St.Maarten to St.Barths, April 2010

Wednesday April 21st 2010
Simpson Bay Lagoon, St Maarten

We have been in St.Maarten since the beginning of March this year getting work done on Daisy. Bob was back for a few weeks and we intended to get out and have some fun, the plan, St.Barths, in particular Columbia Bay.

We woke early ready for our busy day ahead. Bob and I set about getting the boat tidy and secure ready for our sail over to St. Barths. At 8:30 I drove Bob in the dinghy over to the customs office, while I went to do some quick last minute provisioning at The Garden Market, I Collected him an hour later and we headed back to the boat. There were still a few jobs to do before we could set sail, but by midday we were underway.
The weather was beautiful to the South, and the seas calm, we had around 12-14 knots of wind, and were able to raise the sails and enjoy a very pleasant sail, eating lunch on route. We zigzagged a bit and came very close to another yacht at one point, but enjoyed the sail without any unfortunate incidents.

Bob put the fishing line out and we caught a small tuna, I cried as I poured the vodka into its gills, but sure enough it killed the little fish quickly, and I like to think without too much pain. Bob gutted the fish, and then I cleaned it, wrapped it well and packed it in ice to be eaten later.

Arriving at St. Barths we picked up a mooring in Columbia Bay quite close to shore, and just as before we spotted turtles in every direction. We immediately put on our costumes and went snorkeling. Within minutes we spotted several turtles and circled quietly above watching them feed on the grassy bottom. We also spotted a couple of stingrays. Following our swim we enjoyed cocktails on deck as we watched the sun set. Its so beautiful here, I love it, this has to be my new favorite location.

Unfortunately a couple of idiots off a mega yacht came speeding into the bay on see-doo’s, acting like complete morons and doing doughnuts (this is against regulations in a marine park, and anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows that) fortunately someone (not us, although I would have liked to) reported them and the authorities arrived to drag them and their see-doo’s out of the bay, how embarrassing with everyone stood on their yachts watching.

For dinner I cooked lamb shanks with onion gravy, sautéed peppers, mushrooms, and baby carrots, followed by creme brulee, and then we spent a lovely evening on deck watching the stars and listening to music.

This has been such a wonderful day, the kind of day dreams are made of, with no disasters, no breakages in fact no problems at all…