Dreamtime in St. Martin/St. Bart

5/4/2006 through 5/10/2006: St. Martin and St. Bart’s Got a 9AM start from the USVI’s for St. Martin via the cut between Norman and Peter islands.  A veritable flotilla are out today including Scott Free, Vagamundo, September Song, Evening Star and Providence.  Neared St. Martin's French side by 4AM after having sailed the entire way in 5’ beam seas.  Not a bad crossing at all, even though the "Anegada" passage has quite a reputation due to all the “easting” that has to be done.  Hove to so as to wait for sunrise to make our entry into Marigot Bay on the French side.  Ed made a quick trip into customs while I sewed my first courtesy flag, luckily an easy one.

Just a couple of shots of the harbor in Marigot Bay on the French side of St. Martin

Of course, it seems like it’s always chores, so we stop at the sidewalk bakery and pick up the highly acclaimed French “baguette” for sandwiches later, then make a pass through the vegetable market where there are wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables, plus fresh herbs and spices.  Found a laundry to drop off at for their wash-dry-fold services.   After the hard work was done we wandered over to the local grocery store to check out some inexpensive French red table wine to sample before making a larger purchase.  Had Heather & Scott over for sundowner's. Next up was a trip to Phillipsburg on the Dutch side.  Scott and Heather rented a car for the day so we hitched a ride from them.  Our mission, a new MP3 player, but no joy.  Marigot Bay was beginning to become quite rolly as the winds picked up, so we went around the corner to Long Beach hoping for a smoother anchorage… but wouldn’t you know it? A southerly swell kicked in!  Oh well, it still blew like stink out of the N so we were still better off than the folks anchored in Marigot Bay. Headed into Simpson Bay for a respite and got tucked right up next to shore.  Nice! Grilled the pork loin that had been marinating in the Patek’s Tikka Masala sauce for 2 days and it was awesome, tender, flavorful and delicious.  Decided to hit Budget Marine again before clearing out and heading to St. Bart.

Beautiful day for heading the 13+ miles over to St. Bart.   Got in mid-afternoon and took a free park mooring.  Just finished up with that when Ray on s/v Sarina issued a quick invite over to his 54’ Moody for dinner with the admonition to come early… hummm?  Got over only to find out that he was emptying his freezer and grilling everything in order to put the boat on a Dockwise transporter the next day.  One of his crew, hired on to sail the boat to England, backed out and left him with no other option.  We ate sausages, we ate chicken legs, we ate pork chops, we even took chicken breasts home with us.  They took off just after sunset for the trip back to Virgin Gorda.  Couldn’t find a nicer fellow - really too bad about his situation.

On our last day on St. Bart we headed for the hike along the ridgeline to the little town about 30 minute’s hike away.  Very picturesque town with a beautiful beach.  Came back and had a swim then were lazily contemplative for the duration.