Sailing the Caribbean – St Maarten to St Barth’s – 6th to 7th June 2010
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Sailing from St Maarten to St Barth’s.
Turtle Soup
Marigot Bay to Anse de Colombier, St Barthelemy
After a bit of a beat East along the coast of St Martin through the Anguilla Channel we headed over to Tintamarre where we picked up a bouy for lunch and a quick swim before a longer afternoon trip downwind to Anse de Colombier in St Barthelemy.
En route to St Barths we put the fishing lines out and I learned that Iain had been a fisherman in his youth before joining the Fire Service….bonus! I’m looking forward to some fish suppers on the trip South. I’ve also discovered that I’ve managed to dump all of the water from the 2nd of our 3 large water tanks over the stern due to a faulty valve on the stern shower; we’ll have to take on water in St Barths.
Tintamarre isn’t a very remarkable island although it has a nice white beach and clean Atlantic water to swim in. It’s popular with locals at the weekends and day trip catamarans, some of whom carry boat-loads of nudists and set up camp on the beach. There are frequently turtles swimming around the boats and our stop this time was no exception.
Anse de Colombier on the corner of St Barths is another turtle nesting ground, and the bay is simply stunning; a white sand beach surrounded by steep green hills and few buildings means that it’s an isolated and peaceful spot for watching the sun set over St Martin and dinner under the stars. Early morning we had some good snorkeling around the edges of the bay, spotting a Stingray and a huge French Angelfish.
St Barthelemy – Gustavia
The capital of St Barths is expensive, exclusive, beautifully manicured and very hilly. Apparently it’s also very popular with celebrities but Iain and I couldn’t face the walk over the top of the island to his friend’s (very exclusive) place – Eden Rock – where we might have stood a chance of seeing some!
Iain was baulking at the thought of a taxi fare and the subsequent lunch bill if his friend hadn’t been there to greet us!
Instead, we came alongside and filled up with water, a relatively stress free manoeuvre despite me bursting a fender, topped up the cupboards with Camembert & red wine and decided to head off for Antigua.
Read what Iain had to say about his trip….
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