Thursday, January 28, 2016
82 F, many bursts of rain with intermittent sun
I awoke this morning before we docked in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, the Dutch side of this island. From our balcony I could see the Stad Amsterdam docking across from us—a beautiful large tall ship with three masts. I will have to research her for more information.
We met our group in the Vines Café at 8:45 a.m., for a tour organized by Colin. We walked to Dock Maarten in Philipsburg, about 20 minutes, to meet Captain Bob Cass with Soualiga Destinations, our tour for the day. (www.soualigadestinations.com).
A school we passed on our way out of the channel--I vote for a 2nd career here!
We were told this was the Victoria Secret yacht--not sure if this means owner, management, or what
(photo taken by Brian K)
We met Captain Ken, a 29 year old from the French side of the island, who would be our guide on a 33 ft. boat. Captain Ken said that we faced 7ft. waves, but in retrospect, the boat took the waves well and only two people were sick—not me or TK. At our first stop only a few got off the boat as the water was deep and some people were not water people. Two of our group decided to abandon the tour at this point (not the ones who felt sick though)
As we were passing by the Dutch side of the island we saw yachts of unbelievable size. Ken pointed out one that belonged to Victoria Secret. What exactly that means I don’t know.
Our next stop was for lunch at Caribbean Creole Food, a restaurant right on the shore in Grand Case, St. Martin French West Indies. First we had to get off the boat and into the sea without benefit of a dock. That was not so bad except for the fact that the water was over my head and most everyone else’s and there was a sort of drop off just before one could get to the beach. I don’t feel secure in water over my head, but fortunately TK and Ken assisted me. My motivation was using the bathroom—not ordinarily information I would include in the blog. The water was warm and we were all soaked by now anyway, both by rain and waves coming over the boat.
Caribbean Creole Food Restaurant where we had lunch in St. Martin (French side)
Our lunch choices were barbecue ribs, chicken, or mahi mahi. I chose the rice and beans and salad—absolutely delicious. Everyone enjoyed lunch and the beach, but because of regulations there were no lounge chairs. Ken or Bob told us that Grand Case, a little fishing village on the French side of the island, is considered the “Gourmet Capital of the Caribbean.”
Literature from the ship states, “Ingeniously blending French, Dutch, and West Indian cuisines, Grand Case boasts over 30 restaurants, many situated on the coastline, setting the stage for world class dining.”
We returned to the boat to head for the St. Maarten (Dutch side) airport to see small planes and especially large planes fly directly over us onto the runway. On the way we experienced more rain, but we saw the 2nd largest yacht in the world, owned by a wealthy Russian. It looked like a small cruise ship to me with at least 8 decks. Ken said it was formerly the largest yacht but a wealthy Arab built one larger. Ken also showed us a huge estate owned by Donald Trump on the French side. Trump bought the estate two years ago for $43 million and has not visited it yet. Nine people work there full time year round.
Ken positioned the boat in front of the beach by the airport and we watched several large and small planes land—they swooped right over us. Rick said that he and Bobbi have been at the St. Maarten airport beach before and the planes are about 20-30 feet overhead as they land. Next time we may go to that beach.
A difficult shot without my DSLR
We returned to Dock Maarten about 3 p.m. and TK and I returned to the Regal. Showers removed all the salt water! If I had read the literature sooner, I would have looked for St. Maarten’s newly designed flag, with the national flower, yellow sage, and the national bird, the pelican, silhouetted in flight against the sun. The blue and white of the flag are reminiscent of the crystal sea and the white sands!
It surely was an interesting day.
TK’s Takes: It was very changeable weather today—we went from sun to rain to cool and back to hot again. Not good for colds. The ship is receiving ESPN today but no other channels on TV.
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