Happy New Year!
More of St Martin
Since it was over the holidays we spent a long time in St Martin. Here are a few of the highlights….
Grand Case: Billed as the food capitol of St Martin it did not disappoint! We had dinner at the lolos (small outdoor bbq places) and each night were left licking our plates! We felt that the atmosphere in Grand Case was more fun than Marigot as there were more people out and about. We went to a Sunday afternoon beach party with a live band and ended up meeting some nice folks. One lady was cruising the Caribbean 7 years ago, came to St Martin and got off the boat to stay!
Grand Case
Stanley watching me swim.
Orient Bay: A long beautiful sandy beach. We saw tons of people playing in the surf and kite boarding. There is also a nudist section but I wouldn’t recommend it…shudder.
Chandlery Review: Budget Marine – Sint Maarten
| Expertise: |  (5 / 5) |
| Selection: |  (4.5 / 5) |
| Customer Service: | (5 / 5) |
| Value: |  (4 / 5) |
| Average: |  (4.6 / 5) |
The Sint Maarten Budget Marine is their flagship store and is likely one of the best stocked chandleries I have been in and the employees will go out of their way to make sure you’re happy.
I wandered in just to check things out and knock a few items off my perpetual boat repair shopping list. Lately we have been hard on dinghy items so we needed all new dinghy nav lights, an outboard hoist strap, dinghy wheels, UV thread and grommets. Out of my list we weren’t able to get an outboard hoist strap large enough for our 20hp Honda (though they do have the parts to repair our old one) and they did not have UV thread for some of Diana’s sewing projects. I did spend a significant amount of time just wandering and everything was well stocked and well organized. It was also easy to find folks to answer questions or point you in the right direction.
My second visit is what has warranted this review. I was troubleshooting our wind instruments in the morning. . . an ongoing saga. . . and was 90% sure the mast head wind vane was faulty. I wandered down with my likely faulty wind vane and was not able to get a bench test to validate my findings but they did understand my problem and helped me in the way they could. They did not have a wind vane alone in stock, but they pulled one out of a kit and ordered another to replace in that said kit. So I got to walk away with the part I needed the same day and they also offered to return if it did not resolve my issue! I really thanked the guy that was helping me and his response was; ‘We just need to make sure folks leave here satisfied, even if it means a bit more work on our part”. That is ludicrous!
This is the place to grab your spares, stock up and replace all those faulty items when headed up or down island. Thank you Lawrence, your customer service today made my week. So far all is well with our wind instruments now that the new wind vane is installed on the mast!
Ze Plane! Ze Plane!
One of the biggest attractions on St Martin is the airport. We had seen an episode on the travel channel about crazy airports and this one had ranked in the top 10! So, in our first few days on St Martin we caught a bus over to the airport check it out.
It did not disappoint! The planes come in over this tiny beach and come down just after having reached land. There is a small fence between the road and the airport and people stand there waiting to be blown by the jet blast. I wish we could say that we were too smart to try it but curiosity got the better of us!
There are two bars where you can sit, enjoy a cold beverage and watch the double show of the big planes coming in and the people standing at the fence getting blown around. It made for an enjoyable afternoon!
Ryan watches as one of the smaller planes comes in.
Here she comes! Did I mention how low they get?
Seems pretty clear to me….
But we laugh at danger!
One of the big ones coming in.
Getting closer!
It looks like you could reach up and touch it!
People feeling the blast! Guess they’re not any smarter than we are!
Enjoying the show
A fun couple from Canada we enjoyed our afternoon with.
The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change
We have always reserved the right to change our minds and I believe it is a valuable skill to be able roll with life and readjust as necessary. With that said, we are revamping our itinerary for our trip! We had been planning since we began to return to the West Coast and sail triumphantly into San Francisco Bay. With more miles and knowledge under our belt that is seeming less likely. To follow that path we would have to travel 3000 miles from Panama to San Diego (and remember we go about 6 miles per hour!) into the wind and waves. This, while not dangerous, is very uncomfortable and we would basically spend a large portion of our trip “beating ourselves up.” And, we don’t want our boat impounded by Mexico as they have been doing to foreign vessels the last couple months. Since it is not the intent of this trip to wipe ourselves out or to lose our boat we have decided that we will head back up the US East Coast this summer and use our time to better ourselves (Ryan wants to earn his Captain’s license and I would like to learn Spanish and improve in other skills). Our new itinerary is up with our current thoughts.
Hello St Martin!
After our restful and relaxing time in Anguilla we headed over to St Martin / Sint Maarten. The French and Dutch share the island which is kinda cool but also somewhat frustrating when on a boat. It meant that if we were going to go to anchorages on both sides we’d have to check in and out of customs and deal with clearing Stanley through two countries! So, we decided that we would go into the French side and then just taxi and use buses to get around the island.
Our first stop after a nice ride over was Marigot Bay. We found a great spot to drop the hook that was convenient to town and dinghy distance from the lagoon which is in the middle of the island.
Downtown Marigot with Ft Louis above.
Marigot as a town was okay, it had some fun shopping and a few restaurants but seemed to shut down every day after the cruise ship folks left back to their boat. It did have Ft Louis above it which gave excellent views of the harbor and the island.
View of Marigot Bay from the Fort.
View out over town.
For Christmas we moved into the Marina Ft Louis and treated ourselves to some calm and air conditioning! We got the boat decorated and it even started to feel a little bit festive! We kept up the tradition of gorging ourselves Christmas morning having a huge breakfast with cinnamon rolls as dessert! We had even been able to do some shopping and had a few presents for each other.
Getting in the Christmas spirit!
For Christmas dinner we went out with our friends from Te Mana who had Kirk’s parents visiting as well. It was a delicious dinner with great company and all in all we enjoyed our Christmas.
A lovely sunset on Christmas.
Heather and Kirk from Te Mana.
Enjoying our dinner.
First time med mooring with winds 20-30 and yep it was a bit of a fiasco.
Anguilla – The friendliest island in the Caribbean!
After we left the BVI we had a 15 hour overnight voyage against the wind and currents to Anguilla. I had actually believed that once we got down here from Virginia all the hard sailing was over! At least our friends on Te Mana were out there with us and we were able to break up some of the monotony by chatting with them over VHF on the way. So, after getting beat up all night we arrived in Anguilla (pronounced Ang- gwilla) at 8am relieved and excited to be somewhere new!
Te Mana at anchor in Road Bay, Anguilla.
Our first view of Anguilla. It is pretty flat with lots of beaches.
We relaxed our first day there and got in some sleep after being up most of the night, but the next day we wanted to explore! We rented a car with Te Mana (Kirk, Heather and Russell) and set out on our journey. Our first stop was unfortunately the clinic where Kirk was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot! Luckily the health care was first rate on Anguilla and he got a foot brace, some crutches and medications and we were sent on our way!
The island is small enough that we probably drove on every single road as we traveled around. Our first stop was lunch at Shoal Bay which was billed as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It was quite nice and we enjoyed our lunch and a swim in the sea. Ryan drove us around and they drive on the wrong side of the road there! Luckily there was only one near miss!
Ryan at the wheel.
Russell and Heather. Russell enjoying his coconut while we’re waiting for our lunch.
Kirk and Russell
The water here is gorgeous!
Russell is part fish and part monkey!
View of the gorgeous beach.
We agreed that this beach is prettier than the one in Anegada BVI which was previously our favorite.
Does anyone else think Ryan needs a haircut?
Kirk broke his foot but was able to make it around on crutches!
We next went and visited one of the fancy resorts on the island, the CuisinArt, which was quite nice (but as we realized later in the week a total dump compared to the Viceroy). 🙂
Right down the beach from the CuisinArt is Dune’s Preserve the home of the famous Anguillan musician Bankie Banx who according to one article we read about him is as famous for spreading his seed as his music! We were lucky that Bankie was in attendance and got our picture with him!
At the CuisinArt
View of the long pool.
Looking toward St Martin
Villas at the CuisinArt.
Dune Preserve which has a tree house vibe.
The famous Bankie Banx. He was not performing while we were there but serving up drinks (and having a few himself). 😉
Outside of the Dune Preserve.
We finished off our day exploring with an attempt to catch the sunset (fail) and a mexican dinner (win). What a nice day on a pretty sweet island.
Couldn’t quite get the sunset.
Russell showing off his acrobatics….if he wanted he could have a career in the circus!
The next day Te Mana left to head to St Martin, but not before we got this awesome photo of their boat beneath a rainbow!
Now just Ryan and I we needed to rent a car again to take Stanley to the vet to get his health certificate. All countries require a health certificate to let the dog in although I don’t understand why anyone would be traveling with a sick rabid dog…
Anyway, taking advantage of the car we drove around the island some more to see some of the places we missed the first time. We had an awesome lunch in Meads Bay. I had super fresh fish that was amazing and Ryan had a cuban sandwich that he sucked down in record time. 🙂 After that we visited the Viceroy resort which was pretty posh, but it better be for $800 a night!!! We ended up finishing our day listening to music at the Pumphouse, a local restaurant that had a fun mix of locals and tourists. Everyone we met as we went around the island were extremely friendly and nice. It really is the island of happy people.
Straw Hat restaurant in Meads Bay.
Beach at Meads Bay
Ryan slightly exasperated at having yet another picture taken.
First views of the Viceroy.
Viceroy villas.
Viceroy bar.
Lastly, here are some photos of our boat at anchor in Road Bay Anguilla. And some of the sights in Road Bay. This is a place that we would love to go back to.
Adding Reviews to Our Blog
Diana and I use reviews of restaurants, marinas, bars, chandleries and other services all the time, but I don’t believe we contribute enough of our own opinion. So feeling guilty I added 57 reviews to ActiveCaptain.com of anchorages, marinas and mooring balls that will hopefully help out other cruisers when deciding on a place to stay; it’s been very valuable to us over our trip.
Right now I have a list of about 50 restaurants and bars that I will be making comments on, unfortunately I can’t remember what exactly I ate at most, but do at least remember the overall experience. All places are within easy access of visiting cruisers so hopefully it will be a bit of an asset for folks who stumble upon the website. I’ll also be adding reviews of chandleries and other marine related services. I’ll also likely be sticking these on Yelp too, but I like them first on our own website as it adds a bit more to our journal.
I’ve got some work to do!
Spent the day with Te Mana driving around Anguilla on the wrong side of the road. Us and the car came out mostly unscathed.