walked to the bagel shop where we agreed to meet. A light lunch was our plan but we learned that the bagel place was closing early as well. Kelly and I then crossed the street and sat at a picnic table to wait for Rick. The sea inside the lagoon is still very rough and it was easier and drier for him to take the groceries without us in the dinghy but then he had to take the time to put the refrigerated items away before he could return.
It was a unanimous decision that we go to Subway and have a sandwich for
lunch. There are a lot of American fast food places on the island but we
normally avoid them for a more local restaurant. Today however, a Subway was
just what we needed.
We returned to the boat after lunch and made it aboard before the next squall went by. Everyone had a siesta in the afternoon because this year we were going to stay up for a New Years Eve Party.
First, we were going for a nice dinner at Uncle Harry's Restaurant. I had
purposely saved this restaurant for a special occasion because we had been
warned that although the food was very good it was also very expensive. Our
reservations were for 7PM. We arrived by high-speed dinghy, out-racing another
squall. Our dinner experience was very disappointing. We all felt that the food
was good (except the frozen vegetables).
Kelly and I had surf and turf while
Rick had a nice steak. They were prepared and cooked perfectly. The problem was
that if we had been on a short lunch hour we would have been served and out of
there with time to spare. The whole meal was very rushed. Once the main course
had been served we were totally ignored even though our wine glasses and bottle
were empty. We wanted to make an evening of it so we called the server over and
ordered another bottle of wine. No tasting was offered, the first glass was
poured for everyone and again we were left on our own.
We left the restaurant after another major squall and headed to the opposite end of the bay to join the party at Topper's Restaurant. Topper was on the beach with us the other day and had invited us to come to the party even though we weren't having dinner at his place.
We learned from Paulo (a local) that we had missed seeing a single engine plane crash into the ocean at Maho beach yesterday. The two occupants escaped and were rescued by dinghy from one of the party boats that was nearby watching the landings.
Topper's had a wonderful party with live entertainment. The entertainment
really wasn't required because we had Julio behind the bar keeping everyone in
stitches. Topper brought us an amazing appetizer of fresh tuna. He supplied
everyone with hats, noisemakers, streamers and champagne. We should have spent
the complete evening there, as we have never been disappointed with the service,
food or the price at Topper's.
We saw New Years Eve come and go in Sint Maarten but then we hung in there for another hour and celebrated New Years Eve an hour later for New York and Toronto with Julio.
Our trip back to the boat was the first wet one of the day and I guess of the year because it was almost 2:30AM. None of us noticed the rain coming over the hills until we were already in the dinghy and on our way. Oh well, we had managed to avoid squalls all day so a little one at the end of the day was not a big deal. Everyone was soaked by the time we climbed aboard.
