Saturday, February 27, 2010

Back in St Martin - February 23-26th

Back in St Martin for a few days – we caught up with other cruisers again at the weekly get together. Unfortunately we had just missed some friends (with 2 girls) who had left the day before to head to Columbia (a big new hot spot on the itinerary of cruisers heading west to the Pacific). Charlotte had her last opti lesson,

Harmony came over for a last sleepover and Charlotte arranged one more kids beach party with over 20 children (and assigned someone else to carry on the new weekly tradition!)

Charlotte announced our departure on the morning VHF Cruisers Net and said goodbye to all her new friends. Having already said goodbye to Ella on Tuesday and Harmony on Thursday, this seemed to be the last straw as a tear came to her eye as we sailed out. A reminder of other friends, who had left ahead of us, who we hoped to see again, soon improved her spirits.

Many times we have wanted to visit the island of Statia (St. Eustatius), but have not made it for various reasons (timescale, weather not right for the unprotected anchorage there...). As it’s our last season in the Eastern Caribbean with Heat Wave, we finally made the effort to go to Statia. It’s a due south 30 miles trip – although the winds were coming from the south, the winds were very light so it was a perfect time to motor over. It was exciting - the first time we had gone to a new island for many years! We were busy reading the cruising guide book on the way there, and examining the charts.


We spotted a large school of fish jumping out of the water, feeding – we got out the fishing lines – of course we didn’t catch anything but we did get to see a big whale shark (about 20 foot long). First time we’ve seen a fish this large down here. Not great shots but hopefully you can spot the whale shark's mouth open out of the water in the picture above, and the whale shark swimming 30 feet away from the boat in the picture below. We were circling with the boat, trying to get the sun behind us for a better picture but the whale shark wasn't cooperating! - and we were also hoping he wouldn't go for our fishing lines that were still trawling behind the boat!!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

St Barths (St. Bathelemy) February 15th-22nd 2010


St Barths, gem of the Caribbean. Quoted from the guide book: “With its sharply contoured rocky hills, a picturesque port and gorgeous beaches, it has become a world famous chic destination; the favoured hot spot for good looking, well-to-do “in” crowd, seasoned with a sprinkling of acting, singing and sports stars: the Riviera of the Caribbean.” Jimmy says we were sitting on the table next to Sharon Stone one lunch. The other year, we were at dinner on the table next to Richard Gere.

It has fantastic restaurants, is very peaceful and still very French (including great pate, cheeses, breads, croissants…), even with all the foreign tourists. It’s probably the most peaceful, and crimeless island in the Eastern Caribbean. We’ve noticed more construction and more traffic on the roads over the last 15-20 years but still a wonderful place.

We met up with good friends Sharon and Claude, from Bermuda, who rented a villa for a week (not sure which of the above categories they fall into!!). Charlotte was very excited to see Ella and Conor again.


Although St Barths is only 12 miles from St Martin, it’s amazing that the 1$ beers change to 5 Euro beers and the bars on the windows change into permanently open villas. Prices are definitely higher in St Barths than St Martin but I’m sure a lot of that is to ensure the “desired clientele”. We did actually find a great restaurant that also accepted 1$=1Euro - very unusual in St Barths.

We were anchored out in the bay next to some of the largest mega yachts in the world – one very strange looking one owned by a Russian billionaire.


Sharon and Claude joined us on the boat for a couple of days after their stay in St Barths – we all sailed back to St Martin and anchored just a quarter of a mile from the airport lobby, to ensure no problems trying to find a taxi at 5am – we used the Heat Wave water Taxi (a.k.a dingy)

St Martin - January 22nd-February 15th



The island of Sint Maarten-Saint Martin is the smallest land mass in the world to be shared by two different nations. Only 37 square miles are owned by France and the Netherlands Antilles. For more information on St Martin see the blog entry from our visit here last year.
http://heatwave-sailing.blogspot.com/2009/03/about-st-martin.html

It still amazes me how a supermarket can quote prices in 3 currencies, especially when 2 of them, US$ and Euro, fluctuate on a daily basis! The mental arithmetic keeps you on your toes here - in shops either dividing by 1.8 (Naf to US$) or multiplying by about 1.4 (Euro to US$) (a variation from dividing by the EC$2.67 and TT$6 for islands further south). Credit card transactions are done in US$ on the Dutch side and Euro on the French side, so, when they offer fuel, or drinks/food in a beach bar on the French side at a rate of 1US$=1Euro, its important to carry lots of US$ cash!

Many cruisers come to St Martin for 2 weeks and stay for 2 months! The social scene (catching up with old friends and making new friends), coupled with availability of parts, services etc makes St Martin a stopping place for many. A "Cruisers Net" on the VHF radio each morning informs everyone of weather, arrivals and departures, items people are looking to buy or sell, and social events. A weekly cruisers happy hour get together at a local dock bar attracts close to 100 cruisers (or is it the 1$ beers that attract them??).

While in St Martin, Charlotte started a weekly kids beach party, often attracting over 20 children. It was just like a continuation of the Elbow Beach parties that we used to arrange in Bermuda! Many complimented her on her VHF radio skills, when she announced it on the morning Cruisers Net.


Charlotte also caught up with her friend Harmony (from South Africa, who lives in St Martin) again for many play dates and sleepovers - this is now the 4th year they have got together. She also caught up again with Zinnia, who we had last seen in Antigua, and met many other new friends, including Emily and Olivia who she has sailing lessons with. Cruising kids are always happy to play with any kids, age often not an issue, and Damien, age 11 (half French half English) called up to come over with all his games one afternoon.

Charlotte also had Optimist sailing lessons twice a week, and did very well. It was nice that she was allowed to join in the regular beginners lessons, as so often, it is difficult to get involved in any local activities when you are only somewhere for a short time. It was great sitting at the yacht club, watching the mega yachts go out the 4.30 bridge opening, and then see Charlotte and her class following behind in the opties!


Regular life on board continues:
- home schooling in the morning (along with all the relevant bribing!);
- going shopping in a dingy (hoping the eggs weren't scrambled before we got back...);
- waiting for over 4 weeks for a package to still not arrive from UK;
- fixing boat problems;
- understanding power issues on the boat (eg can't make ice and flush the electric toilet at the same time ...);
to name just a few.

The highlight for Charlotte was getting her ears pierced - I thought 12 was a better age, but Jimmy thought 6 was fine - Daddy's little girl won him over...