It's All About the Couleur!

10/23/10   Baie de Grand Case

After a few days in the busy town of Marigot, Don and I decided to head around the corner to another beautiful anchorage, Grand Case. With a long white sand beach lined with shops and restaurants, this little one road town is considered the gastronomic center of St. Martin. Darn, more wine and cheese and bread?

While there were plenty of charter catamarans dotting the bay, the many colorful local fishing boats were what drew our eyes. It seemed every where you looked there was color, strong, vibrant, eye-catching.

A long one way street complete with bakery, ice cream, pizza, and of course French cuisine made a choice for dinner rather difficult.

On this day Don and I opted for the open-air BBQ with rice and beans, a spot frequented more by the locals rather than tourists and the aromas were so inviting and irresistible. With ribs, chicken and fish smoked to perfection, Daisy will be a happy dog!
2-3 Euros for a bottle of good French wine, $1.00 for a cold Presidente, you can't beat it!







Color blasts from every building, reminding me of French country linens that I so loved when I could find them back home.


 At night the tourists come out and the town comes alive with people strolling the street and perusing the outside menus posted for inspection and comparison.

Half the fun is walking along the street and trying to decide which cafe, bistro, or restaurant to choose from with a cold beer or frosty cocktail in your hand.


Here in St. Martin you can walk along the street with an open beer in your hand, this is a civilized country!

Every once in a while you will catch a glimpse of a secret terrace or garden spot, secluded and inviting.

This splash of blue tranquility was picture postcard perfect and I had to stop myself from opening the gate, having a seat, and ordering a massage!

With a definite European flavor and vibe, I sometimes forgot we were in the Caribbean .














Thanks to our friend Philippe on Le Chepa for recommending this can't be missed anchorage !

Grand Case  is a feast for the eyes as well as the appetite and we now need to go and do some serious calorie busting swimming,walking, something.

Off to the Dutch side for boat parts, paint, and .......cheese?

St. Martin....Bonjour!

10/19/10


A midnight arrival on the island of St. Martin led us to anchor offshore for the night in order to avoid a few unlit steel buoys that were reported to be at the entrance.

With a few large blips on the radar, no moving or blinking lights for clues, the anchor was dropped and our old fashioned kerosene anchor lantern lit.

When we awoke there were no steel buoys to be seen  just turquoise water, swimming pool clear, and beautiful green hills.


A welcome respite after our long haul under the sun.

St. Martin was split in half by the Dutch and French in 1648, and is now a completely duty free island and major destination on the cruise ship routes.

We opted to head for the French side port of Marigot and anchor out in the wide open Marigot Bay, far from the cruise ships on the Dutch side and the hustle bustle of the tourist trade. 

The only tourists here seemed to be from France, and after a few excursions around town I headed for a bookstore and a french phrase book.

Yes everyone here speaks English as well as French, but the fun is in the unknown!

 Though on the euro, dollars are excepted everywhere so our tired brains didn't have to do the math and we were free to imbibe in fabulous fresh baguettes and excellent cheap French wine!

Underway!

10/17/10

After eighteen months in the USVI, BVI, and Puerto Rico the Starship is breaking out of our protective shell behind the islands and making for open water. Heading out on a beautiful sunrise, the Captain made the right call to go east across the Anagada Passage direct for the island of St. Martin on an excellent weather window.

Usually an uncomfortable slog to weather, the mild 10 knots out of the northeast and .5 to 1 meter seas made for a pleasant 17 hour motorsail to windward.

The only company we had were a few off shore freighters as we left the British Virgin Islands, reminding us just how nice it was to be back out on the ocean again.

With no Caribbean two-step to bang across and nothing but the open sky and sea on the horizon we plugged in our sailing playlist and enjoyed.

Seeing the sails up and full was a sight we hadn't had the pleasure of for awhile.

The close and protected waters of the USVI , BVI, and Puerto Rico can become addictive, when the farthest you have to travel in a day is five miles to the next beautiful spot and by the time all your rig is up it is time to anchor!

With our huge mainsail up for shade as well as power, we had to don our whitest whites in order to keep from spontaneously combusting under the blazing sun!

Blue and white were the colors of the day, lots of sunscreen and water, and the appreciation of our movable home on the water.

Santa Has Blue Eyes!

10/14/10  Christmas Cove, USVI

Tucked into Christmas Cove between St. Thomas and St. John in the USVI, Don is studying the weather closely as there is a possible weather window this weekend to head down island to St. Martin and some French bread and cheese. The Starship bottom needed a good scraping and this is our favorite cleaning station. Clear enough to see for cleaning and beautifully clear with a rock in the middle for snorkeling, a smooth slick hull makes for a happy captain. 

Santa apparently reads my blog as he made an early stop by our boat in St. Thomas and brought me a combination birthday, anniversary, Christmas present, an underwater camera! 

Collecting his reward St. Nick promptly jumped in to scrap, I however jumped in to play. 

I love all the colors of the reef, and even after being severely damaged by Hurricane Earl, the reef still teems with life.

Tube sponge, file fish, brain coral, sergeant majors…

Caribbean reef squid, fan tube worms, Christmas tree worms, all invite you too look but not touch!






 











And I have to admit I was quite glad this guy was too far away for a good pic. Dim and distant, he lurked at the edge of our vision for a little while and then headed off,. Good Shark! 

Heading East.......really!

10/11/10     ST. Thomas, USVI

After eighteen months in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Don and I are definitely ready for a new flag and a new beer. The Starship is ready to go, Don has spent the last month finishing his must do list, I have just returned from the mainland where I helped Darci move to the Big Apple, and Daisy has had her shots. Time to go! With no weather threatening from the east we made an early morning departure into a gorgeous breaking dawn and flat seas. 

  An uneventful crossing to St. Thomas, avoiding this cruise ship was the highlight of our return to turquoise water and out of the mangroves. One of four that we passed that morning, or rather they passed us, I am sure we were an annoyance on their instruments as we tried to get close for a good pic! 

Happy as we were to be out of our hidey hole the number of lost boats stranded ashore in St. Thomas was heart wrenching to see. 

 Regardless of the circumstances, unattended or unlucky, the sight of these wrecks was a grim reminder of the danger posed by hurricanes and a reinforcement of our Run policy. 

As it started, the day ended with another beautiful sight, early for Christmas but what a greeting card it would make, and a reminder of the incredibly lucky life we have chosen. 

Anticipating Earl

8/26/10

Salinas, Puerto Rico

 In anticipation of another visit for Deb back to Beaufort and the onset of the height of the hurricane season, we slowly made our way back to Salinas, Puerto Rico. Salinas is a well known hurricane hole with miles of mangrove forests perfect for sailboats to hunker down in if any serious weather should threaten. Our timing was perfect as Hurricane Earl revved up and decided to head to Puerto Rico, despite the empty promises by the National Weather Service that he would veer to the northeast. Everyday we watched, and everyday Earl decided he needed some mofungo, the delicious local Puerto Rican dish of mashed plantains and garlic. As the tide was right for entering the mangroves when we arrived, Captain Don decided we had better tie up as Earl was only a day behind us. Imagine our surprise at how few boats there were and finding a good spot was delightfully easy.  Multiple lines fore and aft and two anchors out to start, we watched and waited to see if the NWS would give us some good news. Stocked up on Raid, mosquito coils, and the ever so reliable and highly healthy DEET spray, we were ready for some weather or bugs, which ever came first.

The NWS must know what they are doing as Earl decided to veer northeast 250 miles from the northern coast of Puerto Rico and make its way instead towards Bermuda.  A day and a night of 25-30 knot winds, grey skies, and a little rain was all we experienced here on the south coast. Unfortunately St. Thomas in the USVI and some places in the BVI were hit very hard and several boats were lost, all the more reason making a dash for the protected but buggy mangroves proved a wise choice.  Something about those high mountain peaks steers the storms north or south, making Salinas a very safe place to be. Blessed with an incredibly beautiful sky post hurricane was our reward for heeding the advice of our fellow trimeraner John on Buddy…”Run often and Run early!”

New Blog Site!

  

  Thanks to all of you who have been following our adventures on SailBlogs! Unfortunately I had to change sites so hope the transition is easy. I also linked the old blog site below just in case. 

 As usual I am behind on the blogging so here are three in a row covering the last two months or so. Don and I are headed down island just waiting for the perfect weather window and trying out my new toy!