Antilles Treasures

No, not as the Beetles sang about rather as a passenger aboard a 40’ catamaran in the waters around ST Martin that was christened with the name ”Celine”.  She was custom built by her Captain Neil Roebert in his home country of South Africa and then sailed to St Maarten and now resides daily in the Simpson bay Lagoon.  The Celine’s current home is docked at Skip Jack’s restaurant and all sailing adventures depart from there.

We had an early morning call with a quick briefing about the days activities followed by a light breakfast found a place to sit on the decking next to the mast and soon were underway.  I was able to anchor my camera equipment bag to the main so it wouldn’t head overboard while I was shooting.

We were prepared for a great adventure as neither of us had been on much more than a ferry ride to Anguilla or ST Barts.  We motored thru the lagoon and waited for the drawbridge to raise  and let us pass.  Neil had cast off early enough that we were first in line and soon were headed out into the channel between French St Martin and Anguilla. We passed the French capital of Marigot (photo), Friar’s Bay, Happy Bay, Grand Case and finally Anse Marcel then about 30 minutes of open ocean sailing before we tied off to a buoy at a little out island just north east of St Martin named Tintamarre.

Once on the buoy we were given the option to swim ashore or ride the dingy in. The daintier of the two of us had a broken toe so she was escorted in via the dinghy.  I chose the formality of stepping to the front of the boat and performing a “classic” swan dive to the water’s surface below…oops I misjudged how far down it was and the impact was a pretty solid thud!  Thank goodness no one was watching, as surely the judges wouldn’t have given very high marks.  I shook it off, made sure the trunks were still in place and took aim at my lovely wife who was already on the beach and started swimming her way.

We had a couple of hours to explore the island so after walking the beach that was available to us we decided to cut across the island and see the view of St Barts from the far side.  We also learned from Neil that the island was used as an R&R base for German U boats in WWII.  There was at one time a small village on island with a runway.  All  since overgrown and indistinguishable.  The island was very quiet that day with only another cat that didn’t stay long, a sailboat for two and one other but again no one stayed as long as we did.

Lunch was prepared on board the Celine by the Captain and quite well I must add, so we headed back to the boat to enjoy the banquet that Neil had prepared for us.  We ate like a bunch of starving sailors just back from a long trip.  There was little left but the decorative lettuce, so that was fed to the fish that were schooling behind the boat.  Think they have ever done this before?

We were visited by a couple of turtles while we feasted .  This is where the one and only occurrence happened.  I snapped the lens cap off my camera to shoot pix of the turtles and sat it next to me just as the boat rocked…off and into the deep the cap went.  No worries, lens caps are much easier to replace than lenses or cameras but with that said, Captain Neil appeared with fins and a mask.  Asked me to point out where the cap had drifted off to and went over the side.  Shortly after Aquaman surfaced with a big smile and my lens cap in hand.    We were soon headed back to ST Martin so across the channel we headed once more.  .

First stop was Creole rock which is located at the edge of Grand Case harbor. There was snorkeling to be done by those who wished to do so.  We chose to chat with Neil as Patrick was busy watching the snorkelers.  We then cruised around the point to Happy Bay for a refreshing swim.  This beach is beautiful and we were to return a couple of times during the remainder of our trip.  Upon leaving Happy Bay we were served a wonderful fruit plate and then headed back to Marigot to once again await the draw bridge.  While waiting we were blessed with viewing an incredible sunset  then Patrick presented us all with some Baileys Banana Coladas so we toasted the setting sun with them.

We arrived back at Skip Jack’s restaurant and said our good byes then headed back to our room.

Our opinion of the our first exposure to day sailing;  Fantastic! I can not say enough positive about it.  The boat was wonderful, Captain and crew were top notch and the food as tasty as we had eaten all week.  Worth every penny of the fare Neil charges for the day and we will make a day with the Celine and crew a part of our routine!

In short if you get the opportunity to do something like this..jump at it as it was a lot of fun.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words…these can speak for themselves.

We are talking about the quentisential French Caribbean aperitif not high tea with the queen. 

Ti punch is strong and frankly took a bit to get used to but now when on island it is the first drink I order.  Ti punch short for petite punch is made with Rhum Agricole that is a product of Martiniques rhum production facilities.  Agricole is a little bitter so we then add some cane syrup to the mix and squeeze in a half of a lime.  Stir drop in a cube of ice or more and enjoy.

Ingredients

2 ounces Rhum Agricole

1/2 small lime (think key lime size)

1/2 ounce cane syrup

Short but true story.

The locals on St Martin either drink their ti punch with no ice or one cube as ice traditionally wasnt very plentiful.  When an American orders more times than not they will ask for extra ice.  We knew that we were starting to fit in when after being seated at a restaurant I im my best broken French with a midwestern twang I ordered ti punch.  The waiter brought the drink and a cup full of ice.  I told him “merci mais la glace n’est pas nécessaire”  Thank you but ice is not necessary.  He smiled and started chating with us like we were long lost friends… We like some of our on line friends believe heavily that when traveling internationally you should learn to drink like the locals. 

Salute!