Aboard Lady

Sint Maarten/Saint Martin

Sint Maarten/Saint Martin   18 02.53N 063 05.62W

Monday January 18th to Saturday January 24th, 2009

We said goodbye to our friends in Nanny Cay and headed to North Sound Virgin Gorda, stopping en route at Spanish Town to talk to Customs and Immigration and inform them that we were leaving the territory.  When we entered the sound we saw a magnificent sailing yacht.  The Sea Cloud II seems to be more of a cruise ship; what fun her guests must have! We anchored in the sound, off Leverick Bay Resort where we have been a number of times before for a quiet night and day, preparing for an overnight sail Tuesday night.

We departed North Sound, and headed past Richard Branson's private resort of Necker Island, heading south-east.  The sun set behind the Virgins as we left.  The wind was good, and we were able to sail close-hauled most of the way - about eighty miles - and motoring the last twenty miles as the wind was on our nose.  We were amazed at the traffic!  There were all kinds of cruise ships going different directions at slow speeds.  Apparently cruise ships do not was to spend the night in port, as it incurs more charges, and so they slowly cruise from one port to another.  At one point as we neared St. Martin, there were five other BIG ships heading in approximately our direction, none of them going a whole lot faster than us.

We arrived at Simpson Bay at daybreak on Wednesday 20th, and dropped anchor and slept for a couple of hours, waiting for the Customs and Immigration office to open.  Charlie was one of the first in line, paid the charges, and we were ready for the Simpson Bay Lagoon bridge opening at 0930.  The bridge only opens three times a day for in-bound traffic, and there was quite a line of boats - large sailing yachts, other cruisers like us, power boats that were too tall to fit under the bridge, and a mega-yacht Victoria Del Mar immediately in front of us.  Much excitement as Victoria Del Mar drifted off course in the narrow channel and hit the bridge.  We could see crew people running around grabbing fenders.  We signaled to the boats behind us that we were reversing, as the mega-yacht was also backing up.

There are all kinds of marinas in the Simpson Bay Lagoon, many of them catering to the mega-yacht trade.  It is a wonderful sheltered area.  The frontier between Dutch Sint Maarten and French Saint Martin crosses the lagoon.  We had to pay $40 to spend a week at anchor in the Dutch side.  The also charged us $30 for using the bridge! (We have since found out that we can stay at anchor on the French side for $7.50, and that the bridge charge was supposed to go away Jan 1 2010.)  Once we were comfortably anchored, we started exploring by dinghy.  Isn't it cool to have the local chandlers with dinghy docks?  The airport is adjacent to the lagoon, and the flight path for planes taking off is right over us.  When the Air France and American Airlines jets depart it's LOUD.  We stopped at the Simpson Bay Marina, looking for friends Kate and Kurt (Myananda) who had sailed in the Caribbean 1500 with us, and had been here for a while.  They had temporarily moved to another yard for work, but it was nice to run into Kim from North Star, another C-1500 participant.  We found Kurt working on solar panels, and let him know that we were here, as we had brought canvas and other spares from Nanny Cay for Myananda.  He informed us that the Turtle Pier Bar and Grill was having a party for cruisers that night (and every Wednesday) so we went looking for it and found it close to the airport.  They had cages with parrots and other tropical birds, and also some monkeys.  We found another bar closer to the airport and walked from it to the airport to determine that it's a five-minute walk from the airport to the dock, should anybody comes to visit us while we are here.  The cruisers party at Turtle Pier was lots of fun $2 beer and wine, $3 burgers and hot-dogs.  We met other people who are here doing a lot of the same things we are. 

There is a cruisers' net on the VHF radio every morning at 0730 on channel 14, and people are welcome to ask questions and it's very helpful resource.

Thursday we dinghied ashore, looking for a wifi hot-spot to check email.  We found Bonita's Cantina near the bridge, a great BBQ place run by the former owner of Oklahoma Joe's in Stillwater! A great place for lunch and an opportunity to use the Internet, when you take your own laptop.  We used our BVI phone for a couple of calls, and then found out that the $40 we had pre-paid was quickly used up in international roaming charges, so we found a place to sell us a Chippie SIM card, that will work in the Netherlands Antilles, and also on the French side of St. Martin.  We hope to be able to re-activate the BVI phone when we get to another former British island, like Anguilla or St. Kitts.  We tried an ATM machine and asked for local currency - it gave us a 100 guilder note.  That was a surprise, we thought we'd get euros. All the stores also take US dollars, so we got some of them too.  We took a walk through one of the neighborhoods near the bay beach, saw some of the old and new houses, old and new churches, the local catholic elementary school and ended up at the end of the road next to the airport at a lovely beach bar called Karakter 000.  The bar is an old bus.  We ran in to Kate (Myananda) as we headed back, and she told us that the buses here charge $1.50 per ride.  We rode with her to Maho Bay, and wandered around looking at the casinos, shops and restaurants.

Friday we dinghied over to the French side, and parked in Port Royal in Marigot.  It was a charming little harbor with restaurants and boutiques all around.  After a yummy lunch - crèpe au poulet for me salade césar avec poulet for Charlie - we strolled around the town, visited the marina at Fort Louie, watched the market vendors and purchased some duty-free vodka. It was quite amazing that although everyone we spoke to spoke English, between themselves they spoke French, whereas just down the road, everyone seems to speak English - I haven't heard any Dutch.

Saturday we parked the dinghy on the north side of the lagoon at chandler Island Water World's dock, and walked up to the most amazing Ace hardware store we have ever seen - more like a combination of Home Depot on the ground floor and Bed Bath and Beyond on the upper floor!  We also found Grand Marché, a lovely supermarket.  They delivered our groceries and us back to the dinghy dock.  In the afternoon we took the dinghy under the bridge out to the bay beach, and had a nice swim off the Karakter 000 place.  We delivered Myananda's canvas and parts Saturday night, and were rewarded with a delicious filet mignon steak dinner.  Thanks Kate and Kurt, dinner was wonderful!

AL does the VI

Virgin Islands January 9th - 16th

Our son, IV, his lovely wife Olivia, and their adorable daughter, Anna Louise joined us for a week.  We arranged for a local taxi, George, to meet them at the Beef Island airport and bring them to Nanny Cay, where we had spent the day getting Lady prepped for their arrival (provisions, baby food, diapers, beach toys).  We checked them in to the Nanny Cay Hotel, and headed to Peg Legs, a local restaurant for a delicious dinner.

Sunday they boarded Lady, and we enjoyed breakfast together before departing the marina and headed along the Sir Francis Drake Channel. It was a glorious day, with nice wind and turquoise water. 

We had booked the family in at Leverick Bay Resort and Marinain the North Sound of Virgin Gorda.  The hotel was very accommodating and their room lovely.  Charlie and I stayed aboard Lady on one of the resort's moorings.

Anna Louise went swimming using her purple and yellow life-jacket that I had obtained at the Seven Seas Cruising Association swap at Camp Letts last October.

Our friend Jeff Gentzen had phoned to let us know he was in the area, and would be aboard Straybo, off the Bitter End Yacht Club the following evening.  Jeff and IV have been friends since the were in kindergarten at Barnard Elementary School in Tulsa; we taught Jeff to sail when IV brought him along for weekends at Grand Lake, OK; he is now a professional captain working on a 73 foot Swan sailing yacht.  We modified our plans so that we could meet him Monday evening, so after the family checked out of the hotel, we left North Sound and sailed to The Baths, a magnificent area for swimming with enormous boulders.  Anna Louise went swimming again, and then we took turns to snorkel and watch Anna Louise. While ashore we were able to walk across the lower end of the island to Devils Bay.  Anna Louise has a wonderful Kelty backpackthat she can ride in very comfortably, and it will carry a lot of her stuff too.  She sits in it very comfortable riding behind her dad or mom.  I'm sure it was a great help getting though airports on the way here.  After a lovely day, we sailed back to North Sound, picked up a mooring near Bitter End Yacht Club, and Jeff came over for a drink and visit.  After dinner  Anna Louise went to sleep, and Charlie and I baby-sat while IV and Olivia met Jeff ashore at Saba Rock and then went on to a party at Biter End Yacht Club.

Tuesday morning we dropped the mooring and headed north to Anegada, a low-lying island about two-to three hours sail from Virgin Gorda.  We had a great breeze, and Anna Louise had a grand time playing with toys, lines, and family as we made the passage.  We picked up a mooring off Neptune's Treasure, where we had a room reserved.  While the rest of us decided on dinner choices, Charlie rented a jeep, and once he returned we loaded the car and headed to Loblolly Bay.  Anna Louise swam with her parents, while Charlie and I snorkeled on the reef.  After lunch and a nap, we loaded up the Jeep, and headed to Cow Wreck Bay, where we played on the lovely sand beach and made friends with some local children.

All too soon the sun was getting lower in the sky.  We took a diversion to fee the flamingos, but being the flighty creatures they are, the flamingo pond was deserted.

Dinner at Neptune's Treasure was delicious, most of us had locally caught fish, and Anna looked divine in her turquoise outfit.

Wednesday we had a long sail - Anegada to Norman Island -one end of the BVIs to the other.  The wind was good, and it was another glorious day. 

Once we got to Norman Island, Anna Louise took a nap - here she is on one of the settee cushions moved to the floor of the VIP Guest state room, with a couple of cushions wedged in.  While she was asleep, her parents and Gran-dad were able to take the dinghy over to The Caves and snorkeled and saw lots of pretty fish.  

After they got back Anna Louise woke up, and was able to swim herself.

We went ashore for drinks at Pirates Bight, and Anna Louise played on another sandy beach.

Thursday we had to head back to the dock, as the appointment to finally get the rudder fixed was for that afternoon.  We stopped at The Indians on the way, and IV and I snorkeled around the rocks while Charlie and Olivia stayed on Lady.  We were thrilled to see a small  eel and a hawksbill turtle.  Once we got back to the dock, Charlie was busy with mechanics.  We checked out some of the shops, and went to the beach.

Friday it rained!  All day! Fortunately the weather did not stop IV from joining the dive-trip he had booked, and made two dives on the wreck of RMS Rhone.  We were at the dock, so spent a lazy day on the boat, went out for lunch, did a little shopping and had our last family dinner at Peg Legs, and heard all about IV's big adventure.

The last of Anna Louise's's stuff got removed from Lady, and Charlie got a final picture of his feet with hers.

George the Taxi driver was here promptly at 0630 Saturday morning to pick everyone up for the trip to the airport to go home to Tulsa. 

This was a very special week for us. We were so please to have them aboard.  Anna Louise was born to be an island girl.  She had a splendid time.

(This post is probably of very little interest to anybody but Anna Louise's other grandmother, Rickey Engle.)

Holidays afloat

Virgin Islands

When we departed Nanny Cay for a holiday cruise around the islands, we were pleased to see that QM2 was visiting Road Town, so we headed over to get a closer look at her. 

Christmas Eve, a number of cruisers met in Maho Bay on St. John for a dinghy raft-up floating cocktail party.  We have to start these kind of parties quite early as the days are short and darkness comes pretty quickly.  Jim Wohlleber and Yvonne Thayer (Beckoning) were well-prepared.  Look at their decorated dinghy and their smart white hats.  Very festive!

Everyone brought their own drinks, and the food got passed around.  As you can imagine, it was yummy.  After the party we went over to Beckoning and watched a DVD movie with Jim and Yvonne.

Christmas Day was kind of rainy.  We met Beckoning and Cat Ionin Soldier Bay on Norman Island.  At 1600 the crew of all three boats met on the catamaran for a wonderful Christmas dinner.  Jim and Yvonne had cooked a turkey, Dixie and John had hors d'oeuvres and vegetables, and I prepared a West Indian Christmas pudding.  Another yummy meal.

Between Christmas and New Years, we re-visited some favorite places, and visited others for the first time.  We snorkeled on the wreck of RMS Rhone, we visited the graves of the victims on Salt Island, we celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary with dinner at the Cooper Island Beach Club.

There were lots of boats out the week after Christmas - by the time we got to North Sound, Virgin Gorda for the New Year, there were THREE cruise ships, and over thirty other mega-yachts anchored there.

We decided to join our friends on Bojangles IV ashore at Leverick Bay on Friday Jan 1st, where in addition to a delicious Caribbean buffet, the jumbie dancers came to entertain us.  These are a local family and they dance on stilts, with bright costumes.  They get everyone involved in the performance.

After that we cruised back around Jost Van Dyke, where we stopped in at Little Harbor one evening.  Another night found us back at the Norman Island Bight, where we had a delicious meal aboard Beckoning with Jim and Yvonne, between drinks at the Willy T, and dancing ar Pirates Bight.

By Saturday January 9th, we were back at Nanny Cay eagerly awaiting the arrival of IV, Olivia and Anna Louise.