Heading South for Hurrican Season
16 May 2011 | St. Martin, French Antilles
Carl/Carrie
After working the season in St. Thomas we have pulled anchor and headed east to make our way down the Leewards and Windwards to Grenada for the summer months. During hurricane season (officially June through October) the southern islands provide the best place to hang out as they are normally out of the path of most tropical storms generated in the Atlantic.
Our first stop is in St. Martin/Sint Maarten, the island shared by two countries, the French to the north and the Dutch to the south. Legend has it the countries were too civilized to fight over possession so a Frenchman with a bottle of wine started on the north end and a Dutchman with a bottle of gin started at the south end, and when they met they established the border. They say that since the gin was stronger the Dutch got less real estate in the deal.
The picture above is of the French side and OMG do they have wonderful fresh baked bread! We plan on spending a week here doing projects and exploring the beautiful countryside. Yesterday we experienced a Tropical Wave which brought drenching rain and 40 mph winds. This is typical of early on in the season as these are precursors to storms in later months.