Friday, May 4, 2012
Charlie returned from his trip to Chattanooga to visit with his Mom. Carl Beckmann and Bob Kelley had helped me provision the boat for the trip back to Charleston, SC. We had an appointment with Customs at 10a.m. the next morning. We had downloaded the latest weather forecast. It looked good to go.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
We had a big breakfast, cleared out at Customs, called Commander's Weather, and left our slip for the fuel dock where we filled up both tanks and 3 jerry cans. We departed Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas at 1220. We motored around St. Thomas and northward beyond the BVI where we put up the main and the jib and turned the motor off. We sailed all night under a beautiful full moon until 1115 the next morning. The engine came back on because the wind had died. We motor sailed until 1717 when we were able to sail again. This lasted until Sunday night at 2212 when the wind dropped below 10 knots. We had to motorsail most of the day because winds were under 6 knots. We were able to sail for a while (6 hours) from 1646-2208 on Sunday. We were proceeding east of the Turks and Caicos and the lower Bahama Islands.
Monday-Friday May 7-11, 2012
We had to motor sail due to light winds usually under 5 knots until Thursday morning. We had calculated our fuel usage and realized we needed to refuel. We contemplated going into Marsh Harbor in The Abacos but we could't be sure we would get there before dark, so we diverted to Cape Eleuthera Marina at Powell Point on Eleuthera Island. We went between Cat Island, Little San Salvador and Eleuthera Island. We were able to sail part of this (11 hours) and we arrived at Cape Eleuthera at 0930. We proceeded to the fuel dock where we refueled and then to a slip. We ate lunch and dinner on land. I was able to do 3 loads of laundry while we were there. We were also able to get a NOAA weather update and called Commander's Weather for their forecast. They all said the weather was unsetteld for Friday. Saturday going north would be better. They recommended we head up the Providence Channels to the Gulf Stream instead of East of the Abacos.
Saturday-Tuesday, May 13-16, 2012
We left Cape Eleuthera Marina at 0845 after a blocked head scare which was resolved quickly, thank goodness! We proceeded west to the cut between Ship Channel Cay and Beacon Cay on the north end of the Exuma Islands. Then we sailed north to Fleeming Cut and on into the NE Providence Channel . It was smooth sailing on a beam reach. The winds were in the 18-21 knot range. We had a second reef in the mail sail. We headed for Sandy Point on Grand Bahama Island and then to Freeport in the NW Providence Channel. From there we headed for the Gulf Stream . We had a following sea and swells of 5-8 feet. The generator was not recharging the batteries sufficiently enough so we turned on the engine to help. It also helped smooth out the rolling due to the swells. Sunday afternoon we shook out one reef and turned the engine off until the wind dropped to under 8 knots Monday morning. The wind shifted to directly on our stern so we dropped both sails to prevent flogging. We motored the rest of Monday until dawn on Tuesday. We put both sails up but continued to motorsail due to low wind under 10 knots. The current in the Gulf Stream was 3.5 knots in the southern end and was never below 1.9 knots the whole way. We exited it about Brunswick, GA.
We arrived at the Charleston Channel at Tuesday evening 1810 where we contended with three big container ships. We had called ahead for a slip at the Charleston Harbor Marina, but the tide was running too strong by the time we would have entered the marina safely. We instead anchored just west of Fort Johnson in Charleston Harbor. We had a leisurely cocktail hour and dinner.
Wednesday, May 17, 2012
We proceeded to the Charleston Harbor Marina early 0625 and were in the slip and tied up by 0730. Then we had to wait for Customs personnel to arrive to check us in. There was some mix up about who and where we were so he did not arrive until 1030. We had called downtown but he came from the airport and the messages were not correctly forwarded. Liz Beckmann waited along with us and then she took Carl and Bob Kelley home. Our friends the Beckers came to give us a ride home to retrieve our SUV to unload the boat. We and "Blue Horizon" were now safely HOME.
Blue Horizon
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Heading Home to Charleston
Friday, May 4, 2012
Charlie has returned from his quick trip to Chattanooga to see his 97 year old mother who recently had a fall and a stroke. Our two friends who are going to help us sail the boat directly to Charleston are on the boat and we provisioned the boat this morning. They are Carl Beckmann and Bob Kelley without whom we could not do this. After checking out with customs and refueling the boat tomorrow, we will take off for the 9-10 day trip back to Charleston. We will first head for the Turks and Caicos area them travel northward and east of the Southern Bahama Islands, the Exumas and Eluetheria and the Abacos after which we head northwest for Charleston.
Charlie has returned from his quick trip to Chattanooga to see his 97 year old mother who recently had a fall and a stroke. Our two friends who are going to help us sail the boat directly to Charleston are on the boat and we provisioned the boat this morning. They are Carl Beckmann and Bob Kelley without whom we could not do this. After checking out with customs and refueling the boat tomorrow, we will take off for the 9-10 day trip back to Charleston. We will first head for the Turks and Caicos area them travel northward and east of the Southern Bahama Islands, the Exumas and Eluetheria and the Abacos after which we head northwest for Charleston.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
St Thomas and St. John, American Virgin Islands
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Our sail from St. Martin lasted from 1510 (3:10p.m.) on 4/21/12 until 1125 of the morning of 4/22/12. The wind direction ranged from 90 to 150 degrees. As the wind went more SE it became harder to prevent jibing even with our boom break. The wave action also promoted jibing. Charlie and I stood 3 hour watches so we each did get some sleep. We kept going back and forth across our course line to help prevent jibing. During the night, the foot of the jib had come loose due to a lost shackle. Charlie tried to fix it but the waves were too rough. Most of the way the wind was variable from 8-15; but eventually, the wind stayed below 10 knots, so we dropped the sail and motored. It was not a comfortable ride, but we arrived at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. We had called ahead and reserved space at the IGY Yacht Haven Grande Marina. We tied up, cleaned up, went ashore to check into customs. After that, we found a place for lunch. Then it was back to the boat and it was early to bed to catch up on sleep.
Monday, April 23, 2012
While checking out at St. Martin, we saw Stan Nicholas, who years ago was in the slip next to us at Charleston Harbor Marina before moving to the Virgin Islands. He now lives on St .John and has built two villas on St. Thomas. He and wife Kathy have sold their boat but he captains and manages a motor yacht out of St. Thomas. He gave us a contact for our refrigerator compressor repair. We called the company, Reefer Co, just after 8a.m. and they had a very competent person out at our boat by 9:15. The problem ended up being a burned up wire connection which she replaced. She checked our freon levels and said everything else was fine. We fired up the refrigerator/freezer to bring the temperatures back where they needed to be. The freezer actually was only up to +2 degrees so it had been doing very well. The refrigerator was up to 60 degrees.
Unfortunately less than an hour later the power at the dock went off. Evidently St. Thomas has a huge problem with rolling brownouts. The power was out until sometime late at night. The marina has a large generator for much of the dock but not for the area where we are docked. We used our small generator to cool down the refrigerator/freezer.
Charlie and I took a taxi to Crown Bay Marina area to buy some supplies from their Chandlery. The one at the Yacht Haven Marina was a joke...very few marine items. The handle for the lid to the freezer had broken off and we needed some shackles to fix the jib. We had lunch there at Tickles, their restaurant. We finally found a taxi to take us back to Yacht Haven. while Charlie went back to the boat to fix the jib and freezer handle, I spent the rest of the day finding out about the grocery stores. There is a large Pueblo grocery within walking distance. There is also another smaller store which caters to vegetarian customers. I finally found out where the laundramat was behind some nearby buildings. We were expecting our daughter Beth from Oregon to arrive the next evening.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Electricity on the dock came on overnight but was off again at 7:32 a.m. Charlie finished fixing items on the boat while I spent most of the day doing laundry. I did 4 loads of sheets, towels, clothing in the morning. After lunch with Charlie at one of the restaurants at the marina I took our rugs to the laundramat to wash. It is a hot and humid day. The electricity evidently goes off and on in different places throughout the city. The laundramat had it's own generator. Last Christmas, St Thomas was without water for two weeks. It sounds more like Iraq than an part of the US. We made up the V berth for Beth to sleep in. She arrived via taxi about 9:45p.m.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Beth slept late. She and I went to the two grocery stores to buy groceries for us and her. She is a vegan so she has different needs than we do. The small speciality food store had many items she could use. We ate a pizza at the Fat Turtle restaurant at the Marina area. This Marina caters to very large boats and has a cruise ship dock as well. The cruise ship dock can hold three ships. There is a shopping mall adjacent to it and the Marina area. The Marina area has upscale shops and several restaurants. and a coffeeshop. Charlie worked on the shower sump pump which is not working. He discovered that hose was kinked.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Beth and I walked downtown to Charlotte Amalie. St. Thomas is in the middle of Carnival which they celebrate or 10 days. The juvet had been going on. I think it started at 4a.m. and went until just after noon. It looked like a mix of Madis Gras and State Fair with costumes and a rides amid a lot of drinking and dancing in blocked off streets. They have huge speakers on 18 wheeler flatbed trucks on which competing bands play. These trucks drive back and forth from downtown to out near the marina playing their loud music. There were also some decorated floats on flatbed trucks. Beth and I walked around looking at the historical sights of Charlotte Amalie: Bluebeard's Castle, 99 Steps built by the Danish, Old hotels and churches and a Jewish Synagog which had sand on its floor. We spent about 3 hours walking up and down the hills of Charlotte Amalie. Beth bought a couple of items in the market area. There is a nice waterfront walk from the Cruise Ship dock through the Marina area to downtown Charlotte Amalie. It is about a 2 mile walk. We can see the pretty city lights from where we are docked. Charlie stayed on the boat fixing the sump pump again, blowing out a hose and sand papering all the ground contacts. He greased the bearings on the propeller shaft. He also took a taxi ride west of Crown Bay to get one of our propane tanks filled. We ate dinner at the Mideastern Cafe in the marina area. It had a number of vegetarian items on its menu.
Friday, April, 27, 2012
Charlie, Beth and I took a Safari Taxi to the Charlotte Amalie ferry dock to catch the ferry to St. John's. Unfortunately, the taxi took us to the wrong ferry dock so we had to walk back almost half the distance to the St. John's Ferry area. It was not running today because one of the boats had broken down and the person who fixes it was in Tortola, BVI. A taxi driver told us this and then drove us to Red Hook where another ferry goes to St. John. The first taxi cost us $2.00 each and the second cost us $10 each. The Safari taxis have a yellow taxi sign and only go on the main roads. They are open air taxis seating about 15--20 passengers. They look like they are a converted pick-up truck with seats added. Usually the locals ride them and they cost either $1 -2 depending on how far you ride.
We took the Red Hook Ferry to Cruz Bay on St. John's From Red Hook, it only takes about 20 minutes and cost $6.00 one way. We ate lunch once we got to St. John's. then we caught one of the Taxi Tours of St. John's. These are in the open air pick-up truck taxis and cost $25 each. The tour takes from 1 1/2 -2 hours and makes numerous stops and even allows passengers to walk down to the beaches or to the sugar mill ruins. Due to Charlie's recent back operation, he cannot walk miles so this was a way we could all take an overview of St. John. Once back to Red Hook, we caught one of the Safari taxis back to the marina which cost us only $2 each. The Safari taxi cannot be in the ferry parking lot but you can find them just outside. We also looked at the other IGY marina at Red Hook to decide if we wanted to move the boat there. We decided it would take our guests another 30 minutes from the airport and cost more in a regular taxi to get to the boat. There are more interesting restaurants in the Red Hook area. We ate dinner on the boat.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Charlie stayed at the boat where he changed the oil and the oil filter in the boat's diesel engine. Beth and I caught a Safari taxi back to Red Hook to catch the St. John ferry. We went back to go to Trunk Bay to snorkel. We caught one of the St. John's taxi's to Trunk Bay. We had been able to take the 9a.m. ferry so the beach was not very crowded. This week has been the National Park Week so entry into the park has been free. We rented a locker and a mask and fins for Beth. I had trouble with my mask leaking, so I could not snorkel with her. Beth was able to find another person going on the snorkel trail so she wouldn't have to do it alone. She snorkeled for about an hour. Then she enjoyed walking along this beautiful beach.
We caught the taxi back to Cruz Bay where we explored the shops in the Mongoose Junction. We shopped too long so just bought a smoothie for lunch before catching the 3 p.m. ferry back to Red Hook. We caught another Safari Taxi back to the Marina. We met Charlie for a drink at the Fat Turtle.
This was the last night for Carnival and they had fireworks over the harbor a 9:30 p.m. We had a perfect seat on our boat to watch them. The traffic was backed up forever going downtown. The music trucks kept going until early in the morning!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Charlie and I stayed at the boat doing various tasks. Beth walked back into town and then further west to French Town where she met a man who told her a bit about the history of it. We later enjoyed sitting at the pool in the Marina. Beth and I saw one of the huge Cruise ships depart. There were two which departed about the same time. It was an interesting operation to watch. We had walked through the shopping area adjacent to the cruise ships. Most of the shops were closed or were closing.
Monday, April 30, 2012.
This was Beth's last day with us. She debated going back to St. John or visiting Megens Beach on St. John. She decided to go to Megens Beach. She caught a taxi in the cruise ship area as they take passengers from the cruise ships to that beach. She arrived about 11a.m. and spent several hours exploring the more vacant and secluded areas of this beach. She also enjoyed about an hours swim there before returning to the Marina.
Charlie and I stayed at the boat. There was quite a bit of wind; 15-20 knots. We waited until a lull occurred so we could move the dinghy off the boat to the dock. We deflated the dinghy, then folded it up, and put lines around it. Using the halyards we moved it back onto the boat placing it in front of the mast and lashing it securely.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
This is departure day for Beth going back to Oregon and for Charlie going to Chattanootga to visit with his mother. After a nice breakfast, everyone was packing. Beth ate her leftovers for lunch. We saw her off at the taxi stand in the Marina about 12:30. Charlie and I are lunch at Grand Cru which is the only upscale restaurant at the marina, but we were disappointed with the quality considering the higher prices. I saw him off to the airport about 2p.m. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing our finances: balancing the checkbook, paying bills online, justifying our charge card statements and entering all our receipts. It threatened rain overnight so I closed the cockpit up. It did rain later in the evening. I had a call from Bob Kelly who is coming to help get the boat back to Charleston. Charlie called to say he made it to Chattanooga.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Charlie is in Chattanooga visiting his mother. I remain with the boat in St. Thomas. I did the laundry this morning. I got back to the boat just before heavy rain began. It must have rained 3 inches in 3 hours. Our mast sometimes leaks and it was leaking today, so I was trying to use containers to collect the water. I measured 3 inches of water. I even heard thunder. The rain continues off and on probably due to a trough or small front nearby. I have spent the afternoon and early evening updating our blog.
Tomorrow I will welcome crew members, Carl Beckman and Bob Kelly who will help us get the boat back to Charleston. They will arrive after 4p.m. tomorrow. Charlie will arrive Friday after 2p.m. I will take Carl and Bob to the grocery to help select our provisions on Friday morning. We may leave St. Thomas on Sat or Sunday depending on weather.
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| Blue Horizon at Yacht Haven Grande (far right) |
Monday, April 23, 2012
While checking out at St. Martin, we saw Stan Nicholas, who years ago was in the slip next to us at Charleston Harbor Marina before moving to the Virgin Islands. He now lives on St .John and has built two villas on St. Thomas. He and wife Kathy have sold their boat but he captains and manages a motor yacht out of St. Thomas. He gave us a contact for our refrigerator compressor repair. We called the company, Reefer Co, just after 8a.m. and they had a very competent person out at our boat by 9:15. The problem ended up being a burned up wire connection which she replaced. She checked our freon levels and said everything else was fine. We fired up the refrigerator/freezer to bring the temperatures back where they needed to be. The freezer actually was only up to +2 degrees so it had been doing very well. The refrigerator was up to 60 degrees.
Unfortunately less than an hour later the power at the dock went off. Evidently St. Thomas has a huge problem with rolling brownouts. The power was out until sometime late at night. The marina has a large generator for much of the dock but not for the area where we are docked. We used our small generator to cool down the refrigerator/freezer.
Charlie and I took a taxi to Crown Bay Marina area to buy some supplies from their Chandlery. The one at the Yacht Haven Marina was a joke...very few marine items. The handle for the lid to the freezer had broken off and we needed some shackles to fix the jib. We had lunch there at Tickles, their restaurant. We finally found a taxi to take us back to Yacht Haven. while Charlie went back to the boat to fix the jib and freezer handle, I spent the rest of the day finding out about the grocery stores. There is a large Pueblo grocery within walking distance. There is also another smaller store which caters to vegetarian customers. I finally found out where the laundramat was behind some nearby buildings. We were expecting our daughter Beth from Oregon to arrive the next evening.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Electricity on the dock came on overnight but was off again at 7:32 a.m. Charlie finished fixing items on the boat while I spent most of the day doing laundry. I did 4 loads of sheets, towels, clothing in the morning. After lunch with Charlie at one of the restaurants at the marina I took our rugs to the laundramat to wash. It is a hot and humid day. The electricity evidently goes off and on in different places throughout the city. The laundramat had it's own generator. Last Christmas, St Thomas was without water for two weeks. It sounds more like Iraq than an part of the US. We made up the V berth for Beth to sleep in. She arrived via taxi about 9:45p.m.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Beth slept late. She and I went to the two grocery stores to buy groceries for us and her. She is a vegan so she has different needs than we do. The small speciality food store had many items she could use. We ate a pizza at the Fat Turtle restaurant at the Marina area. This Marina caters to very large boats and has a cruise ship dock as well. The cruise ship dock can hold three ships. There is a shopping mall adjacent to it and the Marina area. The Marina area has upscale shops and several restaurants. and a coffeeshop. Charlie worked on the shower sump pump which is not working. He discovered that hose was kinked.
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| Three Carnival Band Trucks at Charlotte Amalie |
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| Charlotte Amalie Waterfront walk |
Thursday, April 26, 2012
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| 99 Steps |
Friday, April, 27, 2012
Charlie, Beth and I took a Safari Taxi to the Charlotte Amalie ferry dock to catch the ferry to St. John's. Unfortunately, the taxi took us to the wrong ferry dock so we had to walk back almost half the distance to the St. John's Ferry area. It was not running today because one of the boats had broken down and the person who fixes it was in Tortola, BVI. A taxi driver told us this and then drove us to Red Hook where another ferry goes to St. John. The first taxi cost us $2.00 each and the second cost us $10 each. The Safari taxis have a yellow taxi sign and only go on the main roads. They are open air taxis seating about 15--20 passengers. They look like they are a converted pick-up truck with seats added. Usually the locals ride them and they cost either $1 -2 depending on how far you ride.
We took the Red Hook Ferry to Cruz Bay on St. John's From Red Hook, it only takes about 20 minutes and cost $6.00 one way. We ate lunch once we got to St. John's. then we caught one of the Taxi Tours of St. John's. These are in the open air pick-up truck taxis and cost $25 each. The tour takes from 1 1/2 -2 hours and makes numerous stops and even allows passengers to walk down to the beaches or to the sugar mill ruins. Due to Charlie's recent back operation, he cannot walk miles so this was a way we could all take an overview of St. John. Once back to Red Hook, we caught one of the Safari taxis back to the marina which cost us only $2 each. The Safari taxi cannot be in the ferry parking lot but you can find them just outside. We also looked at the other IGY marina at Red Hook to decide if we wanted to move the boat there. We decided it would take our guests another 30 minutes from the airport and cost more in a regular taxi to get to the boat. There are more interesting restaurants in the Red Hook area. We ate dinner on the boat.
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| Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins |
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| Tour Taxi |
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| Charlie and daughter Beth Barnett at Cinnamon Bay |
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Charlie stayed at the boat where he changed the oil and the oil filter in the boat's diesel engine. Beth and I caught a Safari taxi back to Red Hook to catch the St. John ferry. We went back to go to Trunk Bay to snorkel. We caught one of the St. John's taxi's to Trunk Bay. We had been able to take the 9a.m. ferry so the beach was not very crowded. This week has been the National Park Week so entry into the park has been free. We rented a locker and a mask and fins for Beth. I had trouble with my mask leaking, so I could not snorkel with her. Beth was able to find another person going on the snorkel trail so she wouldn't have to do it alone. She snorkeled for about an hour. Then she enjoyed walking along this beautiful beach. We caught the taxi back to Cruz Bay where we explored the shops in the Mongoose Junction. We shopped too long so just bought a smoothie for lunch before catching the 3 p.m. ferry back to Red Hook. We caught another Safari Taxi back to the Marina. We met Charlie for a drink at the Fat Turtle.
This was the last night for Carnival and they had fireworks over the harbor a 9:30 p.m. We had a perfect seat on our boat to watch them. The traffic was backed up forever going downtown. The music trucks kept going until early in the morning!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Charlie and I stayed at the boat doing various tasks. Beth walked back into town and then further west to French Town where she met a man who told her a bit about the history of it. We later enjoyed sitting at the pool in the Marina. Beth and I saw one of the huge Cruise ships depart. There were two which departed about the same time. It was an interesting operation to watch. We had walked through the shopping area adjacent to the cruise ships. Most of the shops were closed or were closing.
Monday, April 30, 2012.
This was Beth's last day with us. She debated going back to St. John or visiting Megens Beach on St. John. She decided to go to Megens Beach. She caught a taxi in the cruise ship area as they take passengers from the cruise ships to that beach. She arrived about 11a.m. and spent several hours exploring the more vacant and secluded areas of this beach. She also enjoyed about an hours swim there before returning to the Marina.
Charlie and I stayed at the boat. There was quite a bit of wind; 15-20 knots. We waited until a lull occurred so we could move the dinghy off the boat to the dock. We deflated the dinghy, then folded it up, and put lines around it. Using the halyards we moved it back onto the boat placing it in front of the mast and lashing it securely.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
This is departure day for Beth going back to Oregon and for Charlie going to Chattanootga to visit with his mother. After a nice breakfast, everyone was packing. Beth ate her leftovers for lunch. We saw her off at the taxi stand in the Marina about 12:30. Charlie and I are lunch at Grand Cru which is the only upscale restaurant at the marina, but we were disappointed with the quality considering the higher prices. I saw him off to the airport about 2p.m. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing our finances: balancing the checkbook, paying bills online, justifying our charge card statements and entering all our receipts. It threatened rain overnight so I closed the cockpit up. It did rain later in the evening. I had a call from Bob Kelly who is coming to help get the boat back to Charleston. Charlie called to say he made it to Chattanooga.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Charlie is in Chattanooga visiting his mother. I remain with the boat in St. Thomas. I did the laundry this morning. I got back to the boat just before heavy rain began. It must have rained 3 inches in 3 hours. Our mast sometimes leaks and it was leaking today, so I was trying to use containers to collect the water. I measured 3 inches of water. I even heard thunder. The rain continues off and on probably due to a trough or small front nearby. I have spent the afternoon and early evening updating our blog.
Tomorrow I will welcome crew members, Carl Beckman and Bob Kelly who will help us get the boat back to Charleston. They will arrive after 4p.m. tomorrow. Charlie will arrive Friday after 2p.m. I will take Carl and Bob to the grocery to help select our provisions on Friday morning. We may leave St. Thomas on Sat or Sunday depending on weather.
St. Barts to St. Martin
Thursday, April 19, 2012
We had a lovely sail from St. Barts to Marigot Bay in St. Martin with 15 knots of east wind. We left about 8a.m. and arrived just after noon. As we passed by Phillipsburg, which is on the Dutch side of the island, we saw only 2 large cruise ships there. As many as 10 can be there at a time. At Marigot Bay, we put out a lunch anchor as the Marina takes a lunch hour between 12-2. The French have their leisurely lunches unlike most of the other islands. The stores don't close at four but stay open usually until 7 p.m. After lunch, we obtained a location in the Marina Fort Louis. One end of the boat is attached to a mooring ball and the other is tied to a dock. Most boats have their sterns to the dock but since we have a canoe stern, we put our bow to the dock. We therefore have to climb over the anchor to get off the boat.
Lynn and Dan went ashore exploring the Marigot Bay harbor. They found nice gallery of a local artist. I went to a bakery to get some of the wonderful pastries for which the French islands are famous. We went to the Port Royal lagoon area for a dinner at Le Village where we had terrible service! There are many restaurants there competing for your business. Luckily the food was good. While walking around Marigot Bay, they noticed that St. Martin has much more trash along its streets than St. Barts. Trash, empty bottles and cans abound in vacant weedy lots. In the countryside we saw recycle bins but not in the town area.
Friday, April 20, 2012
The next day, Lynn, Dan and I took a taxi to the Ile of Pinel beach area and rode the wooden "ferry boat" over to the island. We had a delicious lunch and then lounged at the beach. Lynn and Dan enjoyed playing in the water and getting some sun. The water is beautiful and the beach though crowded with beach chairs and umbrellas is very clean. Then it was back to the boat for dinner on board. That night our refrigerator compressor stopped working so we could not cool down the freezer/refrigerator. We usually do this twice a day for 2 hours each time. While we were gone, Charlie had put more antifreeze into the generator and checked the generator oil.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Lynn and Dan went ashore exploring again finding a museum giving the history of St. Martin. Since Lynn and Dan were to fly out today, we had a snack on shore at a French cafe at the harbor. They took a taxi for the airport and Charlie and I had lunch at the cafe, seafood crepes. We planned to leave for our overnight sail to St. thomas about 2p.m. but forgot about the marina office being closed between 12-2. We did not leave until 1510 (3:10 p.m.).
I'M SORRY THAT HERE ARE NO PICTURES. I LEFT MY CAMERA BATTERY CHARGER AT HOME SO I CAN NO LONGER TAKE PICTURES. I MAY BE ABLE TO ADD SOME LATER FROM LYYN AND BETH.
We had a lovely sail from St. Barts to Marigot Bay in St. Martin with 15 knots of east wind. We left about 8a.m. and arrived just after noon. As we passed by Phillipsburg, which is on the Dutch side of the island, we saw only 2 large cruise ships there. As many as 10 can be there at a time. At Marigot Bay, we put out a lunch anchor as the Marina takes a lunch hour between 12-2. The French have their leisurely lunches unlike most of the other islands. The stores don't close at four but stay open usually until 7 p.m. After lunch, we obtained a location in the Marina Fort Louis. One end of the boat is attached to a mooring ball and the other is tied to a dock. Most boats have their sterns to the dock but since we have a canoe stern, we put our bow to the dock. We therefore have to climb over the anchor to get off the boat.
Lynn and Dan went ashore exploring the Marigot Bay harbor. They found nice gallery of a local artist. I went to a bakery to get some of the wonderful pastries for which the French islands are famous. We went to the Port Royal lagoon area for a dinner at Le Village where we had terrible service! There are many restaurants there competing for your business. Luckily the food was good. While walking around Marigot Bay, they noticed that St. Martin has much more trash along its streets than St. Barts. Trash, empty bottles and cans abound in vacant weedy lots. In the countryside we saw recycle bins but not in the town area.
Friday, April 20, 2012
The next day, Lynn, Dan and I took a taxi to the Ile of Pinel beach area and rode the wooden "ferry boat" over to the island. We had a delicious lunch and then lounged at the beach. Lynn and Dan enjoyed playing in the water and getting some sun. The water is beautiful and the beach though crowded with beach chairs and umbrellas is very clean. Then it was back to the boat for dinner on board. That night our refrigerator compressor stopped working so we could not cool down the freezer/refrigerator. We usually do this twice a day for 2 hours each time. While we were gone, Charlie had put more antifreeze into the generator and checked the generator oil.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Lynn and Dan went ashore exploring again finding a museum giving the history of St. Martin. Since Lynn and Dan were to fly out today, we had a snack on shore at a French cafe at the harbor. They took a taxi for the airport and Charlie and I had lunch at the cafe, seafood crepes. We planned to leave for our overnight sail to St. thomas about 2p.m. but forgot about the marina office being closed between 12-2. We did not leave until 1510 (3:10 p.m.).
I'M SORRY THAT HERE ARE NO PICTURES. I LEFT MY CAMERA BATTERY CHARGER AT HOME SO I CAN NO LONGER TAKE PICTURES. I MAY BE ABLE TO ADD SOME LATER FROM LYYN AND BETH.
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