St. Maarten / St. Martin - A Brief Photolog

I started inserting these into the other ridiculously long post, but figured I'd write a separate one instead. These don't really do the trip justice; five weeks is a long time!  And I spent, at one time, 19 straight days on the water, stopping briefly for provisions every few days.

Some highlights in random order:

1. The Dutchman singing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" while anchored off of Statia.
2. The same Dutchman firing up the grill and playing host to ribs, chicken, and kababs at sunset, also off Statia.
3. The 21-hour delivery from St. Martin to Tortola, which someone said should take "no more than 10 hours".
4. August Monday.
5. Julianna Airport and the planes landing 30 feet off the beach.
6. Sunsets. Lots and lots of sunsets.
7. "Discovering" Shell Beach in St. Bart's.
8. The first time I saw Saba.
9. Hunkering down in a 50' Jeannneau as Bertha blew over.
10. Watching the World Cup as the only American in the bar.

Anyway, enough for now. Here are some pictures.

My first liveaboard at Lagoon Marina. Lagoonies is a famous bar/restaurant that was of course closed for most of my visit. They opened for the World Cup, though.

I had a summer class. This was the view as I did my homework.

Took the first boat out for a check sail the second day.

Anchored off Tintamarre.  This wasn't my boat (I was about 10 more meters to the left) but it doesn't matter.

Where to go in Gustavia, St. Bart's.

Furniture in St. Bart's.

A small plane landing at Julianna Airport.

Book exchange at the St. Maarten Yacht Club. I read more on this trip than I had in the last couple years.

Nothing but the finest watered down Caribbean beer! And Heineken.

Yet another sunset photo. This guy was tooling out of Simpson Bay.

Nice timing on the photo, Dutchman.

Picked up a mooring ball.at Ladder Bay, Saba. Winds gusted 30+ all night (see wind meter on the left)

Hauling away from Saba on the way to Statia.

Shell Beach, St. Bart's, through some rocks. Beautiful!

Found some shells at Ile Fourchue, a marine sanctuary not far from St. Bart's. Yes, I returned the shells.

The restaurant in Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola. My liveaboard is the boat in the foreground.

August Monday in Anguilla. Not sure any words would do it justice.

The main sign just before Maho Beach.

A guy coming in during a horrendous rain storm. He had no motor and clipped a few boats along the way yet the control was still impressive.

Pulling away from St. Bart's.

A couple enjoys the view, and I do, too!