Angela’s Helliday – St Martin – 20th March to 12th April 2010
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My best friend, Angela, came to visit for 3 weeks in the spring of 2010. She had some work to do and I was in the middle of an engine repair so we couldn’t go very far, and she had a violent reaction to mosquitos!
Heat & Mosquitos
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]ngela loves cold countries; Russia is her favourite and she speaks (almost) fluent Russian from all her excursions there over the years, so she didn’t acclimatise particularly quickly to the heat of the Caribbean, and it wasn’t helped by the fact that we were marina-bound for most of her stay. What with a broken engine mounting and the need for internet access, we couldn’t go very far for the first couple of weeks, and the worst 2 things about marinas are the heat and the mosquitos.
[pullquote_right]”she comes up in big itchy welts the size of half a tennis ball”[/pullquote_right]Ange also reacts badly to mosquitos….she comes up in big red itchy welts the size of half a tennis ball…. And if the physical effects weren’t bad enough, the sound of them buzzing around brought out a crazed, panic-like reaction to the point of swinging arms around wildly, swiping the air with the nearest hard object, and even the occasional scream.
Ange suffered bravely, though, and, being my best friend she toughed out the miserable conditions in the marina, and we even cracked a few laughs.
One of the biggest was at the expense of Marco, a French admirer of mine who turned out to be a little bit like a stalker. Whilst very helpful in many ways, he was also very possessive and not happy at all that I had another friend in my life…. Despite a marathon dinghy cleaning day together on a nearby scrub island and subsequent barbecue, he and Ange didn’t hit it off; things degenerated quickly from a heated debate to a blazing argument and Marco went away with his tail between his legs. A few evenings later when a similar thing happened and Ange had to throw him off the boat. Marco and I are no longer friends!
Birthday Celebrations
Ange also turned 34 again when she was out in the Caribbean and we headed into the tourist town of Philipsburg for some daytime shopping, before a few wines and a meal in the evening. The boys from Geminga soon got in the party spirit as I changed out of my scruffy shorts for the first time in 4 months to put on a short skirt and heels and Ange barely covered her ample bosom in a string top!
[pullquote_left]”Noel was particularly attentive..he and Ange had a lot in common”[/pullquote_left]My dockside neighbour, Noel, was particularly attentive and he and Ange had a lot in common, both being umpteenth dan black belts in their respective martial arts.
Angela’s holiday didn’t get much better when one of the guys, Daniel, invited us onto his boat for lunch out in the lagoon. Ange’s foot slipped on his manky ladder getting out of the dinghy and she ended up underwater!
Marion & Iain
Life brightened up when the engine mounting was fixed and we headed out into the turquoise water of Marigot Bay and our mutual friends, Marion & Iain arrived. Angela and Iain failed miserably at hull scrubbing, even though I’d equipped them with fins, masks and snorkels and put tied on a rope to hang onto. It was just a bit too difficult with a little bit of current running past and the task was saved for me for another day.
We had a lovely sail around the coast to Grand Case for the evening and a great night out on the town to round off Ange’s nightmare trip!
To see when we’re next sailing where, click on our Caribbean Sailing Calendar, or the main menu links at the top of this page, or contact us if you’d like to find out about a private sailing charter on Yacht Ibis.
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