St Martin / St Maarten

 St Martin/St Maarten is the home of boats, beaches, bakery and boobs (not necessarily in that order):)
It is smallest island in the world ever to have been partitioned (approx 350 years ago) between two different nations, France and Netherlands. The Dutch side is known for their great deals on electronics and marine expertise. The French side is reknowned for its beaches, bakery and boobs. And yes there's actually more...both sides are 100% duty free!

There is no need to check in with customs twice, either side will do. Most cruisers check in on the Dutch side, being the all-things-marine haven. Also, the Dutch side is a good deal safer regarding cruiser theft. With the boat safely secured on the Dutch side, it is fairly easy to tiptoe over to the French side to indulge in its hedonistic attractions. 

We explored the island by bus, dinghy, car and foot. While most of the buses are no more than old vans, they are plentiful and will take you to to either side of the island for just $2. 

Heading by bus into the town of Philipsburg, Sint Maarten (Dutch)

The mysterious island of "Saba"... very James Bondesque. A must see on our return trip.

 We explored Philipsburg which oddly combines alluring charm with jam-packed stores to appease the most manic of bargain hunters..., the electronics shoppers paradise.

Only 2189 miles from our homeport of Chicago, as the crow flies...

That same day we headed back by bus into the French side and stopped at a French Bakery where I indulged in my favorite pastery, the Napoleon. It was at least 3000 calories of indulgent perfection from the mouth watering custard to the light flaky crust. My stomach is growling just writing about it! (Due to the graphic nature of this eating frenzy no photos were taken :)).

It was fun exploring the harbor by dinghy and gazing with mouths agape at the mega yachts.

These sail yachts were all easily over 100 feet long! At night their mastlights we lit red to keep planes from flying into them!

Superyacht "Axioma"

One afternoon we buddy dinghyed with Trish and John over to a French beach to meet up with Trish and John's friends who live on the island.

Trish and John

Beach view of "Dolly" our dinghy

If you drill into this photo you will notice that tops are optional.

Trish's friend and granddaughter. They start 'em young on the topless thing. (Isn't she adorable!)

Every morning at 7:30 on VHF channel 68  a "cruiser net" was sponsered by local business owner "Shrimpy" who owns a marine resale shop. It was the best cruiser networking we've heard todate regarding everything from daily weather, local events, items to buy or sell, crew looking for rides to various ports, and security issues. It was on the net we learned about a "Mexican Train" Domino game that Jeff excitedly attended. 

On the net a solo cruiser who moors extensively in Sint Maarten offered to do a hiking tour for cruisers to get the lay of the land. Jeff and I jumped on that wagon along with a dozen or so other cruisers. About a dozen of us hopped on a "bus" and headed back to explore more of the Dutch side.

We hiked to Fort Amsterdam...

How a young soldier reconciled the magnificent views with heavy artillery is hard to fathom!

While at St Maarten, we had our Dinghy motor serviced as it suddenly decided to quit. It happened at nightime of course but we were on Trish and John's boat only a few hundred yards away so we were able to row back to "Grace". On the "Cruiser's Net" local business' that cater to cruisers can also advertise their wares/sevices/sales etc. We were able to contact the local Dinghy motor repair man who had just advertised on the Net, via our VHF radio. He promptly swung over on his dinghy, hauled our motor away and two days later he had it humming like a finely tuned sewing machine. NICE!

While waiting for our dinghy motor, Jeff and John had "fun" organizing the spaghetti-like wiring above our drive shaft 

Trish, John, Jeff and I decided to rent a car for the day to do the full island monty.

We spent most of the day on the French side. We broke our fast here...

Indulged in fancy schmancy cocktails here...

Notice the swinging bar stools

And ventured on down the beach ...

Tops are optional attire at all the island beaches and often on boats.

Just past the breakwall of this little restaurant is the nude beach.  People of all sizes and shapes strut up and down the beach with pride in all their natural glory...

When in Rome?...

And I can't end the blog without mentioning that we happened to dock our dinghy at the St Maarten yacht club that displayed yacht club flags from around the world. After several minutes of craning our necks we finally found our very own Columbia Yacht club, YES!...

A wondrous journey to all

Pam

Note from Jeff:  I only took my shirt off for the photo above.  That should make everyone sleep better tonight without having a bad dream.