DAY 81 - March 18th 2014 - Cole Bay - St. Marten
The wind has picked up this morning and we are glad to leave as the waves are getting bigger, it was quite a fun ride back with big rollers and 4 foot waves on top. As we approached Philipsburg we could see the America Cup boats out sailing, the Stars and Stripes and Canada One are now taking people out for rides. We were able to get quite close and I took some good pictures. Arrived back at Simpson Bay too early for the 3pm Bridge opening so we had to anchor for a couple of hours, then into the bay and anchored close to where we were before. Tonight a visit to Barnacles to eat and chat with friends, a busy life we lead.
DAY 82 - March 19th 2014 - Cole Bay - St. Marten
I have not yet visited Marigot so did a circumnavigation of the whole Lagoon by dinghy, met up with Barbara and John who have a Cal that we met in Puerto Del Ray, chatted to them for a while, a tour of Marigot harbour and then all the way over to the fancy Cupecoy Bay, it is a huge lagoon, much larger than I remembered and it was getting quite overcast with big black clouds looming over us, as we got back to the boat the heavens opened. "Just in time" I said, but it was over in ten minutes. Tonight we are heading to the Yacht Club for the 5pm opening.
DAY 83 - March 20th 2014 - Cole Bay - St. Marten
Today a trip to Philipsburg with Donna and Jack while Doug waited for the auto helm guy to turn up, when we got back Doug was taking the anchor up, so we chased after him and Jack deposited me on board while Moma was under way. Apparently the guy never turned up so Doug was going to motor round the lagoon and see if it was now working. It seemed to be OK after he had cleaned out the knot meter that was filled with creepy crawly bugs so back we go to anchor again and off to Cruisers night at the Pink Iguana which is a bubble gum pink tug that is now a bar. We met some very interesting people and our friends Barbara and John and then a scary ride across the lagoon in the dark, nearly being run down by a very fast dinghy who flew across our bow with no lights on.
DAY 84 - March 21st 2014 - Cole Bay - St. Marten
A cleaning day for me intermittent with reading a book while Doug worked on wiring again to find out why the Solar Panel fuse had overheated.
DAY 85 - March 22nd 2014 - Cole Bay - St. Marten
Another day here and a farewell drink with Heather and Rob and promised to go and see them in the summer. I like this reading business, nearly finished a book which is rare for me. For lunch we head off with Donna to Sunset Beach to watch the planes go overhead, it was packed there must have been some cruise ships in Philipsburg but we were able to get a seat on right on the balcony overlooking the bay. Took some great pictures including the Trump Jet, I wonder who it had dropped off??. Another plane drove very close to the fence, we could see the pilot and co-pilot waving out of the window and then he held the brakes on before taking off to give all those at the fence a good blast. People went flying down the beach along with towels and debris, as we left Doug was standing at the fence and I was going to take a picture of the plane taking off not thinking to hold on, as it pulled away I was just about to go flying when Doug grabbed me and saved me from falling on the pavement. My hero.