St. Maarten | Cement Donkeys

The French Know How to Eat – Marigot Bay, St. Maarten, April 15, 2023

We have done little more these past few days but eat and shop for boat parts. Let me tell you the French know their food. It is all very simple and extremely high quality. We went to the most amazing breakfast place for my birthday and it was so good, we went back the next day. It serves several types of eggs benedict, one of which is vegetarian with avocado and the best cappuccino. Hubby had order envy when he saw mine, which is why we had to go back on day two. I am certain we will be back there again before we leave.

We also found “a meat store.” This city has what I imagine to be a very European vibe to it and makes me wish I had paid more attention in French class. It’s something you don’t find in the states. They have a farm in France and everything was organic, butchered and frozen on the farm, then flown here. Hubby was able to restock his filets and they were very reasonable since it was duty free. Everything is much more affordable here than it was in BVI that’s for sure. The grocery stores are also excellent here but shopping in a French supermarket required us to get good with google translate. The fresh bread, high quality cheese & wine, and fresh food is so refreshing after eating frozen and canned food these last few months.

To offset all our eating, we decided to hike to Fort Louis at the top of Marigot Bay. The French built the fort to protect themselves from the Spanish and Germans who routinely invaded the island.

Sailing Hubby has also decided to do some re-rigging of our main sail. Currently, we have to go out of the helm and up to the front of the boat in order to raise and lower the main. This is not such an easy or safe task in bad weather. He is changing the rigging so he can raise and lower the sail all from the helm meaning the dangerous task would no longer require him to go to the front. This will certainly be better as we continue down the Leeward Island chain. The boat stores here are so well stocked it was easy to find the last few remaining clutches and pulleys he needed for this project.

Birthday Week – Marigot Bay, St. Maarten, April 13, 2023

Well birthday week started out with a bang since the first thing we did was traverse the Anegada passage, which is a notorious stretch of water connecting the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is known for its high winds, rough sea state, and large swells. It was a bumpy 18-hour ride with 10-15 knot winds directly on the nose and 5–7-foot seas at times. It was the best window we were going to get this time of year, so we took it. This, of course, meant that I was seasick for at least a part of the ride but at least not the whole thing. I did 7 hours of watch, which is the most I have done in any passage thus far. I am improving.

It was worth it since now we are in Marigot Bay in St. Martin. We are on a mooring ball since Simpson Bay lagoon is crowded, stinky icky water and has quite a few derelict boats. The bay is a bit rolly but beautiful and clean! We checked in on the French side since it is free and on the Dutch side of the island, it is not. The French side of the island is also duty free and awesome marine stores.

The first night we were here we accidently met a couple from Austria (she was royalty there) and they gave us the lay of the land since they had been here for 2 weeks vacationing. We were the only people in the restaurant and ended up chatting with the restaurant owner who was a “healer.” I had pulled a couple muscles in my shoulder a while back and she offered to do a healing treatment on me so of course – yes! She said she takes the aura from the plants and transfers it to the hurt area and is able to remove the pain. I am not sure if it is just psycho sematic or not but my should her does feel a bit better.

The next night we ended up going to a Moroccan restaurant recommended to us by the Austrian couple, which was AMAZING. It was built like a fortress and one of the few things that survived hurricane Irma. As a vegetarian, it isn’t always easy to find vegetarian food, but middle eastern food is very friendly, and I had couscous, roasted vegetables, and chickpeas. So good. We even had a belly dancing show with our dinner. The place was incredible and one of the coolest restaurants we have visited so far!

In action

Sailing Hubby asked what I wanted to do for my birthday and I decided on the tourist activity – Maho Beach to watch the planes fly over. The airport runway ends right across the street from the beach, so the planes have jet blast when taking off and land right over your head. Happy Birthday to me!

Cement Donkeys

Tag Archives: St. Maarten

The French Know How to Eat – Marigot Bay, St. Maarten, April 15, 2023

Birthday Week – Marigot Bay, St. Maarten, April 13, 2023