St. Martin/St. Maarten

St. Maarten/St. Martin has pretty much become ground zero for “mega-yacht” operations in the Caribbean, with several marinas inside the lagoon devoted to these 100’ plus sail and motor yachts. In order to get into the sheltered water inside the spacious lagoon one must pass through a drawbridge, and the parade of yachts passing through the narrow bridge is great fun to watch.

Right on the lagoon, and with their own docks are two large marine supply stores, and a great hardware store is just up the street. Good grocery stores are a short ride, there’s a movie theater, tons of restaurants and various shops, a bunch of casinos, banks, internet cafes, etc., etc. Not exactly a quiet, remote setting, but if you can’t get what you need here, you’re in trouble!

The winter ground swells, caused by storms in the North Atlantic, plague many/most anchorages in the Caribbean at this time of year, so the relatively calm waters of the lagoon are a treat. On the down side, the major airport on the Dutch side of the island provides a steady stream of jets taking off right over the main anchorage throughout the day and into the early evening. Thankfully they don’t seem to have much in the way of nighttime air traffic!

We dinghied over to Marigot on the French side (only about a mile and a half from where we anchored) a couple of times for some coffee, pastries, shopping and people watching. We also found a little internet café in Simpson Bay (Dutch side), and got in the habit of stopping by once day for free wifi and cappuccino, and otherwise busied ourselves with little boat projects. One day we rented a car and drove around the island, sightseeing. The island has become quite built up over the years, and is pretty varied.

We met up with our friends Laura and Roland Richardson at their gallery in Marigot, and later had dinner at their lovely home along with their daughter Radiance. We were treated to an exploration of Roland’s studio, great food (prepared by the artist ), stimulating conversation (thank you Radiance), and a good ration of champagne. An evening of true Caribbean Hopitality (thank you Mrs. Richardson). We hope to stop and see them again on our way back to St. Croix in a few months!

After a week it was time to move on, so we joined the procession of yachts headed through the bridge at 0900 on 1/10/09, following “Princess Marianna,” that only had about a foot to spare on either side of the bridge, and is equipped with its own helicopter! On we go to St. Barths, about 15 miles away.