Simpson Bay Lagoon, St. Maarten, Jan 27-29, 2006

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Getting Settled Testing Dinghy in Simpson Bay Lagoon The Porte-bote roars to life Friar's Bay Beach Liberte, Egalite, Franternite Dinner table overlooking Baie Grande Case Post card perfect It’s my first night on land after 17 nights on the boat. The boat has become my home. It is my island, my floating world. I awake at 4am in Karen’s hotel room to the sound of surf. The trees are bent under the weight of the wind. They carry a heavy burden. What kind of burden does Full Circle carry without me to protect and guide her? Yes, she has an experienced crew on board, but she does not have me. The crew will be abandoning her one by one. Only I will stay by her side, but I am not there now. I overcome my anxiety and eventually go back to sleep, but it is not easy. I return to Full Circle with Karen on Saturday. It is important that they get reacquainted; they will be spending a lot of time together. All is well. The anchor held, in spit of the 28 knot winds. We have made the Boathouse restaurant our official land based headquarters in Simpson Bay. They have a well protected dinghy dock, and for a few tips, don’t mind us leaving the dinghy there. We eat several meals there and get to know the staff; that helps. I returned with Karen to spend another night of luxury in her hotel room on Orient Bay; however, we are met by a surprise. There is no running water, no toilet, no washing, no showers! It’s the islands. What can I say? Take me back to Full Circle; she can be counted upon. Well, we made the best of it for the night, but early Sunday morning, we were out of there. We headed into Philipsburg on the Dutch side. It was a French problem. Remember we are wondering back and forth between two countries. Only the French don’t have water. It’s quit handy to have another country close by when one country let’s you down. It has been two days that I have been off the sea. The memory lingers, and I miss it. Simpson Bay, the town, is an assault on the senses. It is loud, garish, and altogether too busy. The car traffic is oppressive. We want to get away. Thank goodness Karen has a car. We head for a beach. On Sunday afternoon, we found ourselves on Friar’s Bay Beach, north of Marigot. We lunched at the Friar’s Bay Beach Café, whose slogan is “Liberte, Egalite, Franternite,” the cry of the French Revolution. It was a very French experience, and the French were French as only the French can be. Others may imitate, but they fool no one. The women worshiped the sun, unencumbered by breast covers. The men wore thongs; we were clearly Americans. In spit of being square pegs in a neighborhood of round holes, we enjoyed the water, the waves, and the eye candy. We go to Grande Case for dinner. I spend Sunday night on the boat with Ted so we can move the boat out of Simpson Bay Lagoon in the morning. While Karen is checking out of her hotel room, we are going to take Full Circle to Marigot on the French side in the morning, She will meet us in Marigot and permanently move aboard Full Circle on Monday. Since Marigot is in another country, we have to clear out of customs and immigration from St. Maarten and clear back in at St. Martin. Pat left yesterday, Mike left today. Ted leaves next Tuesday 1/31. One by one, they abandon Full Circle. Previous | Next