March 2007

2 to 4 March - Heineken Regatta, St. Maarten

We sailed down to St. Maarten the end of February in order to race with friends on their Beneteau.  We had three good days of racing, with great breeze and beautiful weather.  It was about as good as it gets, IMHO!!!  Each night there was a party in a different location:  Thursday at Port de Plaisance, Friday on the Boardwalk in Philipsburg, and Saturday in Marigot.  The night before racing, we all went to an Indian place for dinner.  It was a small place on the water with great food.  The next night we ate at a Lebanese place, even smaller than the prior night.  A Lebanese friend from Tortola went with us and was in charge of ordering all of the food, which we all sampled and had ’smorgasboard’ style.  It was a fun experience with some very interesting food.  Friday we headed to the party and grabbed a ‘quick’ meal on the way.  This meant we spent an hour and a half waiting to get a burger at a restaurant on the boardwalk!  Hey, it’s island time, mon!!  Saturday night was our team dinner at the Tropicana, an upscale French restaurant in Marigot.  It was fabulous and a great celebration of our first place finishes in the first two days of racing.  Sunday was a later start, so we located a boulangerie in Marigot and had croissants, etc. before heading to the boat.  We knew we would have the second place boat ‘gunning’ for us, so went out to protect our lead and the favored side of the course.  We ended the day with another bullet (first place for you non-racers!), and thus three firsts and the trophies.  Gotta love it!  The trophy presentation was  held on Kim Sha Beach followed by musical entertainment by the band Orange Grove and the offspring of reggae legend Bob Marley-sons Damian Marley and Stephen Marley-who captivated the crowd of thousands of sailors and islanders with a set that included stirring renditions of many of their father’s most memorable songs.  We had anchored our boat right offshore, so headed back to the boat right before the end of the Marley’s set and listened to the end of it from our deck.

5-7 March - St. Maarten/St. Barts

Our other team members departed late Sunday night, while Robert, George and I stayed in St. Maarten.  On Monday we had a lazy morning (recovering from all of the rum punch from the night before), then headed south towards St. Barts.  We barely made it in time to clear customs and immigration before they closed, then after a bit of wandering along the waterfront we ate at Le Select, aka Cheeseburger in Paradise, the oldest bar (I think) on the island.  Jimmy Buffett has played here a couple times, and they seem to be the cheapest place to eat around town.  It was very crowded and very popular, and the greasy burger was just what we all needed after the prior evening!  Tuesday we rented a car and spent the day touring the island.  George had never been here before and wanted to check it out.  It was a beautiful day with no clouds in sight.  There’s a fort perched on a hill above the town; I wanted to go see it, so we drove up and walked into the fenced enclosure.  I walked into an office area and inquired about seeing the fort, but was told it’s a military site and not open to the public.  Oh, well; we tried!

We ate dinner at a nice place tucked into one of the side streets, where Robert had baby back ribs, George had fresh fish, and I opted for a beef filet with roquefort and apples; mm-m-m!  We got up early on Wednesday and the guys ran into town to the boulangerie, where they grabbed me a raspberry tart and danish for themselves.  We then headed out to a dive spot, but it was too rough and there was a storm coming, so we decided to head back to St. Maarten, where George had an afternoon flight back to Tampa.  After leaving George about 2 pm, Robert and I started sailing back to Tortola.  We got in around 2:30 am, found a place to anchor, and retired exhausted.  Our friends, Mike, Debbie & Kayla Zamara will arrive from B.C. on Friday afternoon.

Zamara Family Visit - B.V.I.

Our friends/neighbors from British Columbia arrived to spend two weeks with us cruising the BVI.  Mike works for the post office in Cranbrook, Debbie’s a florist, and their daughter Kayla is in high school.  They were very good packers and all brought soft sided luggage and not too much ’stuff’.  We spent the day buying groceries and deciding on a ‘game plan’ for their holiday.  We had fabulous weather during their visit and poked into most every little cove there was.  Most nights we spent on the boat, but had a couple meals on land, graciously paid for by the Zamaras, which were a real treat.  We went snorkeling every day, and Mike and Robert got to do several dives.  We went ‘all the way’ up to Anegada, but  there’s not much there.  The girls got to do some shopping, everyone had a great time, and we were sad to see them head home.

We spent the next day doing laundry all day, preparing for the arrival of Dar’s brother and his wife, Dr. Rick and Sue Athey from Colorado Springs, Colorado.  We had sent them a list of stuff to bring with them, which they brought along with our much needed new auto-pilot.  Our auto-pilot had died back in early February, so we finally were replacing it with two new ones (it’s called insurance, kids!).  They also brought some things not on the list, such as brownie mix, which made for a great treat.  The weather decided to be less cooperative for their visit, with quite a bit of rain.  But they were great sports and said they just wanted to relax and spend time with us.  So we spent the rainy days just enjoying our time together and playing cards.  Sue had brought along a pinochle deck, so she taught us how to play.  Great game; gotta get a deck to keep on board.  Rick and Robert got in a couple dives, which Rick enjoyed as he hadn’t been diving in a number of years.  Snorkeling continues to be a favorite pastime with everyone; there’s just so much great sea life in this area.

Robert and Darlene - Marina Key, B.V.I.