St. Maarten to St. Barthelemy
23 February 2010
We left St. Maarten and headed to St. Barts. The wind was against us, so we pulled into Philipsburg, capital of St. Maarten. OMG. Five super humungo cruise ships on the docks. Masses of people and shops and beach chairs,etc. The water taxis shuttling the cruise ship guests to shore motored by our boat every 5 minutes, creating rocking waves. We made the best of the location and got off the boat and rented beach chairs for the day. The kids played on the water jungle gym and we people watched and strolled around. I was happy when the wind subsided and we could leave after a couple of nights.
Now we are finally in St. Barts. We have heard about the island and wanted to see for ourselves what all the fuss is about! To get to St. Barts you have to arrive on your own boat or take a ferry or fly into an exclusive little airport. It is a French island and it is quaint, hilly and basically gorgeous. As typical for the caribbean islands - St. Barts was fought over by the British, French and Spanish. In the 1700s the French made a deal w/ the Swedes in exchange for a port rights in Sweden. The French bought it back from the Swedes in the 1800s and it remains part of France today, thought like St. Martin it is a free port. We ran into Richard - Latitude 38 publisher- who hangs out here quite a bit - he says that these days the locals that live here are more fond of the American visitors than the French.
We are currently moored in Anse de Colombier. This is one of the all around best anchorages on our trip. One can only get here by hiking or boat. The bay is a marine reserve and every day we have snorkeled from the boat with turtles and rays. There is an awesome beach you can swim or kayak to from the boat. And bonus, there are hiking trails - some that lead to the windward side - which means beaches w/ big waves that the kids love. The main town of Gustavia is close by - about 15 minutes by boat. The town has all of the designer stores that are fun to window shop. St. Barts is also home to the resturant Le Select, claim to fame in Jimmy Buffet's cheeseburger in paradise song (we ate here and would recommend just stopping by for a beverage instead.) Everything is definitely expensive, but we can always get a loaf of french bread for $1 euro! While here, we hung out with a great family with 3 boys who were chartering a boat for a week. The boys played capture the flag for three days....crazy. Now, more excitement ahead as the Waterloos arrive from Alameda tomorrow!