British Virgin Islands & St Martin

Central America Caribbean » Sint Maarten
May 22nd 2011

Published: May 25th 2011

May 10 – May 24, 2011 The distance between St. Thomas and the British Virgin Islands is a matter of an hour sail. We saw a lot of charter boats from the British Virgin Islands visiting several of the anchorages we were at in the American Virgin Islands. We never planned on spending much time in the BVI’s as we had explored the area before when we did a bareboat charter with Bob's sister ... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

Photos: 51, Displayed: 21

Comment Follow (17) Message

Bob & Janice Waller

s v Tsamaya

Like so many others we love to travel and we love to sail so cruising makes a lot of sense. Janice has retired from Cornell as a business manager and Bob has retired from South Seneca school district as the high school principal. It's time to sell the house, get rid of whatever doesn't fit on our 40 foot Caliber LRC named Tsamaya (this means Travel Well in Setswana) and set off to see the world. Our reasons for publishing this blog is twofold, first to keep in touch with our friends and family and secondly to share our experiences. If you would like to receive notification when we have added ... full info

Blog Options

Top Photos Blog Map

Print Version

[blog=613874]

[blogger=133700]

Moorings

The Moorings is a very large charter company that operates in the BVI . This is just a small portion of the fleet that they have located at their base in the BVI’s. They have a large amount of catamarans as well as monohulls.

Last view of BVI

As we were headed to St. Martin we took a look back at our last view of the BVI’s to see quite the cloud formations.

Sunset

The sunset over the BVI’s as we head out to cross the Anagada Passage to St. Martin.

Watching Weather

It is interesting to watch the weather through the cloud formations. This is what we saw ahead of us as we were heading to St. Martin. Luckily we didn’t get too much from the squalls.

An Opening?

We liked the idea that there was a clear opening ahead of us here. It looked like it was telling us where we should aim for.

Sunset

This was a great sunset to see before our night passage. Luckily the moon lite the sky for most of our night crossing.

Land Ho

When the sun was rising we were able to see land ahead. That is always a comforting sight to see after a full night’s crossing.

St Martin - French side

This shows just a few of the many French café’s located on the French side of St. Martin.

How do you like the obvious?

How do you like this for the name of a beauty salon?

Pitching In

Bob pitched in to help “jump start” a truck that was having problems. Think it surprised them that a “tourist” pitched in to do this.

What does this mean"

I know this is in English but, what does this really mean?

The French side

You have to come to this marina to check in to the French side of St. Martin. They are less expensive than the Dutch side to check in to. Only $7 here while the Dutch charge $20 per week.

St Maarten - Dutch side

The red roofs are used quite a bit on the Dutch side of St. Maarten

The World's Largest Sloop

You may not be able to tell, but this sailboat is the world’s largest sloop (single mast). It is 230 feet long with a mast height of 292 feet

A closer look

If you look closely you'll see some people on the dock next to Mirabella for comparision sake

A little place on the hill

Just a little place on the hill in Marigot on the French side of St. Martin.

A little pot of grass

Bob is still growing grass for Sailor and she seems to enjoy it. She mows it regularly.

The dividing line

If you look closely you will see that there are 2 flags –one is French for St. Martin and the other is for St. Maarten (Dutch). By checking this out you can tell which country you are anchored in and which one you need to officially check in to.

The anchorage

Just a very small section of the anchored boats in the Simpson Bay Lagoon. There seems to be a goat that likes to watch from the peak daily. We have seen numerous goats grazing over the hill here.

Great moon rising

The moon rising over Simpson Bay Lagoon in St. Maarten.

Market in St Martin

The mangoes are in season here in St. Martin as well. They have a great outdoor market located on the French side.

26th May 2011

Jan Delf
non-member comment

One step at a time to circumnavigation
Hey guys, Great to get your update. St. Maartin sounds wonderful. We will be in Oregon end of July. Please email us when you are back state side with a phone number I can call you on. Be safe and godspeed!

27th May 2011

cyndie thomson
non-member comment

hello friends
It sounds like you are still enjoying your dream...we just returned from a short vacation in VT on the RV...so fully understand setting up for travel after sitting for a while. I usually leave at least one thing that goes crashing down on the first corner or a drawer that is not secured. Always a challenge. lol We followed a former teacher, Bill Gates,...[not the $ one.. ;o) ], started teaching with Bill and retired the same year. His son lives in Proctor, VT, so Bill G stayed in his son's driveway and we stayed in a neighbor's driveway. It is where the Vermont Marble Co was and we toured the museum, along with the Bennington Monument, Shelburn village, Grandma Moses Museum, and took a 100 mile loop tour guided by book. Back to your trip...love the pics, but the sunset taken as you were doing your overnite sail was incredible. Just a note, when you visit a place and have a great time,...try to return and recapture it...never happens. I think it is more about newness and the people you are with the first time around. Sounds like the French are more $ conscious than the Dutch, except for the wine you used to restock. Does it compare to the NY wine? Since you "seem" to enjoy wine, you have more experience with the liquid than me... so just curious. ;o) I love seeing all of the colors in the markets that you visit. Have you tried any new produce that maybe we don't have here? And not to gross you out,...but...how do you avoid disrupting your bio rhythms with all of the different food and drinks you ingest? When I went to Europe for 5 weeks with 72 high schoolers, 7 nuns, and 2 other teachers...nothing sat well. Made me afraid to eat...except when we entered Switzerland...what is not to like about their chocolate and pastries???? Didn't mean to take all your time telling you about me....must be too much caffeine. One more thing,...bought frozen salmon that was already marinated...salmon is now officially out of my cooking list. You did a great job on it,...I will just live with the memory and call it good. lol Take care and stay well, my friends. Good sailing to you and may you keep meeting wonderful people, seeing beautiful things, and enjoying the time you have together. Loving you, cyndie

Tot: 0.054s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 19; dbt: 0.0318s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb

Do not copy images or text from this page without requesting and receiving permission. All rights are reserved by the author and photographer.

Contact Bob & Janice Waller (s v Tsamaya) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

British Virgin Islands & St Martin

Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved