More from St. Martin

Yes, I know. We're still in St. Martin. You're probably wondering when you'll see someplace new. The truth is we really like it here. It will be hard to leave. But we've also been very busy! We had friends visit for a week, we hauled the boat out of the water for 8 days and I flew to Milwaukee for 10 days to visit family. I just returned on Sunday. Jim stayed in St. Martin to take care of Bailey & Merengue, finish a few boat projects and hang out with friends.

Here I am with brother-in-law Bill, my sister Connie and my niece Natalie at Miller Park watching the Milwaukee Brewers trounce the San Francisco Giants. Thanks Connie & Bill for spoiling me while I was home!

Our first piece of art for the boat compliments of our friend Kyle (age 10). Isn't it great! Thanks Kyle

The day I flew back to the states, Jim went to a birthday party for our friend Gilles. Here's the happy hosts, Monon and Gervais on "Le Bete."

The birthday boy, Gilles and Marie France.

The day after I returned, another party. This time on "Phoenix III" for Hans.

Party guys!

Wendy, Kristen and Marie France.

Carmelle, Kristen and Monon.

We'll have to think about leaving soon :( We've had such fun here with all these great friends. The good news is that we are all heading the same direction.

Boat Maintenance in Exotic Locations

I decided to call this update “Boat Maintenance in Exotic Locations” because sometimes that’s what cruising feels like. As I sit here writing, Jim is out back swearing at the dinghy outboard that suddenly decided it doesn’t want to run. It never seems to end!

We just spent the last 8 days “On the Hard” in a boatyard doing maintenance on Merengue. She was in need of bottom paint and St. Martin seemed like a good location to do this. We hired two guys from the yard to do the sanding. It took them 16 hours. All the old paint, designed for use in fresh water, had to be sanded off before we could apply a new, ablative paint. If we had done the sanding, we would still be there.

Wendy started stripping varnish and Jim tackled some dinghy repairs.

Bailey took her place for the entire time we were in the boatyard.

Once the bottom was sanded, we washed her down and Jim started applying the paint.

He applied 2 coats of epoxy barrier paint, 1 coat of primer and 3 coats of bottom paint. This will hopefully last 3 years. In the meantime, Wendy was still stripping. That’s varnish, get your mind out of the gutter!

Wendy also got the pleasure of sanding the coral reef off the prop.

It is times like this that make us glad we have a small boat. Jim could apply several coats of paint a day. The 44 ft. boat next to us took all day to apply one coat. We spent 8 days in the boatyard and they spent 15. Add to this the extra supplies and boatyard costs for the bigger boat and we felt pretty content with our little beauty!

Merengue is finally in the travel lift and ready for launching.

Here we go!

The week before we went to the boatyard was an interesting one weather-wise. We had beautiful, sunny weather. But a system up north created huge swells in the north Atlantic that rolled down through the Caribbean. The weather forecasters were predicting ocean swells of 18-20 ft! They were even tracking the swell to predict when it would make landfall at the various islands. Communities on the north shore of all the islands were warned about the high seas that were coming. The marina on the north shore of St. Martin was evacuating boats saying it was not a safe place for them to be. We were anchored in Simpson Bay Lagoon, a completely enclosed body of water accessible by two channels, one from the French side and one from the Dutch side. This was the perfect place to be because we were unaffected by the conditions outside

These pictures show a paved road that was completely covered with rocks and sand thrown up by the huge waves.

The next day we went to Baie Rouge where the surf was still very high. Plants along the upper edge of the beach had been covered in sand. A beach bar had about 4 ft of sand piled inside it.

And a home on the cliff continued to get buffeted by breaking waves. It was amazing to see. This week the weather is a little strange again. We’re getting 25-30 knots of wind here in the lagoon. Good thing we plan on staying put for awhile. Wendy is flying to Milwaukee on April 3rd to visit family and friends. Jim and Bailey will stay to take care of Merengue. So there probably won’t be an update for a couple of weeks. Talk to you again in mid-April!

Our Friend's Blogs

We just added a link (see left-hand side) to the blogs of some of our sailing friends. We thought you might enjoy seeing and hearing from them.

Hans and Kristen sail Whisper, another little, but mighty 27 footer. Hans is from Sweden and Kristen is from Vermont. We first met on the ICW in 2006 and have been having a great time ever since!

Renee and Michael on Jucumba are from Arizona. We spent hurricane season with them in Luperon and have been trying to catch up with them ever since!

Enjoy their blogs and their exploits!

St. Martin, March 2008

Bonjour from St. Martin! It’s been a while since we last updated our blog but we have been so busy. We’ve been here almost 3 weeks already! So many beautiful beaches, good restaurants and great wine, well, it’s hard to fit it all in! We left Virgin Gorda, BVI on February 25th and arrived in Marigot, St. Martin 24 hours later. It was a good overnight crossing taking us 100 miles in 3 long tacks with moderate winds and seas. No complaints from this crew!

We cleared customs on the French side. For our cruising friends who are reading this, this is the way to go. We were only charged $8 and didn’t have to give an anticipated departure date. The Dutch side charges by the week and one cruiser told us he paid $30 for a week and then would have to go back to renew. Regardless of which side you clear in on, you’ll probably end up heading into the Simpson Bay Lagoon for awhile. It’s the same water, why pay more!

The beach at Groot Baai, downtown Phillipsburg.

First, a little geography lesson on Sint Maarten/St. Martin. This 37 square mile island is the smallest island in the world to be divided by two sovereign powers. French St. Martin and Dutch Sint Maarten exist in harmony together with only a sign at the border to let you know you’ve traveled from one country to the other. But there are differences. The obvious one is that you hear French spoken in St. Martin although everyone we’ve run in to has spoken some English. The differences are more in attitude and approach to life. Phillipsburg on the Dutch side is a busy, bustling city with lots of traffic, tourists and cruise ships. A popular cruise ship port, it is loaded with restaurants and souvenir shops much like St. Thomas. The beach in Groot Baai (Great Bay) butts up against a boardwalk where tourists walk, dine and shop. Marigot on the French side is also a busy city. But there it is all about the cafes where you stop to enjoy a drink while you watch the world go by. We have found it quite difficult to resist. If forced to choose, it is the French side for us. This is also the most international harbor we’ve been in thus far with boats from England, France, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Canada, South Africa, the United States, the Caribbean and more.

A few days after we arrived we moved from the lagoon to Anse Marcel, a pretty area on the north coast of the island. Our friends Mike and Marcia were coming to visit from Milwaukee and they had booked themselves into a hotel on the hill overlooking the bay. We decided to stay at the Port Lonvilliers Marina for the convenience and proximity to their hotel. This was our first time in a marina in almost a year. It was nice to know that Merengue was safe and secure while we were out and about from morning to night. And we enjoyed the amenities that a marina has to offer.

View of the marina and Anse Marcel from The Marquis Hotel.

We had a great time with Mike and Marcia. The 4 of us have vacationed together many times in the past. We enjoyed the luxury and convenience of their rental car as they drove us all over the island where we stopped to enjoy the beaches, bars, restaurants and shopping. We don’t get to travel by car very often and it was fun. We wandered the streets of Marigot, Grand Case and Phillipsburg and relaxed on the beaches. We took a ferry to a small offshore island called Pinel where we snorkeled, hiked and yes, more relaxing on the beach.

Mike and Marcia make friends everywhere they go!

Hanging out at one of the beach bars on Orient Beach.



Mike, Jim and Marcia on the beach at Anse Marcel.

Pinel Island
View of St. Martin from Pinel Island.


The windward side of Pinel.

Marcia and friends building sandcastles.


St. Martin is known as the gourmet capital of the Caribbean and we sampled it all! We ate French, Italian and Creole cuisine in the finest restaurants and barbecued ribs, chicken and fish from the “Lolo’s” in Grand Case. Our week with them flew by and we hated to see them leave. I hope they enjoyed themselves as much as we did.

We are now back in Simpson Bay Lagoon, anchored about mid-way between Marigot and the boating facilities on the Dutch side. This is a cruising mecca and you can get any kind of boat work done here. We’ve been making the rounds of all the marine stores to fill our ever present shopping list. And we’ve decided to stay a few more weeks to have Merengue hauled out and her bottom painted. She’ll come out of the water on the 25th and we’ll be living on the hard for about 5 days while we do the work. Can’t say we’re looking forward to that but it needs to be done. We’ll let you know how it goes! Until next time, fair winds!

We're in the BVI

Hi everyone! Just a quick update to let you know we are currently island hopping in the British Virgin Islands. We left St. Croix on Sunday, 2/17 after spending 10 days in Christainsted Harbor. We enjoyed our time there but we were getting anxious to leave. The weather forecasts for the passage back to St. John hadn't been good the entire time we were there. It looked like our best shot would be Sunday with a forecast of 15-20 kt winds, 5 ft seas with a 9 second period. That forecast proved to be accurate for the first half of the trip. But about 13 miles from St. John the winds picked up to 26 kts, the waves increased and came closer together. We could also tell that St. John was getting rain and the squally conditions hit us while we were still about 7 miles out. The rolling and pounding caused jerry cans to slide back and forth on the deck even though they were secured both top and bottom. A small gas can that was tied on deck loosened enough to bang against the side breaking the pour spout and allowing sea water to splash into the gas. Theses cans were tied the same way we've been tying them for over 4000 miles! It just wasn't a good day to put out to sea! We arrived in Salt Pond Bay, St. John cold, wet and very tired.

On Tuesday we sailed along the south coast of St. John and rounded the west end to head to Jost Van Dyke. We choose this route to avoid the high seas that were still pounding the east shore. As we cruised along the west shore I said, "Hey Jim. We're on a beam reach! When was the last time we got to do that?" What a great feeling to not have the wind on the nose! We arrived at Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands where we cleared customs, grabbed a quick beer at Foxy's Bar, bought some ice and then headed back out to move the boat to Little Harbor for the night. We treated ourselves to barbeque chicken, ribs and chicken curry at Abe’s by the Sea.

The next day we were up and out again sailing over to Norman Island and the anchorage called The Bight. Boy, this is charter boat central! I think there were about 50 boats on moorings here and all but a few were charter boats. It's big business. Last night we stayed at Marina Cay and it's the same thing. We're starting to feel out of place! You should see our neighbors. We have a beautiful Swan sailing yacht, about 70+ ft long anchored next to us. Her crew was busy washing down the decks this afternoon and her tender is almost as long as Merengue. Jim wants to move the boat. He’s afraid I’m becoming attached! There are quite a few yachts in the 55-80 ft range here. I don't think many cruisers hang out in the BVI. Too crowded and too expensive. But it is a sailing paradise. I love being able to go out and sail for a few hours, arrive in a new place, swim, snorkel, relax and drink a sundowner while the sun goes down and then get up and do it again tomorrow. The next island is just a few miles away. To our sailing friends back in the states who are dreaming of spring and launching the boat, I highly recommend a charter vacation in the Virgins. We did it several times and it was always great.




The other night, when the moon was full there was a lunar eclipse. I slept right through it but Jim did wake up in time to catch a few photos.

St. John to St. Croix, USVI

Our next stop on St. John was Salt Pond Bay on the SE end of the island. From here you can hike along several trails leading up from the beach. This hike took us to Drunk Bay on the windswept eastern coast. "Drunk" is dutch Creole for "drowned." Hikers have left their mark by constucting figures out of the bleached rocks and coral. It's like walking through a boneyard!

Look like anyone you know?

This trail took us to Ram Head, a rocky cliff 200 ft above the Caribbean.
Beautiful view!

Merengue in Salt Pond Bay, part of the Virgin Islands National Park. Anchoring is prohibited here but moorings are provided for $15 per night. This is an effort to protect the sea floor from anchors and the chains that tear it up.

We left St. John on Feb 7, 2008 for the 35 mile crossing to St. Croix. We had been watching the weather for weeks and it seems like there are always big seas to deal with in this passage. We sailed in 17-25 kts with 6 to 7 ft seas. There was the occassional 10 footer just to keep you on your toes! We flew along doing over 6 kts with reefed sails. But the constant rolling takes its toll. The 2 brackets that Jim had installed on the front edge of the solar panels to help stabilize them snapped in two. Another trip to the hardware store and more repairs!

When we arrived in Christainsted Harbor we motored around looking for a spot to tuck ourselves in. Usually that is not a problem, one of the advantages of a small boat that will fit into spots where many bigger boats can't go. But the harbor was packed with boats and after circling through several times, we had to resign ourselves to anchoring on the outer edge, right next to where the sea planes took off and landed. They took off only about 100 yards from us and idled past us after landing, often coming as close as 50 ft. The pilots wave as they go by! Thankfully they only operate during daylight hours!

Take-off and landing.

The day after we arrived in St. Croix, Christainsted was holding a "Jump Up." A Jump Up is an island expression that means to dance. The festivities included food, music, late-night shopping and an appearance by the Mocko Jumbies Stilt Walkers. We ate shrimp roti, sampled fresh squeezed sugar cane juice and drank rum out of a coconut.

Steel Pan music. It was great until Jim said, "What's this song?" I had to tell him it was For All We Know by The Carpenter's. After that he wanted another rum!

The Mocko Jumbies, sitting on top of a van as they dressed in their costumes.

Jumbies were evil spirits. Mocko Jumbies are pretend spirits used to chase away the evil ones. The Mocko Jumbies have their faces covered so the real spirits can't recognize them.

Christainsted Harbor.

Fort Christainsvaern, completed by the Danes in 1748. This fort never saw battle.

Is this thing loaded?




We rented a car to tour the island. If you haven't noticed yet, there are 3 things we don't pass up while traveling. The first is forts, the second is brew pubs (yes, we did try the one on St. Croix) and rum distilleries. We'd like to think at least 2 out of the three have historical significance. On this day we stopped to tour the Cruzan Rum Factory.

Molasses fermenting in the tanks. Great aroma!


Rum aging in the barrels.


Jim aging in the bar!

Caribbean Colors.
Happy Hour at Angry Nate's Restaurant on the waterfront.


As of today, we are just hanging out waiting for the weather to change. We'll head back to the U.S. or British Virgin Islands and then on to St. Martin where our friends Mike and Marcia are meeting us on March 1st.

Gotta go now. It's Valentine's Day and Jim is cooking Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner. We've got a nice bottle of red wine to go with it. Life is good!