Blue Heron

St. Martin is a very developed and somewhat touristy island. The Simpson Bay area is beautiful as you sail in, with mountains to the south and a long sandy beach stretching to the north, which rings a large lagoon. Having arrived early in the morning, we anchored to await the opening of the drawbridge that allows you into the lagoon in which our marina was located.
We were meeting my sister Marguerite and her husband Norman, who had flown down from South Carolina. They were waiting for us and waved as we went through the drawbridge. We were able to greet them a short while later when they arrived at the marina. They invited us to their hotel for drinks and pizza that evening.
Clearing in was painless; the Dutch are very efficient. Walking to Customs showed that this part of St. Martin is very developed--lots of traffic and tightly packed buildings. The economy didn't look like it was suffering.
After straightening up the boat and picking up a few quick provisions, we headed to the hotel, a short walk away. Their suite overlooked Simpson Bay, which enabled them to see us come in and anchor. We had a great time visiting and catching up but before long our lack of sleep from our overnight passage caught up, and we headed back to the boat to get some shut-eye.
Another reason for coming to St. Martin was to take advantage of the repair facilities. We were having some problems with our generator and one alternator and wanted to get them fixed. We were somewhat stymied, however, because our cell phone with a Digicel sim card wouldn't work, making it difficult to communicate with the repair shop. We decided to head to the Digicel store, which was located on the French side of the island. On the way there, the cab driver informed us that it was a holiday on the French side(which one, he didn't know), and most offices and stores were closed. Ah, for the life of the French citizen, many holidays, short work hours--the good life. We did manage to find an open Ace Hardware store , and picked up a needed part for our shower. We returned to the boat, less $40 for the cab.
We had dinner that evening with Marguerite and Norman at Pineapple Petes, a fun restaurant on the main drag along Simpson Bay. While Pete's is a fun place, the food was uneven--some of the entrees were good but others were mediocre or worse.
On Wednesday we decided to have lunch on the boat and go sailing on the bay. We picked up salads and sandwiches at a little restaurant called "Top Carrot" right outside the marina and brought lunch with us. After making our way out at the 11AM bridge opening, we anchored in Simpson Bay and had lunch. It was a sparkling clear day with sunny skies and turquoise waters. The food from Top Carrot was great. After lunch, we headed out for a sail. We first made our way south along the island, and then to the north past the airport, completing our trip back in Simpson's Bay. We dropped anchor again, and wiled away the end of the afternoon sipping wine and nibbling on cheese and fruit.
After getting the boat back into the marina, we went to dinner at Jimbo's Rock & Blues Café, which was right outside the marina. We all started off with Painkillers, the Caribbean rum punch drink that packs quite a punch, and then moved on to some tasty Tex-Mex food. This was our last evening with Marguerite and Norman, as they were leaving the next day. We said our good-byes and they headed off to the hotel as we went back to the boat.
The remainder of time was consumed with addressing our repair issues and an afternoon of sightseeing. We took a taxi to Phillipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side. Phillipsburg recently went through a renovation, so everything is clean and well kept. Given that this is where the cruise ships come in, the renovations are tailored to the tourists. From 2012-05-28 St Maarten- BVIs
Afterwards, we took a taxi to Sunset Bar, which is located at the end of the runway for the airport. The beach near the bar is right where the jets rev up their engines, sending blasts of air across the small road and beach. Some hardy, but perhaps not so bright, souls stand directly in the jet wash and get blasted with the wind and sand and whatever else gets blown by the engines. It provides an interesting show as you sit in the bar enjoying a beer. From 2012-05-28 St Maarten- BVIsFrom 2012-05-28 St Maarten- BVIs
All in all, St. Martin was a great stop that was the first example of a very developed version of the Caribbean, with all the good and bad that goes along with that.