Cooks Tour: St Martin

Cooks Tour: 2 Aug 08

Friar's Bay: Full Moon Parties

Since there was little sign of any pigs, let alone hungry ones, we invested in a small inbuilt GPS, which connects to a computer & chart program. That should save the Cap’n having to get up (on the hour every hour) to take readings as we belt along between islands. It also means a better chance of staying on course…

Pont Levant

Meanwhile we hired a car to do a quick Cook’s tour of the island. Naturally we filled up with petrol and only used a quarter…..and that was driving around the island at least 4 or 5 times to use up as much “gas” as possible. We stopped when we felt giddy!  Using Lonely Planet “highlights” for our guide, some of the areas we explored were:

Grand Case: a quaint French village around a nice bay. We wished we had time to anchor but c’est la vie! Grand Case is renowned for its classic French restaurants and local barbeques. Cap’n Salt finally got his lobster and Hollywood chose a lobster pizza.

Orient Beach: a beautiful stretch of beach ringed by resorts, warm water, jet skis and colourful deck chairs – very European. Nearby, is the Islet Pinel (a picturesque, low key resort) and Anse Marcel, a high brow marina complex. 

Boys fishing off canal

Pic Paradis: the Island’s highest point. As there was walking involved, Hollywood baulked. Instead we drove down a pretty country drive (all 2km of it) to the village of Colombier, which gave us a glimpse of rural life, pre-tourist. I’m sure the locals thought we’d totally lost it!

Now, how do you milk gas tanks?

Nightlife. Hollywood was itching to see “Bliss”, the tres chic nightclub. As it didn’t open until 11pm, his dowdy parents made his life a misery…as usual.

Otherwise, we have become completely familiar with supermarkets, hardware stores and chandleries...plus the odd bakery or two!!

Too Many Hallelujahs

Hallelujah Chorus: 22 Jul - 6 Aug 08

Rainbow over TOBY

Our self-steering gear was on order and we needed a quiet dock for work and to add seemingly another million other boatie things to WJ3 – does it ever stop? Time Out Boat Yard is tucked away near Marigot Bay Pont Levant (lifting bridge) and is home to regular yachting folk and their “character” boats. The Cap’n is in his element. So here we sit and wait and wait and wait…. Still no self steering. In the meantime, we have the canvas lady coming, the GPS installer over and a welder to construct our stainless steel dodger frame. 

WJ3 at TOBY

Our families however, may be pleased to know that we have unwittingly been doing some good for our spiritual souls! We are docked directly opposite a large stadium and for the last 6 nights (yes – six long nights) we have been privy to soul saving religious gatherings….  enthusiastic music, impassioned ministers and receptive crowds.  All at ear-splitting levels. Of course, it’s all in French but we do know that demons have been mentioned (many times) and “hallelujah” often repeated. (Is this similar to the Pope’s recent visit to Randwick I wonder?

Guard Iguana

Every boat seems to have a dog onboard - in a strict ratio. The smaller the boat the bigger the dog! These dogs seem to relish their life and appear used to limited “yard” space. Also they are quite adept at travelling in dinghies. However, they are generally not friendly – unless of course, it’s my French accent that’s putting them off? The nearby petrol station had 2 huuuge iguanas as guards - a novel approach and they certainly kept me away. But I just loved their bright green uniforms and spikey haircuts though - oh so chic & so french! 

One of the joys of being dockside is the facilities. Here at Toby’s, we have our laundry & loos in a converted 20 foot shipping container. And as we forgot to purchase shower tokens on Friday, we will not be using them until Monday. Phew!

Internet at TOBY's

Access to the internet has been the bane of our life aboard; hence painfully slow blogging efforts. As with all things, connection is never easy. It seems that WIFI provided at most marinas is very much influenced by electronic gear – so stay away from those superyachts, charter craft and all other craft. We found a great internet café in Marigot, only to have them take holidays for the “season”. So here we sit, perched on old desk chairs with a battered chest freezer as a desk on the boatyard office veranda (with loads of mozzies and a few yard dogs for unwilling company). Finally – a connection be it ever so humble! It’s just taken 2½ hours to retrieve security updates & forget uploading photos…

Joyeux Anniversaire!

Happy Birthday, Cap’n: another year!

Happy Birthday

The Dutch seem to know about business - it’s booming. Phillipsburg, the Capital of Dutch Sint Maarten, is also port of call to as many as 4 Caribbean cruise ships at a time! It is therefore home to lots more shops selling duty free goods, loads of casinos (if passengers miss those on board) and wall-to-wall people shopping for bargains.

Just relaxing & showing off

In honour of our Captain’s birthday, we decided to spare no expense. Looking very suave with his stylish French haircut, the Cap’n declared a hankering for lobster (langoustes).  So Hollywood hailed a local minibus ($2 fare) to take us over to Phillipsburg. We chose a rather chic outdoor setting (Holland House Hotel) with views of Groot Baai but once again, our birthday boy was pipped at the post. The previous day’s cruise shipmates had depleted lobster stocks - he’d have to wait.  Again…

The crew rebelled. There would be no work today! So on pleasure bent, the lads hired a couple of motorised “rollers” for a spin down the boardwalk. Luckily, we had a cruise ship free day so there was room to move, and no obligation for the boys to go slowly or wear funny blue hard hats (and hairnets!!). Later, to recover, we had French crepes in Old Street before bussing on over to Maho Beach to watch the sunset. 

Jet Blast Chickens

Maho Beach is very close to the international airport. Signs near the beach advise patrons that “low flying and departing aircraft blast can cause physical injury“. Locals and tourists alike seem to have made rather a sport of getting blown about in the sandstorm. Fortunately, very few jumbos fly in! 

Relaxing Sundowners

From the good ship WJ3’s Crew and Galley Slave – “Nous te souhaitons un joyeux anniversaire!!!" Not forgetting birthday wishes to Tree Boy in Aus!!!

Sun Bronzed Aussies

Seeking Refuge: 15-22 Jul 08

The Cap’n got us safely back to Marigot (an early start to beat the rat race – great!) only to be given the anchorage scuttlebutt. Wild winds; strong gusts were forecast in coming days. So under the narrow lifting bridge on the French side, we sailed into Simpson Bay Lagoon. Free from ocean swell, strong gusts and ferry chop, we all slept well that night.

Sunset over Simpson Bay Lagoon

New BBQ & BW cooks!

The Lagoon is about 12 square miles of landlocked water. Cap’n Speedy found us a nice spot in the lee of Mount Fortune (known locally as Witches Tit). Goats seems plastered to its steep & rocky slopes. Hollywood had the wake board out even faster than he could say “What’s for lunch?”. Only swimming was out; sightings had been reported of bronze whalers. Or maybe it was just bronzed Aussies?

Scurfing in the Lagoon

Simpson Bay Lagoon is a yachties mecca. Chandleries and yacht “stuff” shops crowd its shores and small inflatable boats (caribes) buzz about like blowflies in summer. I think there is rather a lot of the other kind of Caribs about too! The Lagoon is shared by both Dutch and French. It’s hard to know where the beginning/end is…no one seems to care much UNLESS you sail your big boat “over the line”.

Much to our amazement we had pulled up alongside more Aussies. Jimmy, Shez and their 4 kids, who have been here since baby number 4 was born (onboard!) more than 10 months ago. All on a 50 foot yacht. Now that’s pioneering spirit!

Bless those Saints

Marigot swings Bastille: 11-15 Jul 08

Fort Louis, St Martin

We arrived in Marigot Bay just in time to help St Martin prepare for Bastille Day (14 Jul). The Port Authorities asked us to up-anchor and move into the commercial port area, Port de Glaisbay, just north of a recently constructed Marina Fort St Louis as fireworks had been planned from a nearby floating platform. As we negotiated our way into a sheltered anchorage we heard a rousing “oi”. Andy (from Melbourne) and Lisa waved an Aussie flag back at us from their yacht, lovingly referred to as “fat boy”. 

Go Aussie!!

We were also treated to a day long concert; a great day for “limin'” like locals - eating too much, drinking too much and chatting too much. The ear-splitting music was excellent - our first exposure to “steel drums”. Later that evening, local rap dancers had the crowd fuelled. Dance and music is very much part of the culture here.

These young guys played for hours

Marigot is, on a normal day, very quaint; very French. It’s quite laid back; shops are closed for lunch from 12noon to 3pm. Of course they 're full of expensive clothing, jewellery (Yvonne, Colombian emeralds?) although I understand that being a duty free port, prices are exceptional. Of course, the other thing is great patisseries selling the most wonderful lemon tarts (reminding me of the UTS French café, girls!!) and real coffee. “Dat is koffie, mon”; I fully agree with wisdoms written inside my cup.

Local Races

Of course one does have to be peeved by all the nice looking French girls – very stylish and as skinny as the baguettes they all have under their arms! How do they do it? I’ve seen those custard slices…