Sailboat Discovery: St Marteen

Saint Marteen

After 10 days in the BVI we were excited to visit our first French island ( and Dutch), but that meant making the almost 90 mile passage across the Anagada straits. Its a shallow area that is know for some rough seas and since you are still doing some easting it can get very uncomfortable. We were lucky to catch a good weather window and had a rather pleasant motor sail! we left Virgin Gorda at about 1am and arrive in daylight at the port of Margot on the French side of St Marteen. Margot is a large moderately protected harbor on the French portion of St Marteen, it offers the easiest and cheapest way to enter the island. We cleared in at budget marine for only a small donation to the youth sailing program! At last we were in the land of Baguettes, croissant's, and cheap wine and cheese! Every day we were tempted by the smells of fresh bread and pastries, there is nothing like to taste of a fresh made chocolate croissant made by people who really know how! And since its a French island and the government subsidizes bread , cheese and wine its really cheap like on euro for a croissants and the same for a baguette!

We took the dink into the lagoon and explored the shopping and French food that it had to offer, eventually we took the dink all the way across to the Dutch side to ogle the huge mega yachts both sail and power that hang out at the marinas on the Dutch side of the lagoon. Some of the yachts are so large that they barley fit ( some by mere inches) thru the opening bridge!

St Marteen has the best chandleries in the east Caribbean, both Island Water World and Budget Marine have their flagship stores on the Dutch side of the lagoon. The island is a great place to buy a dink if your in need of one, the duty free aspect means that a top flight dink can be had for thousands less than the states, and its a easy task to sell your old one thru the cruisers net or to a local fellow named shrimpy who buys and sells used dinks!

Alas we needed to be heading south so our stay only lasted five days and when we got a weather window we were off to the islands of St Eustace's, St Kitts and Monserrat!