St. Martin 1/6/17

Breakfast: Ramekin Eggs

Lunch: 

Happy Hour: Pina Coladas

Dinner: Plongeior

We stayed at Ile Fourche for a bit and then sailed over to Ile Pinel, a very small island off of St Martin that is home to many iguanas of all sizes. Sandy sailed us over. She needs to buy her own cat and take us on outings!

Sandy turned us in a complete circle for fun. Wonder what the other boats thought of us?

Lovely and lively Il Pinel.

Ile Pinel was wonderful. Sandy and Victor took the kayak in and Rick and I brought it back. There are several little beach bars on Pinel. We picked one and had a beer in the shade. The best part of Pinel was the shopping! There was a great shop filled with tons of interesting and reasonable items. We all chipped in and bought a pareo for Emma. She and Ashley are going on a big ship Caribbean cruise next week and we wanted her to remember us.

So pretty!

And Ashley is even prettier!

 RIck and I brought everyone a "Million Dollars" as a farewell gift.

There are also a ton of iguanas that love to eat  lettuce from your hand. Emma set us out with a big bag, so we had fun with the hungry little guys.

The Big Guy!

Lettuce? I love lettuce!

I bought an ankle bracelet and some gifts for friends at Il Pinel. Very fun little shop with all kinds of items.

Showing off our ankle bracelets.

While we are looking at feet, Pat and I had the same color of toenail polish.
Uncanny with all the choices out there!

We got back to the boat and had some time to play in the water. I wanted to try the SUP this trip. I was only able to stay on it for a little bit. People make it look so easy. I can attest that it is NOT easy! Fun to try, though.

Barb and Pat chilling.

Bill enjoying a beer in his easy chair.

The Wands

This particular SUP was not as easy as it looks!

Captain Ashley took us back to the Marina, where we packed our suitcases. It was much more fun packing them to come on the trip rather than readying them for departure. 

Entering the Fort Louis Marina in Marigot.

Captain Ashley demonstrating considerable skill.

He had to back the catamaran up into this tiny little space.

Ashley made us delicious Pina Coladas and then we all headed into Marigot for dinner at Plongeior. This would be our last meal together. Kind of sad. After a week in close quarters, you become attached to your new friends! Velvet brought battery powered lights that she shared with the ladies. We looked very festive! Fun dinner in this cute little restaurant.

Velvet in her lights.

Our final dinner together at Plongeior (The Dive).

St. Martin 1/5/17

Breakfast: fruit, bagels, cheese, etc.

Lunch: salad with red peppers, prosciutto, cucumbers, mango, Gouda, black olives, potatoes

Happy Hour: BBC - Baileys, Banana, Coconut

Dinner: bruschetta, chicken with cream sauce, butternut squash, couscous, chocolate pie.

Today we tendered into Gustavia and eight of us took a van tour of the island. This is where the money is in the Caribbean.

Welcome to Gustavia!

What yachts we saw in the harbor!

Our driver was Florian from L'Orient. (It rhymes in French.) 
We learned the prices and star ratings for every hotel we passed. LOL

I loved seeing where the locals lived and shopped as well as the beautiful beaches.

Ornate roof line decorations.

Another interesting touch.

The cans hanging on little tea cup hooks are ashtrays if you walk on the beach. Clever.

A view of Columbia Bay where we anchored last night from above.

On St Barths their water supply is by family cisterns. They also have desalinization plants to provide fresh water.

We did not have time for shopping, but that is fine since it the shops were over our heads money-wise. But we did have time to pose in front of said unaffordable shops!

We came back to the boat for another wonderful lunch, unfortunately, with no wine since we were diving later in the day.

Our last dive for the day was on Ile Fourche at a rock ring off the island. Ile Fourche was a volcano crater. Half is gone by erosion but there is a lovely resultant little cove. We moored right in the center of the cove. The dive was very good. The water was clear and the colors were strong. We did not experience the diversity of sea life, but we did see plenty of good sights. Barracuda, parrot fish, a huge lobster, trumpet fish, squirrel fish and much more.

Trunk Fish

Squirrel Fish

My new mask.

French Angelfish

Larry the Lobster

Ruth

Bill

A Sandy/Victor kiss hidden by bubbles.

Tom

Happy Hour began with a little rain so we moved from the fly bridge down to the cockpit. No Green Flash once again.

This was our last dinner on the boat. Hard to believe a full week has slipped by. This is the last time Emma will ring her little bell and begin her dinner description with, "Alright, my Lovelies, tonight we have..."

Our Little Lovely!

We had our last "getting to know you" activity. Our group likes to stretch it out! Tonight's topic was How Did You Meet? and What Was Your First Date? It was very fun to go back in time with our new friends to learn how they met. Very entertaining and endearing.

Jim and Velvet

Barb and Bill

Victor and Sandy

Pat and Tom

Ruth and Rick