Viva La France !!!!!
We arrived safely in Marigot, St. Martin and are officially in the French Caribbean. Our passage was wonderful at a brisk 7 knots on a course that is notorious for being a motor right into the wind, despite almost being run down by the cruise ship "Norwegian Epic". We also saw whales only 7 miles off the coast of St. Martin.
It made us misty eyed to run the French tricolors up our mast..........when we bought our boat we dreamed of this day. We are within sight of St. Barts and Saba.
But wait.........not so fast. St. Martin for us normally invokes the worst of the Caribbean - Burger King, Duty Free shopping and traffic jams so bad we might as well be in DC. Well, that was the Dutch side. The French side we checked into has really been a pleasant surprise. The restaurants in Marigot and Grand Case are amazing. Little family owned restaurants called Lolos are everywhere and serve a mean shrimp creole with beans and rice for about $7. We have had some amazing nights out in beautiful French restaurants on the water. The people watching has been superb. We also took the longest dinghy ride in our history..........about 3 miles with frequent refueling of our 2 hp honda outboard.
We are planning on staying put for a few days and then on to Anguilla. We plan to spend February in St. Barts (and probably more time than that).
Boat is fine. All systems working perfectly. Another top 10 list of things we are thankful for:
1) Great anchor and chain
2) Washing machine
3) Water maker
4) Reliable outboard motor
5) Wind generator that really produces
6) Deep center cockpit
7) Wifi antenna (thanks Dave)
8) New cockpit speakers we bought here and installed ourselves
9) 12 inch Temperpedic mattress
10) High pressure water system/water heater
We aren't having alot of luck getting wifi on the boat here so we are at an internet cafe but will post pictures the next time we can. It must be time for the patisserie again.
It made us misty eyed to run the French tricolors up our mast..........when we bought our boat we dreamed of this day. We are within sight of St. Barts and Saba.
But wait.........not so fast. St. Martin for us normally invokes the worst of the Caribbean - Burger King, Duty Free shopping and traffic jams so bad we might as well be in DC. Well, that was the Dutch side. The French side we checked into has really been a pleasant surprise. The restaurants in Marigot and Grand Case are amazing. Little family owned restaurants called Lolos are everywhere and serve a mean shrimp creole with beans and rice for about $7. We have had some amazing nights out in beautiful French restaurants on the water. The people watching has been superb. We also took the longest dinghy ride in our history..........about 3 miles with frequent refueling of our 2 hp honda outboard.
We are planning on staying put for a few days and then on to Anguilla. We plan to spend February in St. Barts (and probably more time than that).
Boat is fine. All systems working perfectly. Another top 10 list of things we are thankful for:
1) Great anchor and chain
2) Washing machine
3) Water maker
4) Reliable outboard motor
5) Wind generator that really produces
6) Deep center cockpit
7) Wifi antenna (thanks Dave)
8) New cockpit speakers we bought here and installed ourselves
9) 12 inch Temperpedic mattress
10) High pressure water system/water heater
We aren't having alot of luck getting wifi on the boat here so we are at an internet cafe but will post pictures the next time we can. It must be time for the patisserie again.