Back from St. Martin

Anyone going through blog withdrawals out there? Well, last week was rather uneventful with everyone doing their best sloth imitations trying to stay as cool as possible. Friday we headed for St. Martin. Yay!! We got the heck off this island and headed to another one - wahoo! We got to the airport at 9am ready to go (at 11). I had to restrain Michael, now in vacation mode, from indulging in the beverage on the 2nd tier of this machine (9am? I think not).



Of course, at 11 when we were still sitting there and there was no sign of the plane, the beer was starting to look a bit more tempting. We were actually just about to indulge ourselves at around noon when the plane seemed to come out of nowhere and we boarded without pretense. The next thing we knew we were on the ground and headed to the St. Maarten Yacht Club for lunch. With all the traffic, it actually took longer to get the whole 2-3 miles from the airport to the restaurant than it did to swap islands (60 miles apart). Luckily, our pals, Jim & Wendy from s/v Merengue were still patiently waiting for us. NOW it's time for a beer (plus Michael bit his inner cheek, so needed to "ice" it). Ah, something different from a Carib!

After a quick lunch, it was time to head out to our home for the weekend, a 27' Island Packet (a monohull - major inhale of breath!). Time to get into the dinghy! We haven't done that for a year and a half!



Once we dropped our stuff off, we took a quick trip back out ourselves to buy a few things from Ace Hardware (e.g. batteries). The dinghy motor operated a bit differently than ours, but we got into the swing of things pretty quickly (that's Merengue behind Michael).



Once in Ace, we just stood there and took it all in. We're in an elevator people!! An elevator - I can't remember the last time we were in an elevator!



Is that a full-length mirror? AACK! I suppose I should be thankful I don't have one of those.



On our way back to the boat, we decided to make a stop for some soda. I stayed in the dinghy with the stuff we bought, while Mike made a quick dash into a gas station. As soon as he got inside, it started raining. Son of a...

That's right - rain harder. Yep, this was just like we remembered it.



Wendy was waiting with a towel for us, Jim with a pump to get the water out of the little boat, and before we knew it we were having rum & tonic sundowners. Good times... Every night, goats could be seen at the top of the rock and I couldn't help but want to belt out that song, The Lonely Goat Herd, from the Sound of Music movie. I restrained myself. Your welcome.



We've spent many a night in the Simpson Bay Lagoon or Marigot Harbor, so can't say it was unfamiliar territory, but I still couldn't sleep. There was music playing from a very distant shore that didn't stop until about a 3:45am and I spent the entire night trying to "name that bass." At least the water was calm, so there was no possibility of sea sickness. Blissfully, the sun finally came up and I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the harbor before dinghy motors get going, the wakes of larger motorboats kick in, and the day's activities begin. While neither of us really miss the boating life, we are glad to still have a foot in here and there because there was a lot to like about being liveaboards too.



The lagoon and outer harbor were pretty full considering hurricane season starts in 2 days, but everyone was spaced out pretty well.



So the PLAN (4-letter word), was to get a bus to Phillipsburg, see if we could find some work boots and sandals for Michael, get him a haircut from his favorite Dominican barber, and buy the billionth mp3 player for me. Sunday, we'd rent a car and head to the grocery stores and get all our frozen goodies before our flight back. Instead, rental cars are so cheap on the island, we decided to just rent a car both days. We were a bit worried, as this was how traffic looked on Friday (and traffic is one of the reasons why we didn't pick St. Martin as an island to live on),



but we actually had no problems with it. We had more difficulty remembering which side of the car the steering wheel was on and driving on the correct side of the street. Stay to the right!

Well, it turns out Mr. Barber (we call him Pepe because he just looks like a Pepe, but his name is Dominic) had moved and we were unable to locate him. Size 9 1/2 work boots were nowhere to be found, but I did find an mp3 player. Of course, I realized upon returning home that I paid $15 more for it than I should have and that it's regular battery operated (and has an 8-hour battery life). Sigh. The good news is that I do have rechargeable batteries/charger from another life, so hopefully all will be well on that note. I also got a free case thrown in so maybe I won't sweat the device into oblivion again.

We had a great meal (as usual) at The Blue Bitch on the Philipsburg boardwalk and realized that we had forgotten how blue the water is here. The water in St. Kitts is dynamic too, but for some reason this aqua color really stands out at most of the St. Martin beaches.


There was a band with a great vibe playing and made us really feel like we were on vacation.



Then we decided to take a quick stop by the Cost-U-Less to confirm that they'd be open on Sunday and to do a preliminary check of what they had to offer this time around (it's always changing, kind of like Costco). They'd be open until 3 on Sunday, which would work, and Jim & Wendy took advantage of us having a car by buying some last minute things for themselves and their 4-legged furball Bailey (25# of kitty litter for $15 - egads!). The next thing we knew, we were putting slowly back to the boat hoping the weight of all of us and our stuff didn't sink the poor thing. Peek-a-boo Wendy! Little sailboat/little dinghy.



How convenient that we got back to the boat in time for another sundowner and some more yodeling goat entertainment. A baguette & cheese made the day perfect. I got a bit of sleep that night (drums coming from the other direction this time) and was ready for the final shopping day. Our flight wasn't until 9pm, so we wanted to shop as late as possible so the frozen stuff would stay that way until we could get it home and into our freezer. So we putzed around until about 11am and then took a quick drive into Philipsburg one more time to track down Pepe. No luck, but we did find some sandals for Michael. We took our time buying stuff in Cost-U-Less and I restrained myself from taking pictures of the produce and vegetarian sections (although I did hug the freezers for a quick second). Our final stop would be Le Grande Marche for the final purchases. We got there around 1:30pm and were very disappointed to discover that what was once a huge refrigerated section dedicated to vegetarian stuff had been widdled down to almost nothing. Products we had been drooling over the thought of, were no longer there. Where they used to have 5 different brands of fake lunch meat, they now had none. Nooooo!!! Why Oh Why did you forsake us Le Grande Marche?

Fine. We bought what they did have and then figured we'd try one other branch of the store on the French side. Sometimes they carried things the other one didn't. As we were walking out of the Dutch store, we noticed something rather disturbing. They were closing. Uh oh. It was only 2pm. We hadn't thought to check the grocery store hours because we just ASSumed they'd be open. Crap. Sure enough we drove to every store we were familiar with (and there were many, we'd spent many months there during our boating life), only to find they were all closed. How disappointing. Well, we did buy a bunch of stuff at Cost-U-Less and the first Grand Marche and now had 2 full collapsible coolers for our efforts. It would have to be enough.

We met up with Jim & Wendy in Marigot for some pizza in Marina Royale, only to discover that all of our favorite places were closed until 5 or later. Really??!! Well, that was fine, that just meant we'd have to try someplace new. We ended up at le Bar de la Mer. The pizza and salad were good, the Presidente's were cold, and the service was very friendly (we really miss that). We've never been to a place on the French side that didn't serve good food and have always found the people there to be incredibly warm. Stylish too - miss that a bit also (and no I don't mean this guy's headband).



Still trying to kill a little more time, and avoid saying goodbye, we headed to Serafina's for some dessert (and to buy a baguette for breakfast in St. Kitts). This place has lots of baked goods, all kinds of breads, and...



very creamy, decadent ice cream. Yummy.



And then it was time to go. Whaa! Bye Jim & Wendy - thanks for the hospitality! We won't mention that as we headed back to the car rental place, we noticed that some supermarkets that had been closed earlier, were opening...

Even though Budget closed at 5, the owner (Francine) let us bring the car back at 7 so we didn't have to sit at the airport for hours. How nice was that? She even dropped us off at the airport. Thanks Francine!

We had PLANned on checking our one piece of luggage and putting the food in the overheads (so they couldn't get left behind or sent to Antigua), but they wouldn't fit, so we switched gears and crossed our fingers. We were also a bit surprised to see that we had a 7:35 boarding time. Remember, we were supposed to leave at 8:55. At about 8, they started taking our tickets, but stopped us right before we walked out onto the tarmac, when the pilot made the decision to refuel. You think he just happened to glance at his fuel gauge? We were boarding by 8:10 and in the air by 8:25. Yes, that would be 30 minutes early!! Wonder if we left anyone behind? Well, since it wasn't us, we thought it was awesome. Upon landing, we were quite pleased to see our 2 coolers waiting for us and hit customs not sure what to expect (we're supposed to be able to bring back food - but who the heck knows). After a quick check of what we had in there, we got a quick stamp of approval and were on our way. Nifty.

Back in St. Kitts, we apparently missed a little excitement off of Ziggy's on The Strip on Sunday as this water spout appeared and gave everyone a bit of a scare/thrill. Tornadoes are everywhere!! (Picture by Kate Walsh "borrowed" from Facebook)



Of course, I was very glad to come back to this. Thanks Kat, Ella, Molly & Nat for keeping the "kids" alive, despite the little twerps' ungrateful antics.



Yes, both kitties are being very clingy today and keep walking across the computer...





Last night, I listened to the "noise" from The Strip until 4:30am so felt right at home. Today, I've got landscapers outside my windows with their gas/electric blowers/hedgers, and the water company guys keep screaming "Inside!" at me (the islander way of ringing your doorbell - which no one has). The water's been turned off and a water meter is being installed (another bill soon to come). Ah...home sweet home...But look at our freezer (good thing we didn't buy anything else!). No electricity outages, please. Now, what's for dinner?

Plane Charter and Piloting to St. Martin

Captain Petrillo here. That's right, I went flying yesterday. What a blast! I met Mike from Fly Windies at the airport with 3 other passengers who were heading to St. Martin for some R&R for a few days. We paid our airport departure fee, went through security and wandered down the runway to our plane.



The little thing was a Piper Aztec that Mike had owned for 2 years, but I was afraid to ask the age of.



Not that I'm really skittish on small planes anymore (once you jump out of one, your perspective changes), but I was hoping this wouldn't be my last picture.



We all piled into the 6-seater and got ready to rumble.



Time for take-off! Going up, up, wahoo!



He hugged the coast for awhile giving us a nice view of the island. Oh, so here's what that horse racing track we have yet to go to looks like.



Nothing but water on the other side.



Once we turned toward St. Martin and got out over the Atlantic, we ran into some storm cells here and there, but stayed under them.



There were rainbows everywhere. I mean everywhere. Here was the first one.



I thought it was cool until I saw 2.



I thought they were cool, until I saw this one. It just got brighter and brighter. There turned out to be several of these. It was really beautiful.



There's St. Barths!



Then it was time to land.



We were there in exactly 27 minutes. Are you kidding me??!! Instead of 9 hours of slogging through the seas, we were now in St. Martin in less than a 1/2 hour. I so have to get me one of these!

Once in St. Martin, we greased the palm of a guy who picked us up in his van and took us to the terminal. Once checked in, it was time to head for our rental cars and go off our separate ways. I stayed with Mike as he really knew his way around the island. Over our 3 years on Jacumba, Michael & I have probably spent a total of 6 months in St. Martin, but we took buses most of the time. When we did drive, Michael was always at the wheel, so I wasn't sure I'd be able to get myself around in the time allotted. Sharing a car with Mike was the way to go.

First we hit Philipsburg and headed to my favorite electronic's store. We've bought many a phone and camera there, not to mention a computer. I bought more of the same. Mike was amazed that I knew exactly what I wanted, bargained the price where I wanted, and out we went. Did I mention I've been to this store a lot (and hate shopping, so do what I have to do to get in and out)?

Then we headed for Cost-U-Less. I had forgotten....A moment of awed silence please. Look at this produce section. Heaven. I've landed in heaven.



Plus I discovered that they had some "new" vegetarian stuff that we were absolutely going to have to try. Fake brats? Fake chirizo? Fake smoked turkey roast? By now I had learned that Mike was going to have a pretty full flight back, so I was going to have to limit myself a bit. Yeah, but we need a new beach chair, 8 bed pillows... stuff! I was going to have to practice some restraint. Ok, I'll only get 4 pillows. I must have this soft, zipperless cooler though. I am so sick of the zippers on our stuff disintegrating and rendering everything useless! I also got a couple of freezer bags for all this frozen stuff I was buying. Ok Mike. This is my "dream" cart. Tell me what I have to take out. I gotta give him credit, he assured me we'd get it all in (and we did). Next stop? Le Grande Marche across the street.

Of course, I shot right over to the freezer section, where a huge display is just for us "backpackers" as Mike called us. Fake deli meat, fake ginger chicken, fake hot dogs, on and on and on. Fake Canadian bacon? I haven't had that in years!!! I took all of it...



I just had to look. Here's the soda aisle. Sigh. (That's right; I'm taking pictures of the supermarket aisles. What of it?!)



I was not leaving with out some creamy, French brie cheese. Yes please!



And walaa. I was done! Mike was still shaking his head that someone else would share his (anti)shopping technique and felt we were shop-mates, not soulmates, get it?.

We hit one more warehouse where Mike had to pick up some stuff for his St. Kitts/Nevis clients and then our shopping was done. We headed to the airport to drop it all off so that the guys there could load it all onto the plane. More greased palms. This is when I noticed that my new freezer bags were not staying closed. Hrmph.

We still had a 1/2 hour to kill before another store delivered Mike's called-in customer purchases to the plane (at 2:30), so we went to Mike's favorite Italian restaurant tucked in somewhere.



I just got a mixed salad as I was picturing myself scarfing down a baguette (yes, I bought 2) and some brie with Michael later.

Time to drop off the rental car and head back to the plane. When I paid the departure tax, Mike warned me that it could be anywhere from $10 to $40 (all depended on the agent). I lucked out when they treated it as the transfer it was, and only asked for $10. Then we waited for the guy who's palm we greased earlier and we were whisked away to the tarmac. The 4 rears seats had been removed and the plane was packed to its gills (by the 2nd guy we had tipped). Looks like the rental cars we had when we shopped there in the past doesn't it?

vs

Shopping done; time to go. We were going to take off right behind this big guy. You first!



Here we go again.



See the beach (Maho)? It's a big deal for people to come lay out there as the planes go directly above them at a very low altitude (there have been many a picture in magazines world-wide capturing this combo). A restaurant nearby used to have a speaker system that would let you listen in on the pilots landing & taking off. I'm supposing 9/11 stopped that particular attraction.



Once up, I wanted to know where the GPS was. The radar. The auto pilot...Next thing you knew I was flying the plane. All by myself! Fasten your seatbelts people you could be in for a bumpy ride. When Mike showed me what we didn't want to do and put the nose pretty vertical and then tipped us back down, I thought my stomach (and salad) might find its way out of my eye sockets, but I was sure not to do that while I had the yoke (either lose my lunch or put it in a vertical stall). Because we were so heavy, the nose did keep wanting to creep up, so I had to concentrate on keeping the horizon exactly at nose level. Heading 160? No problem (sort of). I kept us in the air for 10 minutes. No really, where's the auto pilot? Oh, his name is Mike.

As we got closer to St. Kitts, we decided to see if we could buzz Michael who was supposed to be working on Sandy Bank (remember, our favorite Sunday beach?). These pictures are just not going to do justice to how low we got. Pictures that would have depicted this were blurry (maybe from my sweat oozing down the lens)



As a matter of fact, we got so low, we almost didn't get back up. I think Mike forgot about how heavy we were and with some island-wind affects had a hard time getting us lifted again, but after a lot of coaxing (and me restraining my urge to grab my yoke and yank up too), up we went. Whew. After all that, Michael wasn't even there. Hrmph.

Turns out we were heading to Nevis first. Where's the rest of the runway?



We offloaded the groceries for the Nevis businesses with me noticing how melted everything was, reloaded the St. Kitts stuff, paid the customs agent (a process that could have taken hours, but went pretty quickly this time - maybe the fact that it was time to go home - 4:30 - helped) and then we were off to St. Kitts.

This time we buzzed Michael's work compound, but still he didn't see/hear us (it's below us in the picture)! At least we had an easier time getting air beneath us again. Just for the record, Mike doesn't normally do such stunts (although he used to - his experiences are amazing), but this was a special occasion.



Then it was time for our final landing.



When we took our stuff off of the plane, I noticed that none of my freezer bags had stayed closed. Glad the stuff was soy and not the real thing, yuck.

One thing I've heard a lot of complaints about is checking into this island. Either by boat or plane. As many times as we've been in and out, we have never had a problem. Not even a little bit. Today, I got a taste of it. A mouthful actually. Mike sent me in to at least fill in the immigration form. The woman in the resident line (yes, we're residents) had her head on the desk, but I stood there patiently anyway. After another agent cleared her throat, mine looked really pissed and waved me up. Here's the conversation:

JerkAgent (disgustedly looking at NiceAgent): What plane is she on?

NiceAgent: Who?

JerkAgent: Her.

NiceAgent: Ask her.

JerkAgent: Who?

NiceAgent: The girl in front of you.

JerkAgent to me: What plane are you on? There aren't any planes here.

Me: I came with Mike on Fly Windies from St. Martin. He does this every Wednesday.

JerkAgent (look of utter contempt): Then you have to wait for him. (Head back on desk)

Amused, I asked her if she could at least give me the form I needed to complete. Surprisingly, she did.

Once Mike came inside, JerkAgent asked him when "she" was leaving and when I told her I lived here so was staying, her whole attitude changed. ??!!! I don't know if she just assumed I was some hoighty-toighty visitor in a private plane stupidly standing in the wrong line or what, but even if I was - this was her way of welcoming me to the island? Nice.

That whole hassle was erased, however, when I went through customs without owing any duty. The food for personal use was a no-brainer, but they might have charged me for the cat food, cooler, etc. Mike got snagged and had to pay $175EC ($65US) on some printer cartridges he had bought. Ouch. Believe it or not, that still put the cost of the cartridges at less than what he would have paid here (they were $15-$20ea in SM and $40 in SK). Sheesh. This load sure doesn't look like much does it, but you'd be amazed. It was totally worth it.



Michael & I got home at the same time and he was amazed at all the goodies. Now that's a beautiful thing (good thing I "restrained" myself or it all wouldn't have fit).



Michael couldn't wait to break into the brie & bread. Me neither! Ooh la la!



Michael then went to a going away party, so I made myself up some cottage cheese, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and bananas. Nirvana.



Dessert (I only bought one bag of these. Two M&Ms for me...two M&Ms for Mike...).




It was totally exhausting and perfect. Tonight's dinner? Pasta with garlic, oil, and fake shrimp. Plus, the 2nd baguette. It's going to be delectable.