Kids Paradise in St Martin

A few cool pics from Anna on S/V Blue Zulu of us terrorising the kids on the biscuit back in Falmouth Antigua…

Ready.

Set.

GO!

The expressions say it all really.

Arriving in the big and busy Marigot Bay, St Martin we managed to catch up again for a few days with our SOL friends before definitely the last goodbye for a while. Miss you guys. Fair winds friends for your trip across the Pacific!

Amelia in her element, spotted another amazing creature to try and catch. The iguanas are like a statue of a mini dinosaur just chillin’ in the sun. It’s surprising how fast they can skitter away when they think you are too close. Blink and they are gone.

Tourist central beach. Of all the amazing beaches we have access to, why make the pilgrimage here?

Look up St Martin airport beach… It has been a little sanitized now that big boy 747’s no longer come here. I like how the French don’t do nanny state health and safety. A walk down any footpath in the islands would give a heart attack to any rule bound H&S officer. Hey, let’s let the tourists stand right next to the runway…

We spent hours being entertained on the beach. Some of the people we met were cruise ship captives let loose on the island for a few hours before being herded back on board and rushed off to the next expensive package tour. They were nicely flabbergasted to learn we are out of captivity for 2 years.

The beach is steep and an ocean swell was coming in. Funny to see every 10min of so the big set clean bowl the tourists up the beach almost reaching the road and our gear. Hard to see but Boston is covered in sand after the last set.

Only a couple of big jets took off. Funny to watch a couple of staunch guys get rolled off down the beach seriously denting their image.

St Martin is a hotspot for cruisers and the lagoon a Velcro anchorage –one that is hard to get out of. The Island Water World chandlery had a much appreciated free shuttle bus from their shop with dinghy dock to the big French supermarket on the edge of town. Loving being back on French islands for their food (and wine)! We met the kids boat S/V Fantasy on a shopping run where Amelia and Shayla hit it off so a sleep over was quickly organized. Here Shayla guided us over the ruined fort overlooking the bay.

Antidote for hill climbing on a hot day, brain freeze ice cream and lollies. Wow, they were expensive. Nice for a treat but not going to buy those again in a hurry. We will go back to our rule of no ice cream at waterfront places, buy a tub at the supermarket.

Still hunting the perfect sunset shot.

Who knew iguanas liked to climb trees? Running the dinghy up the channel from Marigot bay into the lagoon we would usually spot several iguanas doing their lounge lizard impression.

Shayla introduced us to the kid’s paradise of Explorer Island. A small island covered in scrub and tracks in the lagoon that was just perfect for the kids to rampage around and be proper kids. Lots of trash washed up on the fringes of the island which was not cool, but meant there was heaps of material for the kids to build their forts. A nice little beach provided a place where a shelter was created for the adults. Awesome to have a place where the kids can play like we used to! Go play and come back when it is dark. Each afternoon there would be at least one kids boat there playing and occasionally big organised gatherings. Let your kids make a fire and toast marshmallows, teach them to use tools, let them build a fort in the bush.

Amelia found a toy dog at one of the gatherings and tried to smuggle it on board Drakkar.

Kid’s marshmallow fire in front of the boat wreck on the beach.

Tintemarre Island off the NE point of St Martin is a lovely spot and just the right size for a surf ski circumnavigation. Very popular place with the day tour boats and we felt pretty lucky to be able to just relax here for a few days and watch their antics as they rushed in and out.

Instant boat friends. We met a lovely Chinese-American-French family on their annual sailing holiday. Girls played mostly with Amelia’s pet of the week, a massive hermit crab, boys noodle fighting. I admit to tweaking their tail a little bit about how good the cruising lifestyle is compared to conventional life.

We had to visit Nick Maley the Yoda Guy’s Star Wars exhibit when we found out about it. Cool.

Another must do on St Martin was to use Terry’s thank you discount at the chandlery for a list of items we had been saving up. We were doubtful on if we should go WNW up to the Virgin Islands as it is a great downwind sail there, but a bash upwind to get back down the island chain. At another social gathering we met the kids boats Neverland and Higgins who persuaded us the Virgin Islands were well worth a visit. Here we are already well out to sea from St Martin as the sun rises on our way up to the BVI’s on 19 Apr 2017.