We have
been in St. Martin since the 10th of March. We had to get here in time for our visit with
Jim Fagan. This will be his third visit
during his spring break from school teaching.
He has been twice to George Town, Great Exuma – now for something
different! We always have a great time
when he is here.
This visit
with Jim was a lot of fun. We sailed
around the northern portion of the island and snorkeled in several spots. We went to Grand Case for the Tuesday night
closing of the streets for a party. Had
fun! No ribs, though – the waitress
FORGOT us!!!! GRRRRR. A little shopping and visiting with the Blue
Moon crew. Blue Moon is a boat that is
heading to Australia in a short time with one of Jim’s family friends on
board. They have had trouble getting all
the pieces sorted out with the purchase of the boat and documentation to get
underway. Jim, come back any time – we
really enjoy your visits! WHO KNOWS
where we will be next year at your spring break!?!?!
The lagoon
at St. Martin must have tentacles like an octopus because once we get in here,
we can’t leave! Really, it is the
convenience of being able to dinghy over to the French OR the Dutch side any
time you like. We went to a local shop
and rented a modem while we are here to get our income taxes filed in a secure
fashion. Those were done on the same day
and we have a whole week of unlimited internet – woo hoo!!
Anyway, we
are trying to wait on our friends on Celtic Rover to come over from the BVI’s
so we can travel south with them. We
have been travelling with them for the past year – after we met in Turks and
Caicos Islands last March. They assure
us they are waiting and will come with the next weather window. If they don’t hurry, we will have to stop and
apply varnish. We vowed to stop in six
months no matter where we are and put two more coats of varnish on the entire
boat – the time period is up on the 15th.
This
summer’s project is to make all new canvas bimini and dodger for the boat. It is hard to believe that the current canvas
is almost four years old! In the
meantime, we pick up occasional sewing and/or repairing jobs for folks and that
helps put $$ back into the sailing kitty.
We are also looking at the possibility of installing a water maker
sometime in the future.
It is
interesting here in the Caribbean. Many
of the boats here in Simpson Bay Lagoon are among the same ones that we met
while we were in Grenada. Some, we have
met, are here only for the winter months and put the boat “on the hard” and go
back somewhere for the summer months. It
is fun reuniting with old friends and making new acquaintances
Well gang,
we have to turn the modem in tomorrow so contact is back to intermittent. I tried to buy SKYPE minutes to call my dad but
I don’t trust the websites to get the payment done so no luck. Unfortunately, my dad doesn’t use the
internet so I have to call him – and he is deaf as thunder so I have to be
somewhere so I can yell into the phone so he can hear me. Perhaps I will have to call him on my cell phone before we leave cell phone coverage. Once we get to Grenada, I have a sim card for a cheap phone we bought and a calling card.
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| Maltese Falcon - computer trimmed sailing |
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| Panorama of Marigot, (French side) St. Martin |
