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He said: Sorry everyone, we planned to have more frequent updates but we’ve been experiencing problems with both our laptop and our satphone and trying to get anything fixed down here is virtually impossible, there’s at least a two week waiting list just to see a technician! We know so many of you are awaiting replies, and yes we’re still here, we’re just plagued with communications troubles so please bear with us… we still love to hear from you all, just having trouble replying! We’ve had a little more than our fair share of excitement our first couple days in St Maarten… remember our last email with the beautiful full moon over St Maarten that everyone loved so much… well that was definitely the calm before the storm, lol. 12 hours later you never would have recognized that same anchorage! It wasn’t even so much that the wind picked up that much, it was up about 20 knots but the rollers starting coming in off the Atlantic kind of bouncing down between St Maarten and Anguilla and funneling into the anchorage. We left the boat at noon to head into customs to check in, then went and had lunch and by the time we returned the boat was pitching around like a wild bronco! We immediately went over to our friends on ‘Lulu’ and they were like “are you guys ready to get outta here!!”… and yes, we were! We were on our way back to go pull our anchor when we came around a point and saw one poor sailboat had it’s anchor ripped right out of the sand and it had already been driven up on the rocks and making a horrible ‘crunching’ sound as wave after wave kept smashing it over on its side on top of a very nasty piece of shoreline lined with big rocks. Luckily there was already a big powerboat on scene and they were in the process of getting a line to them to tow them off. We got back to our boat and by the time we had our anchor back onboard we saw the powerboat towing the sailboat back into the anchorage less there rudder and their prop, but at least they were floating! Since then we’ve discovered that St Maarten is comprised of two completely different societies… the French and the Dutch. Both sides exist complacently but exhibit completely different qualities. The French side is completely drenched in ‘etiquette’, but the Dutch side is more relaxed and ‘comfortable’… Don’t misunderstand… both sides are so wonderfully overwhelming in their own positive aspects, yet each is completely different in their individual characteristics. This is with-out-a-doubt one of the biggest collection of boys-with-toys that we’ve encountered to date. The collection of mega-yachts and mega-sailboats here is completely overwhelming… you can’t imagine the feeling… we’re used to being the biggest boat on the block in Georgian Bay but down here we are barely ‘entry level’, lol. It is such a beautiful playground for the ‘rich and famous’, it’s hard to imagine that we are even here at all, lol. And here we’ve been, for a week now! Hiding out in the Lagoon has definitely served its purpose, we’ve heard lots of stories about how bad it is ‘out there’, and we’ve had nice calm waters in the Lagoon, just lots of gusts that howl down through the hills and pull repeatedly at our anchor chain. We’re really looking forward to leaving the lagoon and getting back ‘outside’… it will probably feel a little like getting out of jail, lol. I think mostly I’m looking forward to seeing the beautifully clear water again, the water in the lagoon is a color that’s not really conducive to swimming! So we’re all prepped… we actually managed to get a fabricating company to re-weld our davits so when they’re done we’ll be good to go! We’re planning on putting out on the last bridge lift out of the lagoon and anchoring back out in the bay for the night and leaving sometime around 2am for the British Virgin Islands. As much as we’ve enjoyed St Maarten, there’s just something really special about the BVI’s and we both can’t wait to get back! Hope you’ve all had a great week, we’ll look forward to hearing from you soon! Cheers, She Said: It was so great to pull into St. Martin after our rough passage here. Marigot Bay was very pretty with gorgeous turquoise water and a view of the market place and lots of lovely architecture. Ashley and I headed into shore as soon as we could for she was desperately in need of a piece of grass! We found the dingy dock easily with directions from Cindy and Rick on Dragon Fly. As we tied up the dingy we were greeted by a fantastic steel drum band playing wonderful island reggae and a huge open air market set up for as far as we could see. It was a bit of a shock to the senses to step into a lush wave of tropical color, music and smells after the quiet ocean. There were stalls with beautiful local artwork in vibrant colors and bold images of market women, fishermen and island scenes. Silky, bright and flowing sarongs surrounded us as we wandered mesmerized among the stalls and treasures piled all around. The sounds of local merchants greetings and invitations to buy came and went as we walked. One side of the market was filled with over flowing tables piled with fruits, vegetables and spices that looked and smelled exotic. The market was set up in the center of the town square and on one side was the bay and the other was café after café with inviting patios and wonderful smells of rich and spicy foods. There were people wandering everywhere and sitting on the patios enjoying bottles of wine and delicious looking plates of food. Rick joined us later to head back to shore to check into customs and to grab something to eat. We searched out the local customs office and soon found out they were closed daily from 12 to 2:30. Of course it was 12! So we decided to grab some lunch and wait till they re-opened. We attempted to find a café that was serving sandwiches or something light and small. This was not to be, all the restaurants seemed to be serving huge plates of food with lots of rice and beans. We ended up eating jerk wings with lots of extra stuff and being very full! Check in went smoothly and we headed back to the boat. Our once tranquil and lovely bay had suddenly turned into a rolling, bucking ocean ride! We decided to head to the bridge and check out if we could get through and into the sheltered inner bay. The ride over to the bridge was unreal – huge rolling waves that we surfed up and then down the other side and watched them crash into the rocky shoreline. We flew into the gas dock at the bridge and attempted to get dinghy gas in the huge waves as we smashed repeatedly into the side of the dock. The bridge was small and the next opening was at 5:30 so we decided to get back to the boat and make it through to the calm inner bay. As Rick was getting the gas I sat bouncing and watching other boats and dinghies smash there way back out through a wall of huge crashing waves. They disappeared from view completely in between each wave! It was something else to see and to hear the power of the waves as they crashed all around the narrow opening. Needless to say I was not looking forward to our trek back out into the giant waves to the boat! It really was a frightening sight to see. We put our life jackets on and grabbed the lines for a good hold, took a deep breath and plunged into the waves. It was a crazy and very scary ride back out the opening to the outer bay. On our way we passed a terrible scene that made me shudder and brought instant tears to my eyes. A small 35 foot sailboat had lost its holding and was smashing into these huge, black and jagged rocks on the shore. It looked so helpless and fragile as it repeatedly smashed against the rocks – it filled me with fear for us and made me think how vulnerable we all were and helpless to the harsh elements. A powerful tug boat was just heading to the rescue and they had pulled it off the rocks by the time we got back to our boat. I was shaking and will never forget the horrible crunching sound of that poor boat breaking up on the rocks. We radioed our friends on Lulu and we all agreed it was time to high tail it outta here right away! We decided to try and beat the clock and go to the other bridge around in Simpson Bay as Lulu’s draft was too big to go into the small bridge. The trip around the point was surreal – huge waves surging underneath us that smashed tremendously on shore off our port side. We took some pictures of Lulu ahead of us all but hidden behind crashing waves with water spraying off the crests in the incredible winds! We looked behind us and our friends Michele & Michele were following us to safer anchorages. We spent one night on the outside in Simpson Bay as we just missed the last bridge in. It was rough so next morning we all headed into the inner bay as soon as the bridge opened. Inside the lagoon was sight to behold. The bay is filled with mammoth mega yachts on all sides. These yachts are beyond description in their shear size. They dwarf every other boat around and seem to go on endlessly from bow to stern. On one side is all the mega sail boats and the other two sides is mega power yachts. These boats are easily 3-5 times our size and some even have helicopters on board! At night the lagoon actually looks like New York City all lit up when all the mast lights and deck lights are switched on in the mega yachts. Simpson Bay Lagoon was calm and crowded! We all found spots near the bottom of the airport. When the planes take off it seems like they might shear off the tops of our masts as they fly by. We are in a bay that is surrounded by peaked lush hills with steep roads cutting the green as they wind their way around. There is an invisible line that divides the Dutch side and the French side and as we drive around in the dinghy we pass from one side to the other. The French side reminds me of descriptions of the Riviera with decadent food and wine, beautiful people and nude beaches. The French are a flamboyant, pretty people who all seem to smoke and spent lots of money on wine, pastries and clothing. The Dutch side seems a little more low key with dockside bars and restaurants for more simple tastes. All the people are lovely and friendly and the food is great. I am addicted to fresh chocolate croissants! We went to a restaurant called Mai’s which was Vietnamese. It was on the upper floor of a building and was an incredible place filled with flowers, art work and exotic furniture accented by leopard prints and pillows. The owner Mai greets you at the door dressed in a coral red kimono, silky ink black hair and exotic eyes. She is lovely and explains all the items on the menu and makes recommendations. Each dish arrives decorated with giant tropical flowers and is a work of art on its own. We all love the food and it was a great night. Bali Lounge is another place with great ambiance. The theme is Thailand and the whole place looks as if it is a giant tent with billowing sheer curtains, low tables and benches with pillows to sit on. The wooden pieces are beautiful works of art with sculptures, masks and delicate iron lamps everywhere. Each table is tucked into its own corner hidden by soft warm colored fabrics and shadowy candle light. The music is hypnotic and a hint of incense is in the air. It was totally my kind of place! We and our friends have been trapped in the lagoon due to unusually high winds leading to unruly seas making it very hard to travel onto other bays or St. Barts. We have heard it is beautiful there and are disappointed we are not able to travel there this time. The Lagoon is calm still but the wind is howling and the gusts are up to 40 knots at times. It makes getting to shore in the dinghy a challenge. We have enjoyed checking out St. Martin/Sint Maarten and all its charms. We have had to spend a lot of time going back and forth to shore trying to get internet, our computer and satellite woes continue to plague us. We did find a treasure on our travels around the Lagoon. A megaplex Caribbean movie theatre! I haven’t been to a movie in 5 months and it was so exciting to go sit in the cool dark with my buttered popcorn and transport myself to another world. We miss seeing beautiful colored water surrounding us and swimming every day. The Lagoon is much too crowded and the water is a yucky brownish color that is uninviting to swim in! Ashley misses running on beaches, there are some incredible beaches here but they are all a dollar bus ride away and we are in the midst of projects and unable to spare the time to go. We have managed to get a lot done and we were even able to get the welding repaired on the davits so we can haul the dinghy up again. We are planning on leave the Lagoon this afternoon and anchor out in Marigot Bay as a good hop off point for our return journey to the BVI’s. We will leave tonight around midnight so we arrive in the BVI’s around noon. There will be some huge waves out there from all these high winds so me and Ashley are preparing for a rough trip back |