Friday, April 29, 2011

Roughing It

The anchorages north and east of St. Martin have been extremely uncomfortable!  We've learned how to "tuck into" a cove to reduce the exposure to excessive wind and swell.  Nevertheless, in the past four days, we've spent some very rough nights on board without being driven to seasickness, thank goodness.  The Captain and I are ready for a peaceful night's rest. 
 
Look how tired I am trying to rest on a rock!
 
Hiked around Tintamare, an out island that is part of St. Martin's
 Nature Reserve. (This is not our boat.)
 
The surf at Orient Bay anchorage never calmed down.
  Our sorties ashore for sunning and lunch at the famed Club Orient
provided much needed respite. (Don't fret-we sat on our beach towels.)
 
Ilet Pinel, another out island in the Nature Reserve,
 seemed promising for a quiet night, mais non.
 It did have a great nature hike, though, and the warmest water!



Monday, April 25, 2011

Another Day...Another Bay

NOT!
We've already spent three times as many days in St. Martin as we originally planned and we haven't checked in to any bays on the Dutch side yet!  The anchorages on the western side have been quite comfortable and we've repeatedly been ever so gently swayed into staying put for just one or two or three more nights.

Awesome sunset, but no Full Moon Party.
Friar's Bay was advertised as the place to be for Full Moon Celebrations.  So, of course, we went out of duty to determine if the experience would be worth repeating with our future visitors.  Let me clarify- we went to Friar's Bay on the night of the April Full Moon; however, we fell sound asleep while waiting for the party to start...  It began around midnight and this crew was too exhausted to go ashore.  (Perhaps if we get some younger visitors to motivate us, we'll go sometime in the coming months.)


Day Trippers
Happy Bay has an extraordinary beach that is secluded and is clothing optional.  It is only accessible by boat, although not suitable for an overnight stay.  Happy Beach was frequented by Capt. Dan and his mate via the dinghy whilst safely anchored in Grand Case or Friar's Bay. Some days it got quite busy with day tripper vessels filled with cruise ship passengers on excursion.  Capt. Dan was jokingly dubbed "The Mayor of Happy Beach" because he was often ready to assist other au naturel sun worshippers with information about the beach or amenities in the towns along the eastern coast of the island.  

Monday, April 18, 2011

Baie de Grand Case-St. Martin

Enjoyed a HUGE rum laced strawberry dessert here.
…is quite picturesque with its brightly colored restaurants and resorts that frame a long stretch of velvety soft sand.  We came in time for the Tuesday night street party and stayed for a week, wandering a little here and there every day and buying a lot of freshly baked bread.

I ATE A SKATE
Strolling along the narrow main street in Grand Case, one can review every restaurant’s menu and then decide on a suitable dining destination.  For us it was simple- only La Villa’s entre’ offerings caught my attention, as they had “skate wing” listed on the specials of the day board.  I was intriguedafter reading in our Fish of the Atlantic book that skate, a ray type sea creature, was fished commercially, yet I’d never seen it anywhere.  How could I resist this opportunity?  We went, I ate skate, and I’m pleased to report that it had the texture and taste of flakey fish and, yes, I would order it again.   








B.Y.O. PALM SUNDAY
The 8:30 am Mass at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Grand Case was perfect for us.  We had been listening to it toll the daytime hours and half hours since we arrived and looked forward to attending there on Palm Sunday.  But we didn’t know we were supposed to bring our own palms to be blessed before Mass began.  Many parishioners arrived with a bouquet of palm fronds, so I thought maybe they’d share… No such luck.

St. Mary Star of the Sea shares its pastor with St. Martin in Marigot AND the parish in the French Quarter that I suspect we’ll attend on Easter Sunday.  The celebration of the Mass here was quite different, as it was said in English at least 95% of the time.


Ready to eat a skate.


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Wind Power

Our solar panels have been energizing our house batteries well since we installed them last fall. Bright sunny days are routine here and solar is perfect for our daytime needs.  But many a night we’ve listened to strong breezes pulse through the rigging and decided to augment our solar system with a wind generator.  If a cruiser needs any substantial work done on his boat, St. Martin is the best place location because of its many well-stocked chandleries, excellent machine shops, haul-out yards, mechanics, and duty free pricing.

We learned that for the size of our solar panels plus the expected wind power, our house battery bank was undersized.  Getting the set to Exit Strategy was not difficult task.  Lifting the batteries out of the dinghy and into the boat was.  Those little battery lifting straps are handy enough, but they’re not designed to counter balance when the handler is being rocked about by rough currents.  When I saw how hard it was for Capt. Dan to get the first battery safely onto the boat, I suggested, “Should I get a duffle bag for you to put them in?”  The Captain’s response was heatedly negative.  The very next battery slipped off the lifting strap and down about nine feet to the bottom of the bay.  *@#^%! (The Captain’s American-French continued.)  Then he quickly donned his mask and fins to search for his lost treasure, as the current was making ES dance about on her anchor.  Finally surfacing he demanded, “Get me the bag and a rope!”  The rest of the batteries were transferred onto the boat without incident safely within the duffle, dried meticulously, and expertly installed by the ever masterful handyman Dan.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Baie de Marigot- French St. Martin Landmarks


Baie de Marigot is a rather large, wide opened port and is the main city on the lovely, very French side of St. Martin. We settled here for over a week because of its many offerings, such as the market square, gourmet restaurants with reasonable prices, interesting historical sites, and most importantly its relatively close proximity to (you guessed it) marine chandleries.
Baie de Marigot in foreground;
 Witch's Tit near top left. 

Witch's Tit
…is a landmark along St. Martin’s Simpson Lagoon that resembles, well, exactly what one would imagine a witch's tit to look like.  Although unlit, it stands prominent (some may say perky) at night and we used it to navigate the few miles back to our vessel after a fabulous dinner (and wifi session) one night at Mario’s Tapas on the Dutch side.

Fort Louis
…was strategically built on top of a steep point overlooking Marigot Bay.  From that vantage the French could easily ward off multiple attempts by the British to take over the island.


Marina Fort Louis
...is a beautiful new marina in Marigot where we docked for the day to aid our installation of a wind turbine.  We had to dock Mediterrainean style for the first time with lines stern to and a mooring line at the bow.  This was also where I learned that French men have no qualms about using the women's room when the men's room stalls are full.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

SACRE BLEU!

While wandering around the the heart of Marigot, the capital of St. Martin (French), we happened upon a Catholic Church.  The 6:30 pm Saturday Mass fit our schedule, so after an early grilled lobster dinner on the boat, we returned to St. Martin's Church for the evening Mass.  We shouldn't have been surprised, but were when 98% of the service was in FRENCH.  (I was able to figure out which gospel was read because I understood a few of the main words of the parable.)