ST. MARTIN

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ST MARTIN

OPPS! Wrote it, didn't publish it.

Today I was up early. Had breakfast is the Windjammer, really good scrambled eggs, fruit and potato patty. I was one of the first off the ship and checked in for my tour at the information booth. The sky was very overcast and didn’t bode well. Fellows around the booth were joking about selling tickets for skiing and they weren’t talking water skiing. One fellow was running around with a down jacket with the hood up. I guess they it felt cold to the locals.
We got a bit of a late start and then the skies opened up. A typical tropical cloudburst! Water was running down the hillsides and the streets started to flood. Kind of reminded me of Guadalcanal, well that’s a bit of an exaggeration! Today I was signed up for a three spot snorkel trip on a powerboat. Didn’t really matter if I got wet on the way, I’ll be wet soon. As Captain Alan checked us in the rain stopped and we were soon heading from the NE shore of St. Martin to the NW coast on the French side.
St. Martin is divided between the Netherlands Antilles (the Dutch side) and the French side. On the Dutch side many languages are spoken, seldom Dutch, while on the French side the residents speak FRENCH!!!!!! There is no movement for unification; everyone just seems to want to get along.
We bounced along to our first stop. Capt. Alan said these were smooth seas. I would not have recommended it for folks with back problems. We moored at a small islet that seemed to be a breeding ground for pelicans. We hit the water, ME FIRST, and my initial impression was “so what” but as I explored I found a stonefish, and later Harry, the Barracuda came to say hello. This version of Harry was about 4 feet long and we eyed each other for a while as I took his picture. Shortly another smaller, slimmer, more silvery (a female?) fish checked me out and I decided that she had her eye on Harry.
I left them to sort it out and headed to where Capt. Alan was feeding the fish. A school of Sergeant Majors checked out the crackers and found them tasty. A few Ballyhoo joined the feeding frenzy. These are needlefish with a yellow dorsal fin. Very cute.
From there we proceeded to Happy Beach for a mud bath. In the past, the tours were able to go to an area where powdered limestone occurred in pools. Now access is restricted so Alan or his mates grind the limestone into a powder and at this beach mix it with salt water to produce a mud treatment that one would pay dearly for in a spa. We rubbed it on a skin and in our hair until we were well and truly slimed and then let it set for a while. When I washed it off my skin felt incredibly soft as did my hair. It was very well worth the stop.
While we were there, a group of tourist arrived on Zodiacs and chuckled at the sight of us. Too bad, so sad, that they didn’t have any mud for themselves.

Our nest stop was turtle reef. It is here that one is likely to see Hawksbill turtles but today was not our day. I explored and checked out the reef, didn’t see any turtles or hear anyone else raise the cry. I was a little chilled so was first back on the boat. Capt. Alan had come aboard earlier. Suddenly I heard him cry out, turned and saw a spotted stingray leap out of the water. What I didn’t see, but Capt. Alan did, was the ten-foot hammerhead shark that was chasing it.
Alan was born in the Netherland but has lived hear most of his life, for thirty-seven years, and he has never seen this before. Since he was scheduled to do the tour again in the afternoon I’m guessing that he is hoping not to see it again.
Everything after that was pretty much of an anticlimax. We stopped briefly at Pinel Island but, strangely, no one felt much like getting back in the water.
Headed back to the ship, showered, got a book out of the library, and relaxed until dinner. Tonight was Italian night and I enjoyed the Tomato Capese, tomato with mozzarella and basil, and Chicken Marsala
After dinner I checked in at the Casino but the poker table was empty. I decided to try my luck at Roulette. I know, it’s a sucker’s game but the minimum was $1. When I was up $50 I checked out.
I found MaryLu at the slots, not doing very well, and we headed to the Piano Bar. On the way we met Bill and Ann and they joined us. Tonight, Mike, the piano man, was in his “comic” mode, changing the words to songs to make them more suggestive, etc. Not my shtick and, evidently, not Bill, Ann or MaryLu’s.
I headed back to the cabin to read and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow is a sea day, the first of two glorious, relaxing days in the sunny Caribbean.

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