Half of the island is French and the other half Dutch. It is a grand island to sail. After the regatta we decided to sail a clock wise route around the island, stopping at Marigot, Grand Case, Ill Pinel, Orient Bay, Oyster Bay, Phillipsburg and back to Simpson Bay Lagoon.
Here is the track of our trip.
Marigot Bay has a colorful open air market where we shopped for spices and some gifts to send home. It is also the home of a myriad of great restaurants.
We made sure to visit "le bar de la mer" which is also the name of one of our competitors during the Heineken race. Alain Bellone's restaurant specializes in delicious huge grilled prawns. We finished just ahead of his yacht - named the same as the restaurant. We promised him we'd be back to race and to dine again next year.
Our next stop was Grand Case. A full Moon party was already underway the day we arrived and it continued well into the next day. This bay is the home of many restaurants and shops. It's more laid back and at ease. We wandered the streets stopping at each restaurant to devour the menu.
Ill
Pinel sits on the north west corner of Orient Bay surrounded by beautiful reefs.
It was a lovely place to stop for the evening. We found a little waterfront
property we'd love to acquire.
The following day we headed across Orient Bay to an anchorage behind Green Cay. The bay is lined with the softest white sand you could ever imagine. Stu built his famous golf ball roll and soon sun bathers here happily rolling balls down the sand sculpture.
We met several couples on the beach and enjoyed their company so much we invited them to join us for a day sail to Tintamarre an island just off shore.
After a few days we moved on to Oyster Bay where we stopped to inquire about a boat part Stu has been seeking. Later we wandered south and then east around the island which brought us back to Simpson Bay.
It was an ideal week of sun and sailing. Tranquil you might say. But you haven't heard the whole story yet.
While we were racing, our dingy "Peep"
visited the "Dingy Doctor" her trim was falling off and the
repairs we made to her outer tubes need help. She came back looking much better.
While we were in the Simpson Bay lagoon we replaced our 3/8" anchor chain with 5/16 high tensile chain and added a new gypsy to the windless. St Martin is a serious boating community and there is a plentitude of marine goods available here at competitive prices. We were feeling pretty good about our improvements as we set off from Simpson Bay.
At Grand Case, as Stu began to raise the anchor there was a loud clang as the windless ceased winding.
The
first challenge was to uninstall the windless from its framework then to take it
apart to uncover the root of the problem. Stu discovered a clutch plate split from the load and stress applied by our old mismatched chain and gypsy.
The following morning he drove half way around the island on Peep to get the needed replacement parts in
Simpson Bay Lagoon. I expected him to be several hours as he backtracked around
the island.
Within the hour he was back to Shearwater whistling and shouting for help as he approached. Peep was sinking quickly. We attached the harnesses and hauled the dingy out of the water as a waterfall came from beneath the boat. Somehow, a large section of repaired fiberglass had pealed from the underside of the boat revealing a gaping hole. Well, instead of a day repairing the windless it would be a day repairing the dingy. We always have these materials on board since Peep has a poor reliability record.
A new day found peep with a repaired hull and Stu was off again for windless parts. This time he returned with all the items he needed and set to work on the windless. By night fall we were back in one piece but "Peep was looking a little limp. She was loosing a little air in her tubes. At least she wasn't sinking. The repair made earlier in the week by "the dingy doctor" had failed already.
We enjoyed the next few days relaxing and sailing the little sailboat around Orient Bay. Peep continued to deflate. We have materials to repair the tubes on board and Stu began the project only to discover that the seams were tearing where they were repaired and that no degree of patches was going to seal the leaks.
Time for serious rethinking. We have grown more than a little fond of Peep. She has done us well through two and a half years. It was time to accept she was terminal. Budget Marine agreed to put our engine, console and seat on a new dingy at the cost of the dingy alone. Now we have a new "Peep". She is more spacious than her predecessor, has an aluminum hull and is lighter by one hundred pounds. Peep II for Shearwater II, seems right - since a peep is a little baby shearwater sea bird.
Call that a quiet week?