After arriving at Anse de Colombier in St Barth’s in the
dark, we woke up the next day refreshed and ready to check-in to the
country. We were excited to show
Edd and Becca around the island as it is definitely one of our favorites and taking
them to most of the great spots would be fun! We also had chores to catch up on like taking out the trash,
cleaning the boat, checking emails, working on taxes, and provisioning. We started at the captainerie to clear
into the country and then we made a
plan to meet for lunch. Baxter and
I went to Tom’s Juice Bar to access the internet and Edd and Becca went
exploring. We met at L’isoletta –
where they sell pizza by the meter and you don’t feel bad having a glass of
wine at lunch just because everyone else is doing it. From there, we provisioned, stopped at the chandlery, the
pharmacy (they don’t sell ibuprofen at the grocery, only the pharmacy), and
headed back to the dinghy. There are
often breaking waves in the small boat pass between Gustavia and Colombier since
the area shallows from 100 feet to 5 feet in a small distance…and this was
definitely one of those days. We
timed our entry by watching the wave sets, just like a surfer, or risk being
flipped over with the outboard, the groceries, and the computers – it would not
be good. Thanks to Baxter’s
excellent dinghy master skills, we ran the break perfectly and didn’t even have
the bow come up, man, I’m so glad he’s my husband! The rest of the day was spent playing with Kala on the
beach, snorkeling and relishing that we would not be arriving in the dark
anywhere tonight – we were already there.
The following day we were excited to meet up with friends I
used to work with in Utah. Mary,
Brent, Regina and Amado had flown into Sint Marteen and were taking the ferry
to St Barth’s to sail back with us that afternoon. Their ferry arrived on time and I was so excited when I saw
Mary’s face come around the corner…then Brent, Regina and Amado. Introductions were made with Edd and
Becca and we were off to explore.
We hiked up to Fort Gustavia for a great view of St Marten, Saba,
Eustasias, and Ile Forchue. We
also were able to catch a couple planes landing on the crazy runway that is St
Barth’s airport. We had lunch at
Le Creperie – it was an insane experience – I don’t know if I’ve ever tasted
anything so good – ever. I have
tried to replicate whenever I’ve had crepes on the menu and nothing can
compare. If you’re ever in St
Barth’s – if you only have one meal – that is the place to go.
While Edd, Becca, and Baxter dinghied
back to Terrapin (through the small boat channel with the breaking waves),
Regina, Amado, Brent, Mary and I took a cab to Anse de Flamande and hiked back
to Terrapin along the rugged east coast.
As soon as we arrived, Baxter was heading to the beach with Kala to pick
us up. We shuttled back to
Terrapin and set sail west for St Marten.
As we left, we had 12 kts of wind, and we were moving along at about 5
kts. Shortly after passing Ile
Forchue, the wind started fading so we flew the spinnaker…we were lucky to fly
it for about 30 minutes but then the wind completely died and we had to motor
the rest of the way to Marigot Bay.
We found a great spot to anchor and dropped the hook as the sun was
setting. Mary, Brent, Regina and
Amado headed back to their condo and we made plans to meet up the next
day.
After logistical issues, we met back up the next morning and
all hiked Fort Louis, including Kala.
Then we thought a day at the beach sounded good – if only we knew
someone who was close to one…or had a condo rented on the beach…aha!! We do! We headed back to the Utah peeps condo and we spent the day
eating, baking birthday cakes, swimming in the pool, sitting in the hot tub,
using wifi, and enjoying air-conditioned living rooms (it’s been about 6 months
since we’ve done that). It was
such a fantastic day – one that you couldn’t plan any better. We topped it off with dinner at Little Jerusalem
where when you order a falafel off the menu, the owner says, you don’t want
that – you want the special (meat)…um, no thank you, I would like the falafel –
ok that will take a long time…so we waited a long time and thankfully had great
company for lots of laughs and fun stories. Our dessert was the tasty cake that we had made to celebrate
lots of birthdays - Mary, Regina (February 16) and Edd and Baxter (February
12). It was a great day from start
to finish!
1 comment:
Huge smile the whole time reading this!!!!! What an adventure! It was soooo exciting seeing YOU as I came around the corner :) And man, that condo was top notch! To sail on your boat was incredible and see the spinnaker fly....ahhhhh! Wonderful times with terrific friends! Couldn't ask for a better birthday :) Thank you!
Post a Comment