Ile Fourchue, St. Barths. What a great setting!
Maria walking the docks in Simpson Bay Maria. There are lots of fellow sailors to visit here!
Maria and Kamal (Deepti's brother) at DK Gems. The secrets are in the boxes...
Just a view of the mega-yachts from Aspen's deck in Sint Maarten.
Maria after a visit to the hair salon on Sint Maarten.
Green margaritas on St. Patrick's Day of course!
Two wayward sailors, Maria and Captain Steve, floating in the villa's fantastic pool.
Lots of anchored boats in Grand Case, French St. Martin for the Tuesday night street party.
Another set of friends from Holland (Jan and Ida) paddled by Aspen for a visit as well.
Steve's running friend Jan from Holland. We have been running together since 1996 on Sint Maarten.
Maria at the Tuesday street party in Grand Case, St. Martin. It was pretty crowded!
S/Y Aspen – March 27, 2016 – Log #142
Aspen Position: 18 degrees 02’ N 063 degrees 05’ W
Sint Maarten/St. Martin
It was a lovely sail from Antigua to Ile Fourchue, off the coast of St. Barts. We arrived in daylight and the entrance was easy and welcoming after 15 hours at sea.
Ile Fourchue is uninhabited and a national park for St. Barts. If the once present goats had not eaten all the vegetation they might still be alive to enjoy the stark setting. But such is not the case for the goats.
Instead we discovered an ancient caldera, blown apart on the west side so many million years ago. One part of the high crater rim is still present and my running was like being on a lunar landscape. What fun that was.
Leaving Ile Fourchue it was only a 3 hour sail to our favorite island, Sint Maarten. It felt like we were coming home as we motored through the bridge and into Simpson Bay Lagoon, Sint Maarten.
We have lived on Sint Maarten, partied here, made lots of lasting friends and of course anchored Aspen among the thriving yet friendly island. Where else can you have happy hour beside the bridge and watch multi-million dollar mega-yachts float into the Lagoon mere feet from your rum punch?
The rich of the rich come here on their vessels, as do the beautiful people but no one really cares who they are. Sailors love to look at their magnificent ships, enormous sailboats and all the toys they store on deck as they parade slowly by.
If you have a couple hundred million dollars (US currency of course) you too can become part of the parade.
Aspen led one regal procession through the bridge and into the Lagoon even though Captain Steve hates to be first though the bridge, just in case something goes wrong as has happened before. But this time it was fun waving to everyone gathered at the bar before finding a safe shelter inside.
Now it is time to relax and recharge, both Aspen and ourselves.
Maria was enjoying some great R&R with a hair appointment, nails done, a visit with her favorite jewelers (Deepti and Kamal) and even has managed to fit in a massage.
While Maria got pampered, Captain Steve changed the depth sounder, replaced the main battery bank, installed a new water maker pump, fixed the wind generator, worked on the refrigeration and only managed to smash 2 fingers in the process. Ah but they will heal, he was heard saying.
We’ve posted some pictures of our social activities on the blog site too.
Sail on, sail on Aspen…
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