St. Maarten/St. Martin

St. Maarten/St. Martin

The island of St. Maarten/St. Martin is unique as it is divided into two countries – one French and one Dutch.  St. Maarten is the Dutch side of the island and St. Martin is the French side of the island. You can spend US Dollars on either side but the prevailing currency on the Dutch side is Dutch guilders and on the French side-Euros.  Most people on the Dutch side speak English whereas the prevailing language on the French side is, of course, French.  The Dutch side of the island is more commercial than the French side but I think the French side is prettier.  There are some wonderful resorts and beaches on the French side and great dining.  It is interesting to visit one rather small island and have two different cultures to experience. The sunset photo was taken from the beach on the French side at the Mercure resort. A lovely dinner there was enjoyed along with a very relaxing evening of music at the bar with a guy who played the trumpet and sang old standbys – Inglebert Humperdinck, Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass, Dean Martin and others that some of you will be too young to recognize.

The capital of the French side is Marigot (mar-ee-go).  A recent visit to the open market near the harbor featured locally made items, t-shirts and general tourist stuff. I bought a sarong which I think is very pretty and can wear as a wrap over my bathing suit, a shawl for evenings or as a skirt-very handy!

A delicious lunch at a local Creole restaurant included Creole shrimp, peas and rice (kidney beans and rice-a staple in the islands), fried plantains and, salad. While you might associate Creole cooking with New Orleans, the style of cooking is a blend of island and African brought to the States by slaves from the West Indies.  Usually somewhat spicy and almost always featuring some kind of rice as a side dish.  Having dined on Creole cuisine in New Orleans (one of my favorite places in the States) I was thrilled to find it here.

The capital of St. Maarten (the Dutch side) is Philipsburg.  This is where the large cruise ships come in and there is plenty of high end shopping including many jewelry stores as the island is duty free.

There is bus service from around the island to Philipsburg and goes over the mountain with lovely views:

More Pictures

I am having trouble with Blogger, so sorry for the delays in adding photos.  Below is the galley (kitchen) and saloon (dining/living room)

Here is a photo of the curtains I made for the salon. Had to sew them by hand since I have no machine on board.

I also made screens for the hatches to keep out the bugs.  They velcro in place.

Life Aboard

I have been asked to post some photos of the boat, so here they are.  The boat is an Irwin 43 (43 feet in length) It is a very comfortable boat with a large master stateroom, v-berth, two heads (bathrooms in land lubber talk), a nice galley (kitchen) and salon.

This is the master stateroom and has a queen sized bed.  I plan to buy new linens when we get back home as I want something a little more nautical.

This is the bathroom in the master stateroom.  Pretty compact, it is like taking a shower in a phone booth.