La Belle St. Barthelemy

It’s only about 15 miles as the pelican flies from St. Maarten to St. Barths, as we left Simpson Bay the island of Saba was shrouded in clouds off to starboard, Statia and St. Kitts were just barely visible further south in the hazy distance. The passage over was not the greatest, as we couldn’t quite lay St. Barths and were close hauled in 15-20 knots of gusty wind, punching into the 6-8’ lumpy and confused seas between the islands. It was a little like being stuck in a washing machine, Emmy began to look a little green and wound up “feeding the fish,“ as we motored in the last couple of miles.

When we arrived at Gustavia shortly before 5 PM we found the anchorages full of boats, both large and small, the wind whistling through the outer harbor with enough swell running to cause even the largest sailing yachts to rock like giant pendulums. We found a spot that was a little closer to a couple other boats than I’d prefer, but with not a lot of light left and few choices we dropped anchor and snubbed it up.

The next morning we put the dinghy in the water (we usually carry it on deck when sailing), and went ashore to clear Customs and reacquaint ourselves with Gustavia. It had been a year and a half since our last visit, but just as then the entry process was a miracle of simplicity and friendly helpfulness. We showed our passports and boat registration, filled out a couple of forms, and when I said I wasn’t sure how long we would be staying, the officer said to just come back when we wanted to check out, and wished us a pleasant stay…it’s nice feeling like welcome guests, and not some kind of probable criminal/terrorists!

We strolled down the quay and settled into a little restaurant right on the inner harbor for lunch, overlooking lovely classic yachts, with quaint red-roofed buildings and gardens covering the surrounding hillsides. Sounds pretty good, huh? Okay, here’s the bad news…two sandwiches, one cup of soup, one bottle of sparkling water, $70 USD. Gulp. St. Barths, especially in high season, is often a little tough on the wallet.

For “high season” the shops and restaurants seemed kind of quiet, and like every island we’ve visited so far on this trip, conversations with locals often turns to the difficult season, and the fact that there are fewer visitors and most of the folks who are coming are spending less freely. Not surprising I suppose, given the current economic climate, but interesting to see the widespread effects across the region. Even the dock setup for mega yachts was less than half filled during our stay.

The next day we took the dinghy around to the bay at Columbier, a truly lovely spot and a decided favorite, to scout it out with the idea of bringing Avalon over, but the swell looked worse than even in Gustavia harbor. We did see several big sea turtles (same as last visit) and later tracked down our old friend Yves and his wife Anne, and had a fun evening at “Le Select,” an infamous little bar where we had a surprisingly good (and affordable!) dinner of fresh fish and a few beverages.

A couple afternoons were well spent on the beach at Baie St. Jean, which we reached by a hilly walk from town (good for the legs!), that takes you through the narrow notch that airplanes must fly through to land at one of the most extreme airports you’ll find anywhere. With a super short runway that ends right at the beach, no jets at all are allowed, and you can’t help but stop and watch when a plane is coming in for a landing!

Probably one of the Caribbean’s “chicest” islands, St. Barths is home to lots of small electric cars, which have replaced the venerable Mini Moke as transportation of choice. There’s also a pretty strong emphasis on living a “Green” lifestyle, and a big shock to me, the French (at least here on St. Barths) seem to be changing their views on smoking a little, with a few no smoking restaurants, and smokers going outside to smoke. Amazing! Many stores and shops close for a couple of hours for lunch, which can be disconcerting at first, but you get used to it.

The weather forecasts indicate a slight moderation, so we’re going to head to St. Kitts next (approx 45 miles away), will send the next update from there - Au revoir