Christmas in St. Maarten and St. Martin

 

Sandy & Sandy
The people here are sure nice...and some of the best are named Sandy.
This fellow's daughter has a bar/restaurant she named after me and her dad.
Ok...just her dad.

After we anchored in St. Maartin's Simpson Bay Lagoon, we spent time on shore in both the Dutch and French sides. The 1st day, we visited a chandlery (a marine parts store) on the Dutch side. I was like a kid in a candy store! There were sooo many things we could've picked up and the prices were good (as far as Caribbean prices go.) Jim and Connie decided on a new dinghy, since there other one was getting tired. Karen and I walked over to a dive shop and picked up new shorty wet suits and other gear with Xmas $ from her mom and dad. (We'll model them for you in a future blog) Karen looks hot in hers...she said I look like a sexy walrus. Thanks mom and dad.

Some folks get a little "wound up" when coming through the bridge
and we all get to enjoy it! These guys must've had too much Patron!

Some views of Marigot, St. Martin (French side.) On Christmas eve, Karen, Jim, Connie and I walked around Marigot. According to Jim and Connie, since they were here last (about 5 years ago) the town is nicer with many improvements and a facelift to a lot of the storefronts. We stopped in for a nice drink at small corner bar, then had a nice dinner at one of the marina-side restaurants. MMM good! The girls and Jim still rave about their great salads. I told them they were full of lettuce. 

Connie and Jim Priebe, sunset in Marigot, St. Martin



Yes, I still make pies. My piemaking abilities are a
tribute to my mother...everyone thanks you, Mom!

On Christmas morning, Connie and Karen made some fixins' for our evening meal and I made an apple/pear pie. Jim kept us all in libations. That evening, Ann and Bob Todd (anchored next to us on s/v Jule III) joined our merry crew for dinner. Yes, everyone...we had a traditional-style meal: turkey/stuffing, mashed potatoes/gravy, broccoli/rice casserole and deviled eggs...and pie.


Karen sure is enjoying the view of Simpson Bay Lagoon,
St. Maartin (Dutch side) from s/v Plane to Sea,
Jim and Connie's record-setting Jenneau 50' sailboat



We hope you all had a wonderful, peaceful Christmas and will enjoy a prosperous 2011

Dr. Seuss' Protege



Caribbean Booby on our bow being bored


Karen and I have been doing some really fine stuff lately....and you might want to come here and try it sometime too.

Come on! Get your mind out of the gutter...were you thinking I was talking about "wacky weed"..."ganja"..."smoke"...cannabis?

I was talking about spending quality time 24/7/365 with your spouse! We've become really silly lately...that's what happens when you get attached at the hip.

Michael's (Beans) magnificent moored mansion



Photo of floating with a nearly-full moon



Sailing to St. Maarten on a super-sized sailboat

One of the things on our bucket list was to make a long overnight sail. This year, we were thinking of taking our boat to St. Maarten. It is about 90 miles from the BVI and would require about 20 hours of motorsailing in our boat to get there.

We met Jim and Connie Priebe last year and had planned to travel alongside them in our boat. Instead, we were invited to travel there on their boat "Plane to Sea".

"A" really radical Russian rowboat

A ketch-rigged kazillionaire's kreampuff

 We left the BVI, passing between Necker Island and Virgin Gorda under sail, at about 6pm on the 21st of December. We pulled into Simpson Bay, St. Maarten about 4:30am....that's 10 1/2 hours folks. We stayed on a port tack and averaged over 8 1/2 knots..all--the--way!! It may not seem like we were going very fast, but in a sailboat traveling to St. Maarten, this is so rare that it's almost unheard of. Needless to say, Jim and I were absolutely grinning from ear to ear. The girls were not as enthused as we were, though. Raging through the waves, heeled over, occasionally taking water over the bow...for 10 straight hours...wasn't as fun for them. So we slowed the boat down, just a little, to keep everyone happy. We even set out the fishing lines, but no fish...oh well, the sail was still perfect, to us.

The Captain (Jim), Connie and Karen

Great gaggle of glam goddesses going through the gate

 We anchored, then got some sleep for a few hours. After waking, we hurried towards the lineup for the drawbridge to open, allowing everyone to enter Simpson Bay Lagoon. There were about 20 boats of various sizes waiting, but we found it was quite easy to cut in line and go through 2nd, ahead of the rest. No one even blew their horns at us...so no foul!

Simpson Bay's special vessel span 

Our boat is beating the best of the rest

There were so many cool and unique boats. At one point after we anchored inside Simpson Bay Lagoon, I counted over 30 megayachts and 10 megasailboats over 100' long tied up to the various marinas. There were some yachts that remained outside the bridge as they were too wide to enter!

J-Boat jewel

Smokin' through the "slot"

"Holy

Smokin' Spaceship,

Batman!"

It's not 20*F here...

As I'm viewing the wx in areas of our wonderful country, it dawns on me that Karen and I are truly blessed to be able to spend our time with barely any clothes on, enjoying the temperatures, swimming in the 90* water, with a slight tropical breeze to cool our skin. And I didn't even mention that we have this to look forward to for the next....um....let's see...I guess it would be...um...yep...6 months!

I guess things could be better...we could have all of you here to enjoy it with us.

There is a blog that we follow that is absolutely hilarious   www.dearmissmermaid.blogspot.com
She also has written some books that are a great read. Below is a recent excerpt:

Beautiful Hand Made Christmas Slippers
I've been busy all day making Christmas Slippers so when the big day
arrives, my friends will have something festive to wear on their
tootsies. These are fairly economical and fit my tiny gift budget
perfectly this year.

Here's the instructions and supply list:

A box of Maxi Pads (you will need 4 per pair of slippers)
Tape or Glue
Little Red Bows (2 per pair of slippers)
Optionally little Snowmen or Santas or Christmas Decor

Lay out two pads, for the soles.
Tape or glue the other two pads around the lower sole, for making the top of the slippers
Tape or glue the red bows in the center of the top of the slippers
Decorate with little snowmen or small candies or small ornaments, use glue or tape to hold in place

These slippers have many unqiue features

Budget Friendly

Absorb Sweat from Feet

Built-in deoderant feature

Soft

Hygenic

Environmentally Safe

Non Allergenic

Disposable

Biodegradable


The really cool thing is, once the holidays are over you can remove the red bows and decorations to recycle for next Christmas. Also, when you are cleaning up from New Year's Eve debauchery,these slippers can be used to mop up spilled champagne or eggnog, then tossed out.


Go check out her site and look at the slipper pictures....it was such an inspiration that I've sent Karen to the store for some supplies to make Xmas presents for all of you!

I went diving the other day and saw some interesting things:

I saw Karen in the holiday spirit






 

A christmas sea star

One of Santa's slow reindeer

No, we haven't been getting too much sun, but thanks for worrying about us.



So you don't think we've forgotten what snow looks like...we have pictures to look at! The orchard in our backyard...Montana....winter 2008!