Five weeks in St. Maarten

As of tomorrow we will have been here in St. Maarten for five weeks! We came to visit with my Mom and Dad and then Bob took a trip to the states for work and voila, five weeks. Speaking of voila, a sister boat, Voilà, from Montréal arrived here the other day. It is great to see two such similar boats anchored side-by-side AND to meet the occupants who want to go to Ireland and Norway! The kids spent some great time with Yaya and Papou and Mom and Dad were able to get a bunch of things crossed off our to-do list including some boat repairs, work, taxes and assisting Anna with her little Bandana business. Anna and I, and a whole troupe of assistants on the beach, made 240 headbands and she completed her order that will head off to Block Island for the summer season at Beachcomber. Stop in if you are passing through Block Island. We are busy this morning planning the final legs of our voyage including developing a calendar that helps us conceptualize what needs to happen to get us back to Maine before school starts in August.

We have had strong winds the past three days which kept us mostly confined to the boat. We did venture out to pick Bob up from the airport yesterday and decided to head over to the resort for a swim. As we were tying up, one of the dock hands came over to tell us he didn't recommend it, the waves had been quite destructive, blowing all the dock boards off! The crew that manages the dock  have been super and not only allowed us to tie up there all this time but they have been warm, friendly and helpful. We have seen those same familiar faces as we go about our business around town and they always stop to say hi and inquire about the kids. José, the dock master, was there when Bob and Finn landed Finn's big Jack on the beach and let us know that it was not only the biggest Crevall Jack he had ever seen but also that there was a risk of ciguatera from such a mature fish, probably saving our butt! On Tuesday night, they were robbed of dingies, motors and a Honda generator. We had been tied up there night after night while my parents were in town, yikes! A close call. We are sad for them all.

Repairing Big Blue in my Parents room

Finn and Anna checking out the tall ship Stad Amsterdam

Anna getting ready for the ropes course and zip line at Loterie Farm

The ropes master was impressed with how comfortable Anna was with her harness ;)

 

Anna on the zip line with her new sneaks!
She has outgrown everything else onboard.

 

Finn and NH friend Robson with the Heineken Regatta in the background

Anna playing bar tender

Proud Finn with Mom after catching his big fish

Made the Flatanger News, Again!

Below is a link to a great article from the Flatanger news on our meeting with Catara, a boat from Flatanger, Norway, our furthest point north. We spent two weeks there this past summer and had fun meeting this great Flatanger family in St. Maarten. Unfortunately our delay in St. Maarten will likely mean we will not catch up with them again, this is very sad for us.

Link to Flatanger News

Finn's Big Jack

 

My Jack!

I went fishing with my Dad and I caught a Jack. He towed the whole dinghy and we finally got him in the boat. It took us 20 minutes to get him in the boat. Dad had to help me reel. We didn’t eat him.  We thought my fish had eaten coral, that’s why we didn’t eat it. We drove up on the beach in the dinghy to show everyone my fish. Dad has gone to the USA for work. We made a ‘Dad’ out of our noodles. We used a paper plate for a face and put on his bathing suit and straw hat, and there Dad was.  I saw Doug and Beatrices’ plane leaving and Yaya and Papous’ plane leaving. We got pictures of the planes, even Dad’s.

Doug and Beatrice on their way to Toronto

 

Regarding Boats

from: The Wind in the Willows, By Kenneth Grahame (Latest School Project, read and typed by Anna)

'Nice?  It’s the only thing ,’ said the Water Rat solemnly,  as he leant forward for his stroke.  ‘Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing -  absolutely nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing  about in boats. Simply messing,’  he went on dreamily:  ‘messing – in – boats;  messing – ‘

'Look ahead, Rat!’ cried the Mole suddenly.

It was too late. The boat struck the bank full tilt. The dreamer, the joyous oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat, his heels in the air.

‘-  about in boats – or with boats,’ the Rat went on composedly, picking  himself up with a pleasant laugh.  'In or out of ‘ em it doesn’t matter .  Nothing seems really to matter, that’s the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don’t; whether you reach somewhere else , or whether you never get anywhere at all , you’re always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you’ve done it there’s always  something  else to do , and you can do it if you like,  but you’d much better not.'

Norway South and the Parallel Universe

 

Soufrierre Hills, Montserrat

We have reached St. Maarten, AND Yaya and Papou! The kids are thrilled. We arrived on Monday morning after a 24 hour passage from Guadeloupe which included a drive-by of the active volcano, Soufrierre Hills, on Montserrat. This was very exciting. Anna has shown a big interest in geology but unfortunately was under the influence of Benadryl after receiving 32 stings from a jellyfish so was quite sleepy for the live-action lesson on volcanology.



The kids have had a fantastic week playing on the beach and sleeping over with Yaya and Papou. There have also been lots of kids to play with including a little boy from home in New Hampshire, here with his Great Grandma and Mom, two kids from New York State, Ages 6 and 9 AND Alice and Hattie from Yacht Cariad arrived, the day after us! Bob and I keep chuckling because the kids are doing everything they can to avoid us, afraid of being railroaded into leaving, doing school or some other task that involves removing a bathing suit or leaving the beach.

It has been many months since we have seen any family at all. My parents have been coming to St, Maarten for 25 years so seeing them, and their neighbors here at the resort, is like coming home. We ourselves have been here a number of times. Bob and I have had a running dialogue since arriving in Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria about the similarities of Puerto Rico and St. Maarten. Back in December, after being delayed multiple times in Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal, we missed our departure date to meet Yaya and Papou on their December trip which was a blessing in disguise because, for one, we heard the crossing at Thanksgiving was awful AND we had a chance to meet one of my adoptive Norwegian families at their regular holiday spot, Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria.

I had stayed with Knut and Ingrid in Levanger, Norway over twenty years ago and we had an awesome time with them and family at their Hytte, or cottage, this summer in Norway. Knut and Ingrid had had to work much of the time we were there but mentioned that they would be in the Canaries on December 5. I wrote it off at the time, we would be half way across the Atlantic on December 5, but after our misadventures trying to reach the Canaries, we soon realized our stay there would overlap with Knut and Ingrid! 

West Coast of Gran Canaria

There was much debate on where to stay and whether to take Midwatch to where Knut and Ingrid were staying on the south coast of Gran Canaria or to leave Midwatch in the north, leaving us flexibility for future destinations with the predominant north winds and famous acceleration zones. When we arrived at Las Palmas on the north coast, we were informed the marina was fully booked and they would only have room for us for two nights. We checked the weather, beautiful for two days out, and our decision was made. We sent a note off to Knut and Ingrid to invite them to join us for the trip around the mysterious ,and little-sailed, west coast of Gran Canaria.

Knut and Ingrid took a taxi from Puerto Rico very early in the morning, arriving before dawn for the 10 hour trip to Puerto Rico. Fortunately no one told us that the west coast of Gran Canaria was too rough for sailing and it was the once-a-year calm around the island. We had an absolutely lovely day. We sailed, or motored..., in close to the high mountains, eyeing greenhouses and tour busses on the precarious mountain roads. We spotted a pod of dolphins and a short fin pilot whale! We fished all the way down, catching only a bird and I was thrilled to death to have Knut, an old farm boy, on board, saving me the task of extracting the bird from the line. We finally arrived in Puerto Rico late in the afternoon and we all had a great dinner out at an Irish pub.



A well-handled, if unfortunate bird. All ended well for bird ...and humans.

We spent the next few days visiting with Knut and Ingrid and had soon dubbed Puerto Rico, “Norway South.” Anna has been learning Spanish this year but we were hearing more Norwegian than Spanish.  The Supermarkets were the same chain as in Norway and the markets contained Norwegian products. The hotel where Knut and Ingrid stayed was run by a Swede and had only Norwegian and Swedish guests.  We even stocked up on our favorite Norwegian candy and bought a tube of bacon ost.

It was about this time that we started to recognize this place, not because we had been there before, but because it was so similar to St. Maarten where my Mom and Dad spend their vacations. The menus, supermarkets, tours, and even souvenir sellers were all geared for the Scandinavian market, just as St. Maarten caters to Americans and Canadians. We were totally at home visiting Knut and Ingrid and were treated to a great Thursday night special of Torsk (cod). Here in St. Maarten, the Thursday specialty is beef brisket, but the concept is the same.

Across the ocean, we are now well settled in in St. Maarten. We have a routine including eating on the deck, swimming and Bob and I catching up on work and boat projects. Mom and Dad (Yaya and Papou) brought along maple syrup and Cabot cheddar and the supermarkets have items we have not seen for a very long time, including fresh milk, large bags of tortilla chips and yummy salsa. I’m glad we do love salsa because as the departing neighbor vacationers empty their fridges, ¾ full jars keep showing up.  Just this morning a bag of Fritos, a package of Chips-a-hoy cookies and a bottle of rum somehow mysteriously arrived. We think back to the great treats passed on when Knut and Ingrid departed Gran Canaria to return to Norway, honey, Jam, cheese. All this tells me, people are people and the world is small.  Love it!