Racing in St. Maarten . . .

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I’ve been wanting to get out on a tour and Jody and I decided to do one together in St. Maarten today. His only request was that it was something to do with water. As luck had it, today a crew tour was happening so we managed to get on that. It was the America’s Cup Regatta, one I’ve done before and loved. Today was no exception. So much fun!

For the America’s Cup Regatta excursion, you get the chance to race on actual regatta racing yachts. Down on the pier, we were split into two teams: one that would be racing on Stars and Stripes, and us who would be on True North (the Canadian ship). We rode another boat out to our sail boats then boarded them. Heckling the other team is completely encouraged and of course us all being crew and knowing one another, this was a constant source of entertainment throughout the tour.

Amongst our teams, we were all assigned jobs to help race the ship: grinders, wenches, etc. My job? Bartender. Excellent. But really, on a crew tour, probably the busiest and most important job of all!

There was some brief training, as everyone was shown what to do. The course was explained. And then we were racing!

It was so awesome. Every time we came close to the other team, there was all sorts of heckling. I did my best to not only serve the drinks but cheer on the team. I got some great video footage of everyone grinding and cranking away. And during certain parts of the race, we just got to sit back and relax.

It’s gorgeous out there in the bay. The sun was beating down but there was a solid wind to carry the boat and cool us. It was totally clear, so we could see across the water to Saba. And farther along the island’s coast line was an actual regatta happening.

We won the race. (Of course.) It was definitely all the coors light fueling the team.

We took our time sailing back to shore and upon arrival were treated to free team t-shirts and rum punch.

There was still time before most of us had to go back to work, so walked farther into town and headed to the beach. There is this great little beachside bar that has cheap drinks and it’s run by a Canadian couple. On their menu? Poutine! So the Canadians in the group were of course thrilled to enjoy that. We all just sat back eating, drinking, chatting up other people at the bar and going across the beach to cool off in the water.

Such a fun day.

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