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Diane's Diary1/27 Saturday We dinghy over to the boaters flea market at the Time Out boatyard in Marigot. We didn't find too much to buy. I also go to the supermarket near the bridge. Our dinghy engine is still giving us problems. Later that day the wind starts to pick up from the north causing a great surge of 2-4ft waves inside the anchorage. We start to roll & it's very uncomfortable. Larry rigs up a line so the boat turns bow into the surge but it's still uncomfortable. We roll all night. I don't get a good night sleep at all. I tell Larry I want to go over to the Lagoon in the am. 1/28 Sunday We check out of the French side & motor about an hour over to Simpson Bay Lagoon on the Dutch side. We motor as it only takes about an hour. I want to go inside the Lagoon but Larry wants to stay outside. We check into Dutch St. Marten. We walk around a little & have an early dinner at Pizza Hut. It's dark when we leave so we have to dinghy back to the boat in the dark. There are only 3 bridge openings per day- 9,11 & 5:30. Outbound traffic leaves before incoming. We're still rolling outside the lagoon but it's not nearly as bad as Marigot. 1/29 Monday We enter the lagoon on the 9 am bridge & go immediately over to the Simpson Bay Lagoon Marina for water & fuel. We go aground for about a minute but Larry manages to free us. After getting fuel and water, we anchor directly at the end of the airport runway. Later we look at the cruising guide & find we are not supposed to be there since it's at the end of the runway but no one ever asks us to move. It's really blowing now with gusts up to 45 knots inside the lagoon. I'm sure glad we moved inside the lagoon! We dinghy over to the SMYC for happy hour drinks. We discovered the problem with the dinghy engine. We were going to hire a mechanic because having the engine not work properly is very dangerous as people drive their dinghies like maniacs around here. Anyway, it seems the lifting strap was blocking the water outflow, the engine would overheat & shut down. The mechanic told us to take the lifting strap off & we haven't had a problem. We had never really used the lifting strap before. 1/30 Tuesday The laptop has crashed & Larry has tried everything to get it started again. Looks like we're going to have to buy a new one. More money! We put out a call over the cruisers net that we listen to every morning to ask if someone has the Windows 95 CD we can borrow. Stage Sea replies we can borrow theirs & that's how we meet them. We also go see a presentation by the boat Delphinus in the church about their research on whales & dolphins. Then we dinghy over to Stage Sea & Larry uses their CD's but he can't fix the computer. Damm, that means we need to buy a new one. I called Y2K laundry that I had previously met . They offer free pickup & delivery so & they pick me up at 2pm so I can do the laundry. I haven't done it since we left NY so I have a huge pile. It's $2 wash & $2 dry. I use the high speed dryers so it cost $15 to do my own laundry. Most people here give it to the laundries & they return it wash, dried, & folded. The laundry lady said it would have cost me $30-35 if they had done it. No, thanks, after living in a hotel for 6 months a few years ago & having them do the laundry for me I will NEVER complain about doing my own laundry. I get back to the boat around 4:30. 1/31 Wednesday We need to get a new PC so we dinghy over to the Business Center to use the internet- $5 for 1 hour except they only have a few computers & you always have to wait to use them. Also, the connection to the net is slow. Plus, there seems to be mega problems with replying to email via hotmail. However, it's the cheapest around so we use it. Larry researches the prices & brands of a new laptop & we hop the minivan buses for the ride to Phillipsburg. The minivans only cost & $1 each & come frequently. Taxis are much more expensive & the cruisers usually don't take them. The prices in Phillipsburg don't seem that great. We eat at a roti place & head back to the Business Center & order our laptop over the internet. We will get it delivered to the Business center's office in Miami & they will ship it down here. Larry orders a Dell computer & they promise to have it in Miami by next Wed at the latest. We dinghy over to the boat Delphinus to see their video they took on whales & dolphins. We have Stage Sea over for cocktails for allowing us to use their CD's. Jenny & Tony Collingwood have been sailing for over 10 years now. Tony regularly wrote a column for Yachting World for 5 years about their adventures in the Med. We really enjoy their company & get to be good friends. We hope to stay in contact with them in the future! |